Networking - DID Inventory

DID Inventory

DID inventory allows you to keep track of phone numbers (DIDs) that you purchase from various telco partners for distribution to your customers or resellers. In order to see the DID numbers currently available in the database, choose DID Inventory in the Management section, specify the search filters, and click Search.

The Search bar allows you to define the following criteria  for DID numbers:

• DIDs that match a specific phone number pattern, e.g. enter 1800%      to find all 1-800 numbers.
• DIDs that belong to a particular pricing batch (to search for unallocated      DIDs, choose NONE (Unassigned DIDs).
• DIDs that have a specific status:     
  • Frozen – DID numbers kept for later use.
  • In Use – There is an account using this DID.

Often a business will request a phone number that can be “spelled out”  so customers can remember it easily (for instance 1-866-SIP-VOIP). You can search for such easy-to-remember phone numbers by entering the letter string in the DID Number field. For example, in order to search for all 1800 numbers containing VOIP in them, enter 1800%VOIP.

Advanced Search

 The Advanced Search link next to the Search button allows you to specify complex search conditions.

The Advanced Search mode allows you to search for DID  numbers by one or more search conditions. Use this method to search DID  numbers by:

• Area –The area a DID number belongs to.

• DID Number Description – The comments about a particular DID number.

• Vendor Batch Description – The comments about a particular vendor batch.

To enter the advanced search mode, click the Advanced Search link and specify the search condition. To add another condition, click the Add a New Search Condition icon.

The search conditions for DID numbers are the same as those for customer searches. Please refer to the Advanced Search section of the Customer  Management page for details.

How to view pricing batches

To view and manage pricing batches, click   DID Pricing on the toolbar.

How to add a DID group

To add a new DID group, click DID  Groups.

Managing DID Number Assignment

On the main page of the DID inventory you can view DID numbers that match certain criteria. You can then perform number assignments for some of these numbers. This includes:

• Assigning numbers to a pricing batch, or returning them to the pool of available DIDs.

• Adding DID numbers to a particular DID group.

• Assigning DID numbers to a particular customer.

• Deleting DIDs from the DID inventory.

These operations may be applied to all numbers matching the original  search, only to the first N DIDs among them, or only to those you manually  select.

If you would like to assign the first N unassigned numbers from a vendor batch to a pricing batch, specify the vendor batch and NONE (Unassigned  DIDs) in the Pricing Batch list, and click Search. Then select an assign operation and the First N numbers option in the Apply To section. Specify the quantity of numbers that will be assigned.

If you just assign a quantity of DID numbers to a pricing batch, you might inadvertently reassign numbers that are already in another pricing batch. To avoid such a situation, use the Selected option; this will allow you to apply changes to specific numbers.

Click Apply to submit the changes. After the update is completed, a dialog box will inform you of the results.

If you still wish to reassign DID numbers from their current pricing batches to other pricing batches, please refer to the DID Number Reassignment to Pricing Batches section .

DID Number Reassignment to Pricing Batches

Using DID Inventory you can effectively manage DID numbers that you provide to your customers by assigning them to pricing batches.

Depending on a DID number status (i.e. in use or free) two options for  number reassignment are possible:

• Free (not in use) DID numbers can be reassigned to different types of pricing batches. For example, if you defined a 5% markup for a pool of DID numbers (12045550000–12045550010) and now wish to provide numbers 12045550000–12045550005 free of charge, simply assign these numbers to the free pricing batch.

• DID numbers that are assigned to customers can be reassigned to pricing batches of the same type (i.e. to free pricing batches or pricing batches with DID markup). For example, if you assigned      DID 12045550009 to John Doe from the pricing batch that has a $2 additional activation fee and a $5 additional monthly recurring fee and now you wish to introduce another pricing scheme to charge him $3 monthly for DID usage, simply assign the number  to the new pricing batch with the corresponding additional recurring markup.

DID Pool Management

DID Number Release to the DID Pool

Resellers can release any DID  numbers that are managed by them. To release a DID number to the DID pool,  the reseller must use the Release DIDs to the Pool option.

Please note that if a reseller unassigns a DID number from a pricing batch, this number is not released back to the DID pool. The reseller still owns this number and still bears the charges for its usage.

A reseller can provision a DID  number to a customer either from a pricing batch or via a pricing batch that’s specifically assigned to this customer. Thus, when a reseller deletes  the alias or changes the account/alias ID, the assigned DID number is  released as follows: 

• In case a DID number is provisioned to a customer from a pricing batch, it is released back to this pricing batch. This means that      the reseller continues to bear the charges for this DID, though the      customer is no longer charged for it;
• In case a DID number is provisioned to a customer via a pricing batch specifically assigned to this customer, a DID number is automatically released to the pool. This means neither the reseller nor the customer owns this DID number and therefore, no charges apply for the DID usage.

The reseller does not receive any notification about a DID release when they manage accounts or aliases.

Completely Free of Charge DID Numbers

Using the DID inventory tool you can provide virtual DID numbers for internal use to customers (e.g. for SIP calls among accounts within your network). Since these DIDs are virtual, they are, as a rule, provisioned free of charge and incur no charges.