Flexible Payment

Overview
Telephone Message Pad is normally paid in advance with charges based on the number of users who will have access (see Manual Payments). This serves most business which have predictable staffing. Flexible payment allows for advance payment based on projected usage with any overpayment/underpayment carried forward and applied to the next payment cycle.

Flexible payment does not retain your credit card information. Any charges against your card are initiated by you.

Flexible payment is an account option. It is not the default. You need to request it if you want it. Note that flexible payment does not currently support subaccounts. DairTel payment requires autopay (credit card on file).

Usage Computation
Telephone Message Pad tracks actual number of users by sampling at 10 roughly equidistant times during the month. From that sampling, the actual number of users for each month is computed. The difference between paid and actual is converted to a credit or debit.

The records in the screenshot show a constant usage of 26 for 4 months. It is constant because the usage is forward-looking: it is a projection of future usage.

Making payments
You reach the flexible payment page by hovering over the "Help" button, selecting "Payment Console", and then clicking "Calculate and Pay". You then see a page like shown on right.

All accounts are on a calendar month to month basis and have a term start on the first of a month. The expire date for the previous term is also the same day. So, when the form asks you to "Set expire for current subscription" it is simultaneously asking you to set the starting date for the term you are paying for. In general, with variable usage, your current payment covers a partial final month. Thus, you are given a choice of starting your new term at the beginning or end of the partial month. The computation adjusts for your choice.

You can set the number of standard users and duration of subscription. Your usage history are shown in the "Calculation detail" and the rates at bottom of page (below portion of screenshot at right).

Use the "Re-calculate" button to compute the payment amount and then "Proceed_to_checkout" to be directed to the fastspring.com site to enter your payment details.