Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Introducing Usage-Based Packages

USAGE-BASED PACKAGES

We're introducing a new package type, called Usage-Based packages.

When a customer buys a Usage-Based package, the access will start from the first login and only logged-in minutes will count. User can logout and continue to use the internet later within the given expiration date. These type of packages usually have higher prices because unused minutes can be used later (within the given expiration date).

However - if possible - we still recommend to use our old package type (which is called Time-Based packages now). Here's why:

Usage-Based package requires more ‘knowledge’ from the user because he/she must learn how to logout properly. While we make efforts to make this simple to understand, there will be cases maybe when a user states that he logged out while the account shows the opposite. After 10 minutes of idle time we log out the user automatically, however it doesn’t certainly mean that the user will be logged out if he/she just close the browser window, because Windows and other operating systems are communicating with remote computers in the background (typical examples are Windows’ auto update system, or mail clients that check e-mails in every 5 minutes for example).

So this will raise more problems - use this only if you're sure that it is necessary.

All default packages remain 'Time-Based', so you have to define this usage-based package to use it. If you’re creating a Usage-Based package you also have to define how long the access will be valid, for example if you define a 1-hour Usage-Based Custom Package with a 1-week expiration it means that within 1 week the user can use the internet for 1 hour and only the logged-in minutes count (so he can log out and can 'pause' his usage).

You will also notice same changes in the Start pages reflecting to these changes.

If you need to help to your customers, we'll let you know the ways to log out:

- Click on the 'Logout' link in the popup
- Type 'exit' in the browser window - Start Page will be displayed, then click on the Logout link on the left side
- Type 'www.hotspotsystem.com' in the browser and click on the 'Logout' on the left side.


10 MINUTES FREE TRIAL IS NOW JUST 5 MINUTES

We decided to shorten the free trial period. 10 minutes were enough for lot of people to check mail and make some quick replies, so conversion was just not good enough. 5 minutes is enough to log in and check it it's working properly.


UPDATED DOCUMENTATION

Be sure to download the new Operator Guide, we made a major upgrade on this so it is now containing all the features of the Operator Area in a pdf format.

Click here to download the Operator Guide

Thursday, August 9, 2007

News for Operators: Improved transactions list and CSV export

IMPROVED TRANSACTION LIST + CSV EXPORT

We have improved the transaction list so you will get a cleaner view of your transactions.

From the main page you will see the last 10 successful purchases and refunds only.
When you go to the 'Transactions' menu you can filter transactions by location and by the result of transactions.
You can also export this filtered list in a CSV format with all the important information you need, including transaction's and customer's details. We'll update the documentation of the Operator Area in the next few days so you'll get a detailed documentation of these new features.

Currently these filters are available in the 'Transactions' menu:

- Successful Purchases and Refunds
- Successful Credit Card Payments (this list will not show Pre-paid card activatios)
- Successful Pre-Paid Activations
- Free Trials
- Cancelled Purchases (when a user reached the payment page but cancelled the transaction)
- All Completed Transactions (this list includes all transactions which have been completed (successful purchases, free trials or cancelled purchases)
- All Completed+Not Completed Transactions (includes the list above + all transactions that haven't been completed, for example the user registered but never completed the payment for some reason (credit card was declined or the user didn't pushed the PAY NOW button, etc.)

The last was the default list that we used previously, but we called all transactions 'UNSUCCESSFUL' that were not completed. Please note that if a transaction was not completed it doesn't necessary mean that the user couldn't pay. Some of the possible reasons of not completed transactions:

- The user registers just to see how the system works and pays at a later time (sometimes he never reaches the payment page)
- The user's credit card is declined, then he comes back later and tries an other card
- The user re-registering instead of logging in with his previously registered username
- The user's cannot finish the transaction with PayPal (you can read more about PayPal's 'security' features here. )

So there are a lot of cases when some 'not finished' transactions are followed by a successful one which means the user could pay for the service successfully.


GMT & LOCAL TIME USAGE

All of our reports and lists are in GMT +00:00 time. If you set your local time in the 'Settings' menu you can have the transactions displayed in your local time. GMT and local times are included in your exported CSV file, but please note that when you select a date period it will filter transactions based on GMT time.


WI-FI SHOP

You can now buy HotSpot In a Box and Pre-Paid cards in your own currency via Worldpay. If your currency is not available the amouns will be converted in USD.