Thank you for choosing our Voice Finder Phone Shop solution, also referred as the IPshop.


  Overview                                                      

The Voice Finder Phone Shop is a call shop management solution based on the Post Paid model, where you can:
Assign your own calling rates for different countries in any currency.
Print an invoice for a session of calls a customer made.
View reports by line and by shop.

The IPshop supports up to 16 lines for each call shop. Several AddPacs may be merged to operate one call shop. This means that you can serve up to 16 customers simultaneously!

Post Paid means that you will charge your customer after he completed making a session of calls, as opposed to Pre Paid where the customer is first charged, and he will be disconnected when his amount reaches zero. The IPshop model is Post Paid.


  How it Works?                                             

Your customer initiates a call using your Voice Finder AddPac. When the call terminates, the AddPac registers the call on IPgrade servers. During the call, the call shop operator is able to see the status of the call, as well as the amount of money spent on the current call so far.

When the customer completes his session, the IPshop Manager software reads from IPgrade servers all the call records the customer made during his call session. The call shop operator then prints an invoice to the customer, and bill him according to it.


  System Requirements                                  

The IPshop requires the following items:
Pentium III 800 Mhz or higher, with 256 MB RAM.
Minimum 10 MB free on hard disk.
Microsoft Windows XP/2000/2003.
Microsoft .NET Framework (Included in SP2).
Active internet connection.


  Using IPshop                                               

When loading the IPshop Manager, you will be requested to enter your username and password. You should enter the details given to you when you ordered the service.

The REFRESH button is used to retrieve new calls from the database. All the calls which have been registered into the database since the last time you refreshed, will be fetched.


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When your customer finished making his calls, the call shop operator clicks on PAYMENT. A statement with your own call shop logo may be printed to the customer
Clicking PAYMENT also clears the previous call session, making it ready for a new call session by a new customer.


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You may allow your call shop operator delete a call from a call session, or delete a complete call session. Those actions prevents the calls from showing in the bill history, as well as in the reports. There for the deletion action should be enabled manually. Click here for more information about enabling the deletion actions.
Viewing the deleted calls is done by opening the database directly. Click here for more information about viewing the deleted calls.

If enabled, the call shop operator may clear the booth from it's current call session by clicking the CLEAR button. Statement will not be issued, and the calls will be removed from the reports.

The call shop operator may also set a call to zero duration, or delete a call completely from an active call session. This should be used in cases where the call shop operator does not wish to bill the customer for a certain call. These actions are accessible under the Edit menu.


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  Viewing Reports and History                          

You can view billing history by clicking the BILL HISTORY button. All the statements that were issued to your customers will be listed, and you can double-click on a specific statement to view the details. Note that if you cleared the database, you will not be able to see the statement itself, only a summary.


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You can view reports by clicking the REPORTS button. After selecting the date range, a report will be generated, allowing you to see how many calls your call shop served, and the cost/revenue of the selected period. For the amounts to be correct, you should set your own buying and selling rates.


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  Setting Rates                                              

It is possible to set your own buying and selling rates for your call shop. The IPshop comes with a complete rate list, where you can update it to your own needs.
Setting your own rates is recommended as it will be easier to bill your customers, as well as viewing accurate reports.

To set rates, load the IPshop Rate Plan Editor from the Start Menu. Rates may be inserted directly in the application, or, if you already have a rate table which you are using, you may import it directly into the Rate Plan Editor.

If you have a record with empty area code it will act as a default. This means that if a customer dialed a number, and the area code could not be matched to an existing area code in the table, this default record will be matched for that call.


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Each record is build up by several fields.
Expense is how much you pay for the calls. This value is not shown to the customer, but is accessible through the Reports in the IPshop Manager.
Rate is how much your customer pays for one whole minute of call.
The rounding is used to accurately match your billing needs.
Rounding Start is the initial and minimum length of call, and
Rounding Increment is the subsequent billing increments.
Rounding values are in seconds.
If your rounding is 30+6, and the customer was online for 31 seconds, the call would be registered and billed as 36 seconds call.

If you prefer to edit your rate table using Microsoft Excel, or any other CSV editor, you may export the existing rate table from the Edit menu, work with any other application on it, and import it back. Note that importing a new rate table overwrites the old one.


  Customizing IPshop                                       

The IPshop Configuration and Toolbox allow you to customize the IPshop to suits your needs. You can access it through the Start Menu. When you are done, click SAVE.


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Server Settings:

"Connection String" and "Account ID" should never be changed, unless instructed by IPgrade personnel.
It is recommended that you put your username in the "Username" field.
If you put your password under the "Password" field, the IPshop Manager will automatically login, without requiring the call operator to enter a password.

Localization:

"Decimal Places" is the number of digits to put on the right of the decimal point. This is the accuracy of your billing towards your customers.
You can select your preferred "Currency" sign by choosing it from the list, or entering it directly in the dropdown box.

Shop Profile:

"Shop Name" would be printed on your statements. If you select your logo it will be displayed in the statement as well.

Database Actions:

You can optimize the database and making it smaller by compacting it. Compacting the database does not modify the data.

You may backup the database from time to time.

Clearing the database deletes the calls history from the database, making it smaller. Clearing the call history deletes the statements history.


  Frequently Asked Questions                          

Q: How can I enable the CLEAR button, or the action under the Edit menu, such as deleting a call, or setting a duration to zero?
A: Create a shortcut on your desktop which points to the IPshop.exe file. This file is located on the folder where you installed the IPshop. The default folder is "C:\Program Files\IPgrade\IPshop".
After creating the shortcut, right-click on it, and select Properties. At the target field add the parameter /ENABLECLEAR. Start the IPshop Manager through the shortcut, and the CLEAR button, and the actions under the Edit menu will be enabled.

Q: How can I view calls that were deleted or cleared?
A: You should open the database file directly. The database is located in the installation folder (default is C:\Program Files\IPgrade\IPshop). The database filename is rateplan.mdb. The Uncharged table holds all the calls that were deleted. Note that you should have Microsoft Access to be able to open the database.

Q: Why can't I login into the IPshop Manager?
A: The IPshop Manager requires an active internet connection. Make sure you have internet on the computer you are running it.

Q: Does the IPshop Manager needs to be running, in order for it to fetch calls?
A: No. The calls your customers make are registered on our remote server. The IPshop Manager reads the information directly from our server.

Q: I am making calls with my AddPac, but I can't see them in the IPshop Manager.
A: Make sure your AddPac is configured correctly, and is set to register calls on our server.

Q: I have another question / problem which is not listed here. What to do?
A: Please contact our support team.