How to set up product/configurable options/product addons

[quickq]

Hi all,

 

Could some one advice how best to set this up please:

 

We resell a FTTH (Fibre to the Home) service. I'm trying to work out what the best way of setting up the product/services, configurable options and the product addons are to simplify our installation and billing.

 

Clients won't be able to sign up for the service directly on our website (at least not for now but we might enable that later).

 

When we have a new client, we request a site survey which takes a week or two. We then get a quote from the contractor for $X for the installation (which is generally in increments of $200, e.g. $400, $600, $800, $1k etc).

 

Installation is obviously a one time fee, then a recurring bill per month charged at $Y per month, again in flat increments (1Mb = $50, 2Mb = $100, 3Mb = $150, etc).

 

What is the optimal way to set this up so after we add a new client we submit the order according to the quote from the contractor and their agreed rate? Result should be first invoice sent with their first monthly recurring + installation fee, additionally their service contract. Then 1 month later the recurring service fee (+ any other additional services they have e.g. hosting / backups etc).

 

Thanks in advanced!

[quickq]

Shame no replies on this, but for completion figured I'd reply with what I've discovered from playing around with test clients and orders.

 

I thought the best way to set up was to use all the inbuilt features so:

 

New product -> Internet Access, 0 monthly fee, 0 setup.

Configurable Options:

Speed (monthly recurring), type Radio. Options for 1Mb = $50, 2MB = $100, etc

Installation fee, type Radio. Options for Nil ($0), $200, $400 etc.

 

This means when placing an order the two options appear underneath, have to pick a speed and the installation fee. First invoice is generated perfectly.

 

However, the downside of this set up comes later:

 

1) Reports. Because all of the above is under a single product, the reports become quite useless as it just shows we've sold X amount of Internet Access - no breakdown of installation or speed.

 

2) Seeing who is using what - if a customer calls up and you look at their account, it just shows they have 1 service called Internet Access. You can infer the speed from the price but that's far from ideal - would have been nice to have the Speed option shown on the table

 

So then tried a new setup - Different product for each speed, use the same configurable for the installation. While this makes the reporting better as I can see a breakdown per product, issue then is when upgrading / downgrading from say 1Mb to the 2Mb product, it re-applies the same installation fee as if it's a new order. Couldn't see any way to stop that (upgrade/downgrade is either the product or an option, can't configure both at the same time).

 

So, decided to go with the far-less-elegant way but gives me the most flexibility and best information across the whole admin area: Different product for each speed, different installation product for each of the typical costs.

 

I can now see more detailed breakdowns of what we're selling and can upgrade/downgrade people without generating new installation line-items.

 

Far from ideal but this seems to work the best. I hope / assume that what I was stuck on can in fact be done (customer reports for the first option, waive installation on upgrade/downgrade) but haven't worked out how to do it as yet.