The system's billing strategy directly determines how money is collected, how the flow is distributed and how the user uses it. The strategy is well-suited, the system works well, complaints are low; the strategy is poorly matched, either students complain or school network resources are misused. The costing strategy is simple, but it is a technical job.——Many schools have a fee-paying strategy that is often adjusted to take care of the initial configurations. Here are some common misperceptions and corresponding correct practices.
Misappropriation I: All users using the same set of rates
The most common configuration error is to set the same billing rules for all users. But in practice, there are very different types of users in schools.——Students in undergraduate, postgraduate, student studies, teaching staff, outside visitors, short-term trainees, etc. have different needs for use of the network, affordability and flow characteristics. The students may be much more useful but with limited capacity to pay, graduate students need long online access to literature, and students may require special international flow requirements. The right approach is to group up by user type, each group with a different tariff template and free amounts. For example, undergraduate students are free 30 G per month, which exceeds their share of $1/GB; graduate students are free 100G per month because they require additional flows of academic research; guests are charged on a second basis.
Misappropriation two: strategy is one-size-fits-all, time-neutral
School network billing systems can be very different in the early hours and during the day if they run 24 hours on the same set of rules. For example, 22:00-2:00 at night is a student's peak in Internet access, with huge traffic consumption; if the costing strategy is time-neutral, all flows are withheld at the same rate, and students wake up to zero account balances, which experience is extremely poor. The correct approach is to set rates over time: normal day counting, late night break, free morning (0:00-6), which are designed to match student usage patterns and lead to traffic error peaks. Specific tariff gradients can be determined by reference to student interest times and flow distribution data.
Error three: Free amounts set too small or too large
The free fee is a delicate balance. It's too small (for example, 1G per month), students have to pay almost always and complain about it; it's too big (for example, 100G per month), the school network resources are abused by a few people and other users experience is affected. The reasonable free fee should be based on the size of the school's export bandwidth and user size. A 5,000-person school, 5G, if 30 G per month per person, has a full monthly traffic ceiling of 150 T, which is actually not available at most schools."80% of students are satisfied with normal use needs"At this level, a small number of high-flow users are charged for overutilization.
Misappropriation four: the policy of fee-for-net breakout is too rough
Many school network billing systems are for arrears processing."Balance 0 Disconnect immediately"The correct approach is to stratification: alerts are given when the balance is 0, 24 hours a buffer period; bandwidth is reduced during the buffer period to 1M (to meet basic search needs); 24 hours after the value of the net is still not fully charged. Early warning should be provided before the charges are paid (less than $5, one time each)."One cut."More humanely, the number of complaints will decline significantly.
Error five: Use of one set of rules for different regions
The Internet use landscape varies widely across schools——The school area is much more in use during the day, the dormitory at night, the library needs all day and the office building is dominated by working hours."The school area is crowded during the day, the dormitory is idle during the day."The right approach is to be regional: a high day bandwidth limit in the teaching area, a high night bandwidth limitation in the dormitories, a full-day balance in the library and only a high bandwidth during working hours.
Error six: no flexibility to reserve policy adjustments
Schools change every year.——The system is designed to provide for entry and process of strategy adjustments, including: who has the right to change strategy, what to go for approval, how to notify users after it, and whether there is a buffer period for strategy effectiveness. Institutionalize these processes so that they do not become a drag between information centres and market departments.
The policy configuration has to be redisked
The strategy is to be followed by a data-recording exercise after one month. See which strategies are triggered and what do not; whether users actually use them and expectations are consistent; where complaints are concentrated; how much income and free flow ratio is; and whether bandwidth usage has improved. These data form the basis for adjusting the next phase of the strategy. The fee-for-money strategy is not a hammer, but an operation that needs continuous optimization.