Price Increases
Price increases let you raise prices across your tariffs and standard features by a percentage. Common uses include:
- Annual contract uplifts: CPI or RPI-linked increases applied each year
- Retail markup: Creating a retail tariff based on a wholesale tariff with a percentage markup (e.g. 40%)
- Tiered pricing: Building price tiers from a base tariff with different percentage markups
Key Benefits
Section titled “Key Benefits”- Percentage-based: Apply a single percentage across all rates in a tariff or charges on a standard feature
- Two modes: Modify existing records in-place, or create new versions while keeping the originals
- Flexible scope: Choose which charges are affected (e.g. recurring only, or all charges including connections)
- Audit trail: Tracking fields record what was increased and by how much
- Works across pricing objects: Supports call tariffs, fixed fee tariffs, and standard features
How It Works
Section titled “How It Works”There are two ways to apply an increase:
- In-place (Apply Increase (In Place)) modifies the existing record directly. All customers using that tariff or standard feature get the new prices automatically.
- Clone (Create Increased Version) creates a new record with increased prices, leaving the original unchanged. You then reassign customers or numbers to the new version as needed.
Both modes ask for a percentage and a scope (which charges to increase). The platform multiplies the relevant price fields by the percentage and rounds to four decimal places.
In-Place Mode (Apply Increase (In Place))
Section titled “In-Place Mode (Apply Increase (In Place))”Modifies the existing tariff or standard feature directly.
When to use: All customers on this tariff or standard feature should get the increase at the same time.
What happens
Section titled “What happens”- All price fields within the chosen scope are multiplied by the increase percentage
- For call tariffs, inherited rates from a parent tariff are resolved first, then increased. The tariff’s revision number is incremented.
- The tracking fields are updated to record the percentage applied and link back to the source record
- The change is immediate and affects all customers, numbers, and features using this record
- If you supply an Effective Date, the increase is scheduled rather than applied immediately. See Scheduling an increase.
Important: An immediate (no effective date) in-place increase cannot be undone. Once applied, the original prices are overwritten. If you need to keep the original prices available, use Clone mode instead. A scheduled in-place increase is reversible up until the effective date by removing the dated rates it created.
This action requires expert level 5 to edit and appears in the Expert menu (not the standard Actions menu).
Clone Mode (Create Increased Version)
Section titled “Clone Mode (Create Increased Version)”Creates a new record with increased prices. The original record is not changed.
When to use: Only some customers should get the increase, or you want to keep the old pricing available for existing customers.
What happens
Section titled “What happens”- A new tariff or standard feature is created as a copy of the original
- All price fields within the chosen scope are increased on the new record
- The new record’s name includes a suffix showing the increase, e.g. “Standard National (+3.5% costs)”
- The tracking fields link the new record back to the original
- If a version with the same source, percentage, and scope already exists, the platform returns the existing version rather than creating a duplicate
After creating the version: You need to reassign customers, numbers, or features to the new version. The original record continues to work unchanged for anyone still using it.
This action appears in the Actions menu and requires clone permission.
Name suffixes
Section titled “Name suffixes”The platform adds a suffix to the new record’s name based on the object type and scope:
| Object | Scope | Suffix example |
|---|---|---|
| Call tariff | Costs only | (+3.5% costs) |
| Call tariff | All charges | (+3.5% all charges) |
| Fixed fee tariff | Recurring only | (+3.5% recurring) |
| Fixed fee tariff | Recurring + connections | (+3.5% recurring+conn) |
| Standard feature | Recurring only | (+3.5% recurring) |
| Standard feature | Recurring + one-off | (+3.5% recurring+conn) |
Choosing Between In-Place and Clone
Section titled “Choosing Between In-Place and Clone”| In-place | Clone | |
|---|---|---|
| Original record | Modified | Unchanged |
| Customers affected | All on this tariff/feature | Only those you reassign |
| Effort | One action | Create version, then reassign |
| Reversible | No | Yes (delete the new version) |
| Best for | Universal increases | Selective or phased rollouts |
| Access needed | Expert level 5 | Clone permission |
| Menu location | Expert menu | Actions menu |
Rule of thumb: If everyone on a tariff gets the same increase on the same date, use in-place. If you need to move customers across gradually or keep old pricing for some, use clone.
Scope Options
Section titled “Scope Options”The scope controls which price fields are increased. Options vary by object type.
Call Tariffs
Section titled “Call Tariffs”| Scope | What is increased |
|---|---|
| Costs only | Per-unit rates (cost per minute, access charges, surcharges) on the tariff defaults and all individual rates |
| All charges (incl. connections/min/max) | Everything above, plus connection charges, minimum charges, and maximum charges |
Fixed Fee Tariffs
Section titled “Fixed Fee Tariffs”| Scope | What is increased |
|---|---|
| Recurring only | Rates with a recurring charge period |
| Recurring + connections | All rates, including one-off/connection charges |
Standard Features
Section titled “Standard Features”| Scope | What is increased |
|---|---|
| Recurring only | The recurring charge amount |
| Recurring + one-off (connections) | Both the recurring charge and the one-off (connection) charge |
Applying an Increase
Section titled “Applying an Increase”In-place (Apply Increase (In Place))
Section titled “In-place (Apply Increase (In Place))”- Open the call tariff, fixed fee tariff, or standard feature you want to increase
- Click Expert menu > Apply Increase (In Place)
- Fill in the form:
- Increase: The percentage to apply (e.g. 3.5 for a 3.5% increase)
- Apply To: Choose the scope (see Scope Options above)
- Effective Date (optional): The date the new prices should start applying. Leave blank to apply the increase immediately. See Scheduling an increase.
- Click Apply Increase (In Place)
If no effective date is given, the prices are updated immediately on the existing record. With an effective date, the existing rates are end-dated and new dated rates are added that take over on the chosen day.
Clone (Create Increased Version)
Section titled “Clone (Create Increased Version)”- Open the call tariff, fixed fee tariff, or standard feature you want to base the new version on
- Click Actions menu > Create Increased Version
- Fill in the form:
- Increase: The percentage to apply (e.g. 3.5 for a 3.5% increase)
- Apply To: Choose the scope (see Scope Options above)
- Effective Date (optional): The date the new version’s prices should start applying. Leave blank to apply the increase to the new version immediately. See Scheduling an increase.
- Click Create Increased Version
The platform creates the new version and takes you to it. You can then reassign customers or numbers to use the new version.
Scheduling an increase
Section titled “Scheduling an increase”Both increase actions accept an Effective Date. When supplied:
- The increased prices apply only from that date onwards. Calls or charges rated against this tariff before the effective date keep the old prices.
- Under the bonnet, each affected rate gets a matching Start Date, and the rate it replaces is given an End Date of the day before. See Dated rates on call tariffs and Dated rates on fixed fee tariffs for how the rating engine picks the active rate.
- Leaving the effective date blank keeps the original behaviour: prices update immediately and apply to the next call or charge rated.
Recommended workflow: schedule the increase for the date it should start applying (typically the day customer notice runs out), and run the action as soon as the notice is given. The new prices then go live automatically on the chosen day, without any further action needed.
Back-dating (setting an effective date in the past) is allowed for call tariffs but does not automatically re-price calls that have already been rated. Use the Recalculate Calls From Start Date action on the affected rates if you need that. For fixed fee tariffs, charges already raised on previous invoices are not retroactively adjusted: you must raise an adjustment by hand.
Tracking Fields
Section titled “Tracking Fields”When an increase is applied, the platform records two fields on the tariff or standard feature. These appear in the System Information section and require expert level 7 to edit.
- Original Tariff / Original Fixed Fee Tariff / Original Standard Feature: For in-place increases, this points to the record itself. For cloned versions, this points back to the source record. Use this to trace the history of a tariff through successive increases.
- Increase %: The percentage that was applied to create this version (e.g. 3.5%).
- Annual Increase Effective Date: The date the increase starts applying. Populated when the action was run with an effective date; blank for immediate increases. Useful when reporting on which tariffs have a scheduled change still pending.
These fields are set automatically by the increase actions.
Annual Increase Profile and Reference Date
Section titled “Annual Increase Profile and Reference Date”Customers, numbers, services, and features each have two informational fields for tracking annual increase schedules:
- Annual Increase Profile: Records which type of annual increase applies. Options are CPI, RPI, Fixed Amount, or None.
- Annual Increase Reference Date: Records when the next annual increase is due.
These fields are for reference and reporting only. They do not trigger price changes automatically. Use them to:
- Track which customers are on CPI-linked, RPI-linked, or fixed increases
- Run reports to identify accounts due for a price review
- Record contractual obligations for audit purposes
You can filter and report on these fields to identify which accounts need their next annual increase applied. For a step-by-step guide to using these fields with the Service Charges Report and bulk import to apply increases across your features, see Managing Annual Price Increases.
For more on where these fields appear:
- Customers (Account Details section)
- Numbers (Number Details section)
- Services (Service Details section)
- Features (Date Details section)
API Reference
Section titled “API Reference”Increase actions are available through the API. See the endpoint pages for full parameters, curl examples, and response details:
- Tariffs Endpoint:
applyIncreaseandcreateIncreaseVersionactions - Fixed Fee Tariffs Endpoint:
applyIncreaseandcreateIncreaseVersionactions - Standard Features Endpoint:
applyIncreaseandcreateIncreaseVersionactions
Practical Examples
Section titled “Practical Examples”Annual CPI increase across all customers
Section titled “Annual CPI increase across all customers”Your standard call tariff covers all customers, and your contract allows a CPI-linked increase. This year’s CPI figure is 4.2%.
- Open your standard call tariff
- Use Expert menu > Apply Increase (In Place)
- Enter 4.2% with scope “Costs only”
- The tariff’s per-minute rates are all increased by 4.2%
All customers on this tariff get the new rates from the next billing run. No reassignment needed.
Retail markup on a wholesale tariff
Section titled “Retail markup on a wholesale tariff”You have a wholesale call tariff from your carrier and want to create a retail tariff with a 40% markup.
- Open your wholesale call tariff
- Use Actions menu > Create Increased Version
- Enter 40 with scope “Costs only”
- A new tariff is created (e.g. “Wholesale National (+40% costs)”)
- Rename the new tariff to something customer-facing (e.g. “Retail National”)
- Assign the retail tariff to your customers
The wholesale tariff stays unchanged. If the carrier updates their rates, you can repeat the process to create a new retail version.
Selective increase for new contracts only
Section titled “Selective increase for new contracts only”You want to increase line rental for new customers but keep existing customers on current pricing.
- Open your standard fixed fee tariff
- Use Actions menu > Create Increased Version
- Enter 5% with scope “Recurring only”
- A new tariff is created (e.g. “Standard Fixed Fees (+5% recurring)”)
- Assign the new tariff to new customers going forward
- Existing customers stay on the original tariff at the old prices
Standard feature increase with connection charges
Section titled “Standard feature increase with connection charges”You increase both the recurring and one-off charges on a standard feature used for line rentals.
- Open the “Business Line Rental” standard feature
- Use Expert menu > Apply Increase (In Place)
- Enter 3.5% with scope “Recurring + one-off (connections)”
- Both the recurring charge (e.g. £12.00 becomes £12.42) and the one-off charge are increased
All features linked to this standard feature that inherit their charges pick up the new values at the next billing run.
Related Pages
Section titled “Related Pages”- Call Tariffs: usage-based pricing for calls and metered services
- Fixed Fee Tariffs: centralised pricing for non-usage charges
- Standard Features: reusable templates for feature pricing
- Features: managing one-off and recurring charges
- Non-Usage Charges: how charges flow through the platform