Billing¶
Document Metadata
Category: Setup → Billing
Audience: Administrators, Engineers, Finance Team
Difficulty: Intermediate
Time Required: 15–25 minutes
Prerequisites:
- A working understanding of your account’s billing model (per-minute vs. per-channel)
- Access to your usage data or CDRs to understand how charges are incurred
Next Steps: Confirm your billing model, configure rate cards, set up MRC packages if required, and test with a sample invoice.
Two Directions of Billing¶
ConnexCS billing operates in two directions simultaneously:
Customer billing — you charge your customers for calls they place, based on rate cards, billing increments, and any monthly recurring packages.
Supplier billing — your carriers charge you for traffic you route through them. ConnexCS tracks these costs separately so you can reconcile supplier invoices against your own CDR-rated costs and monitor margin at every level.
Understanding both directions is essential before configuring any billing model.
ConnexCS Billing Per Channel¶
Billing per channel is the traditional approach, where the customer pays for a set number of channels or ports — the VoIP equivalent of per-line billing in mobile networks.
Advantages¶
- Cheaper than per-minute billing for systems with consistent, high traffic volumes.
- Free servers are available for several tiers of service.
- Predictable costs allow for stable billing cycles and simplified cost-benefit analysis.
Disadvantages¶
- Inconsistent traffic often leads to higher costs relative to per-minute billing.
- Capacity planning is inherently less flexible.
ConnexCS Billing Per Minute¶
In per-minute billing, the number of seconds used is tallied daily, combined with the per-minute cost, and deducted from the account balance.
Advantages¶
- Scales precisely with actual usage — ideal for variable or unpredictable traffic patterns.
- Per-minute rates are granular enough to align costs closely with revenue at the route level.
Disadvantages¶
- More expensive than per-channel billing when traffic is consistent and high-volume.
- Running multiple servers increases cost proportionally.
Monthly Recurring Charges (MRC)¶
MRC packages allow you to apply fixed monthly fees to customer accounts on top of usage-based charges. Common use cases include:
- DID (Direct Inward Dialling) number rental fees
- Platform access or seat fees
- Bundled minute allowances billed at a flat rate
MRC packages are configured under Setup → Config → Packages and assigned at the customer account level. When an invoice is generated, all applicable MRC charges for the billing period are automatically included alongside usage-based charges. The invoice total reflects both components.
See Packages for configuration steps.
Re-Rating¶
Re-rating allows ConnexCS to reprocess historical CDRs using updated rate card values. This is useful when:
- A rate card error is discovered after calls have already been rated and invoiced.
- A carrier retrospectively adjusts their pricing and you need to realign costs.
- You are migrating from one rate card structure to another and need historical data to reflect the new model.
When re-rating is triggered, ConnexCS recalculates the cost and revenue for each affected CDR against the corrected rate card. Invoices and reports are updated to reflect the corrected totals.
Warning
- Re-rating affects historical invoice data.
- Always confirm the scope of CDRs to be re-rated and communicate any resulting invoice changes to affected customers before reprocessing.
Minimum Charges¶
All accounts must reach a minimum spend per server per month to remain active. This prevents losses from stagnant or inactive accounts. See the Pricing page for current minimums.
Choosing the Right Model¶
| Consideration | Per Channel | Per Minute |
|---|---|---|
| Traffic pattern | Consistent, high volume | Variable or unpredictable |
| Cost predictability | High | Moderate |
| Scaling flexibility | Lower | Higher |
| Margin visibility | At channel level | At call/route level |
If you run a mix of business types — for example, wholesale interconnect alongside retail VoIP — you may operate both models simultaneously on different customer accounts.