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Azotel Recently added features

Posted by: salerding in MyBlog on Sep 08, 2010


Recently-Completed Features
Ability to Attach Files to Customer Record

A new feature has been implemented that allows files of any type to be added to a customer record. This allows scanned copies of contracts, photos of installations, recordings of phone conversations etc. to be stored as part of the customer record, so that they're always quickly and easily accessible.

To use this, an FTP server must be set up and configured in the WISP settings (Users -> Add/Modify WISP):
Attach_2

When this has been done, and the relevant user rights have been added (from the Users page) a new section for attachments will be visible within the customer details page:
Attach_1

Attachments can be classified into various types (billing information, network information, maintenance and sales tracking), and separate user rights can be configured for each type, so that attachments can be restricted to just those that need access to them.

Click here to view the full feature description.

Billing Issue Auto-Creation/Closure

The Subscriber Auto Notification/Disconnect (SAND) process has been enhanced so that it can now automatically create a billing issue when an account is overdue for a specified period, and close that billing issue when all overdue invoices have been paid.











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AZOTEL is Adding even more features

Posted by: salerding in MyBlog on Sep 08, 2010

Azotel SIMPLer Upcoming Features

Work is currently in progress on the following features:

Auto Provisioning of Alvarion CPEs

Currently, auto provisioning within SIMPLer is supported for Canopy, Ubiquiti and MikroTik subscriber modules. This feature will extend coverage to CPEs from Alvarion.

Support for IP Pay Payment Gateway

Support will be added for the payment gateway from IP Pay. This will allow operators additional flexibility in choosing the gateway that they want to use for processing credit card payments.

Radius Integration

Work is in progress to provide the ability for SIMPLer to integrate with equipment / networks supporting RADIUS (Remote Authentication Dial In User Service) based AAA servers. Radius is a networking protocol providing centralized Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting (AAA) management information services for computers to connect and use a network service. This will help to improve the flexibility of the SIMPLer system, and allow easier integration with existing networks which are already using RADIUS.

Enhanced Campaign Support

We're currently working on enhancements which will provide better support for promotional campaigns. Campaigns will be more clearly separated from products (they're currently just products with negative prices), it will be possible to define trigger criteria which must be met before a customer is eligible for a campaign, and campaigns that a customer is on will be more visible from their customer details page.

Pro-Rated Billing

At the moment, if an operator invoices all their customers on a fixed day of the month (typically the 1st) and a customer is installed part of the way through a month, there isn't an easy way to pro-rate the charge for the first month. Changes will be made so that SIMPLer will automatically calculate the pro-rated charge for the first month of service in this situation.

View Last 5 Customer Records

An enhancement will be made so that the last 5 customer records that a user has accessed are visible, and easily accessible. This will make it much easier to navigate back to the page for a particular customer after performing other tasks within the system.

Automatic Throttling of Overdue Subscribers

Posted by: salerding in MyBlog on Aug 05, 2010

Azotel SIMPLer's Subscriber Auto Notification / Disconnection (SAND) system has been enhanced to allow operators to throttle customers to the appropriate downlink/uplink rate after they reach their monthly bandwidth allowance limit, or after an invoice is overdue for a specified period of time. This allows more graceful handling of overdue customers, because they remain connected, but at a slower speed than their original service.

Until now three functionalities were available:

  • Email Notification
  • Disconnection
  • Overage – automatic charge

An additional option has now been added giving Operators the ability to limit a customer’s bandwidth speeds (throttle) until more bandwidth has been added to their account.

ImageStream 2U Samurai Router

Posted by: salerding in MyBlog on Aug 02, 2010

Tagged in: ImageStream , Azotel

At the WISPA Regional Meeting 2010 in St. Louis on July 22nd and 23rd, ImageStream introduced their new Samurai Express router which features redundant power supplies, 2 PCI, 1 PCIEx16, 1PCIEx4 slots, locking access door, two 10/100/1000 Ethernet ports with a quad core CPU.

After talking with JC Utter, ImageStream's CEO, I was very impressed with what this monster of a router could handle.  He says the Samurai Express is ImageStream's lowest cost router for applications requiring redundant power including high-speed multi-homed netowrks, DSL aggregation and a wide range of other midrange routing applications.  This router works where most Cisco 2800, 3800 and 7200 routers are used.

The sleak design really got my attention and the industrial feel of the unit gave me the sense that this is top quality hardware.