# Network Billing

This section describes the mailbox billing counters and the parts of the standard billing report that reflect NP Net usage. Refer to the Software Configuration section for instruction to adjust billing rates and run the billing report.

## Network Message Counters

Network message counters tally the number of messages sent by a mailbox to remote nodes. Different counters measure the total number of network messages sent, the number of nodes to which a message is sent, number of remote recipients to which a message is sent, and the number of network messages received by the mailbox during the billing period. Separate totals are kept for urgent and batch messages that meet each of these criteria.

## Network messages sent

This counter keeps track of the total number of batch messages recorded for remote mailboxes during the billing period. A "Give + comments" message is counted as one message, as is an original message that has an answer or answers attached.

Messages are billed on a "per message" basis, not a "per recipient" basis; when a batch message is made to a distribution list, or by using the "make multiple" feature, it counts as one network message sent.

## Network urgent messages sent

This counter keeps track of the total number of urgent messages sent to remote nodes by the mailbox during the billing period. A "Give + comments" message is counted as one message, as is an original message that has an answer or answers attached.

Messages are billed on a "per message" basis, not a "per recipient" basis; when an urgent message is made to a distribution list, or by using the "make multiple" feature, it counts as one urgent network message sent.

## Number of network nodes sent to

The Make Multiple and Broadcast features permit users to send a single message to more than one node. This counter allows the administrator to charge separately for each node to which a batch message is sent, since each destination node requires a separate transmission. The number of recipient mailboxes on each node does not matter. For example, a single message that is broadcast to five mailboxes on three different nodes increments this counter by 3.

A "Give + comments" message is equivalent to the single message in the previous paragraph, as is a "Give + message with an answer or answers attached."

## Number of network nodes sent urgent to

The Make Multiple and Broadcast features enable users to send a single message to more than one node. This counter allows the administrator to charge separately for each node to which an urgent message is sent, since each destination node requires a separate transmission. The number of recipient mailboxes on each node does not matter. For example, a single message that is marked urgent, then sent to five mailboxes on three different nodes increments this counter by three.

## Number of network recipients sent to

The Make Multiple and Broadcast features permit users to send a single message to more than one remote mailbox. This counter allows the administrator to charge separately for each remote mailbox to which a batch message is sent. The number of nodes is irrelevant. For example, a single batch message sent to five mailboxes on three different nodes, increments this counter by 5.

## Number of network recipients sent urgent to

The Make Multiple and Broadcast features enable users to send a single message to more than one remote mailbox. This counter allows the administrator to charge separately for each. For example, a single message that is marked urgent, and then sent to five mailboxes on three different nodes increments this counter by 5.

## Network messages received

This counter keeps track of the number of batch messages received from remote nodes by the mailbox during the billing period. A "Give + comments" message is counted as one message, as is an original message that has an answer or answers attached.

## Network urgent messages received

This counter keeps track of the number of urgent messages received from remote nodes by the mailbox during the billing period. A "Give + comments" message is counted as one message, as is a original message that has an answer or answers attached.

## Network Message Length Counters

Message length counters keep track of the total amount of recorded speech that fits certain criteria. Every mailbox has these counters, and all counters are incremented in tenths of a minute.

Among the reasons why an administrator would set rates based on message lengths are (1) messages use up disk storage when they wait in the queue, and (2) the longer the message, the longer the transmit time. While the cost of transmitting a single two minute message may not be significantly higher than the cost of transmitting a single one minute message, the cost differences can be substantial when they are multiplied over many messages.

There are separate message length counters for Batch and Urgent messages. Batch messages usually stay in the queue longer than urgent messages, but urgent messages may be transmitted during time periods when transmission charges are highest. Take these factors into account when setting rates.

## Message length for network messages sent

The counter tallies the total amount of recorded speech in all batch messages sent to remote nodes by the mailbox during the current billing period.

## Message length for network messages sent urgent

The counter tallies the total amount of recorded speech in all urgent messages sent to remote nodes by the mailbox during the current billing period.

## Message length for network messages received

This counter totals the amount of recorded speech in all batch messages received from remote nodes during the current billing period.

## Message length for urgent network messages received

This counter totals the amount of recorded speech in all urgent messages received from remote nodes during the current billing period.

## Message length for number of network nodes sent

NP Net multiplies the amount of recorded speech in each batch message by the number of remote nodes to which the mailbox sends the message. The results are recorded by this counter.

## Message length for number of network nodes sent urgent

NP Net multiplies the amount of recorded speech in each urgent message by the number of remote nodes to which the mailbox sends the message. The results are recorded by this counter. The number of recipients on each node does not count here.

## Message length for number of remote recipients sent

NP Net multiplies the amount of recorded speech in each batch message by the number of remote mailboxes to which the mailbox sends the message. The results are recorded by this counter. The number of different remote nodes is irrelevant here; two messages for the same remote node are equivalent to one message for two different remote nodes.

## Message length for number of remote recipients sent urgent

NP Net multiplies the amount of recorded speech in each urgent message by the number of remote mailboxes to which the mailbox sends the message. The results are recorded by this counter. The number of different remote nodes is irrelevant here; two messages for the same remote node are equivalent to one message for two different remote nodes.

## Network Billing Report Entries

The billing report includes the charges accrued by network messaging. When no charges have accumulated for a counter, the entry does not appear on the billing report.

MAILBOX: 402 ID: A.G. Bell

GROUP: GCOS 1 FCOS 1: UNLIMITED base rate

$ 5.00

$ .40 40 user messages received

$ 2.30 23 caller messages received

$ .00 0 call placements sent

$ .00 0 future deliveries sent

$ 2.60 13 urgent messages sent

$ .00 0 tas messages received

$ 1.20 24 number of receipts requested

$ 4.10 41 greetings played

$ 3.50 72 times logged in

$ 9.60 9.6 user connect time

$ 1.70 3.4 caller connect time

$ .00 0 call placement time

$ 1.80 .09 disk usage

$ 5.40 18 messages sent to nodes

$ 6.00 6 urgent messages sent to nodes

$ 3.21 32.1 .1 minutes sent network urgent

$ 5.84 116.8 .1 minutes sent over network

$ 1.40 14 messages received from nodes

$ .50 1 urgent messages received

$ 2.36 94.5 .1 minutes rcvd over network

$ 1.26 6.3 .1 minutes rcvd network urgent

Total Charges = $ 58.17

Parent topic: Network Billing and Reports