ZOEY - Ceases and the Change Queue
Why ceases need their own step
Ceasing an asset in The Layer does not stop ZOEY billing it. ZOEY stops when the service is disconnected in ZOEY. A cease that is missed means the customer keeps being billed for a service they no longer have, which leads to credits, disputes and a poor experience.
The Layer tracks every cease on the ZOEY billing route in the Change Queue until it is marked Processed, and shows overdue ones in red, so none is forgotten. For general information on the Change Queue, see Tracking Asset Changes Using the Change Queue.
A routine that keeps ZOEY in step
Every week, open the Change Queue on the ZOEY billing route and look for Overdue Cease Date changes.
Disconnect those services in ZOEY, with the button or the file described below.
Make sure each change is set to Processed. The button does this for you.
Every month, run the ZOEY Reconciliation and work through Ceased in The Layer, still active in ZOEY. See ZOEY - Billing tab, contacts and reconciliation.
The Change Queue on the ZOEY billing route
Choose the ZOEY billing route in the Change Queue. Ceases appear as Cease Date changes, with two extra columns:
Overdue: shown in red when the cease date has passed and the change is not yet Processed. These are services that ZOEY may still be billing.
Service Code: the ZOEY service the asset was connected as when it was released.
Each Overdue change is a service that has ceased in The Layer but may not have been disconnected in ZOEY yet.
Disconnecting services in ZOEY
With the Disconnect Service button
ZOEY is installed with a ZOEY: Disconnect Service function that disconnects the ticked ceases in ZOEY for you. It is not switched on when ZOEY is installed, so that disconnecting stays a deliberate choice. An administrator can switch it on by adding a button for it on the Change Queue record type in Scriptable Functions settings. It then appears in the Automations menu of the Change Queue.
For each ticked change it:
Finds the ZOEY service: the one stored when the line was released, or the active service that carries the asset's ID.
Disconnects it at 23:59:59 on the cease date, the last day billed.
Sets the change's outcome to Processed.
A service that ZOEY already shows as switched off counts as done. Nothing is sent for a change that is not a Cease Date change, one already Processed, an asset with no cease date, or a service that cannot be found. The result window says what happened to each change.
If ZOEY refuses a disconnection that is dated in the future, run the button again on or after the cease date.
Automation Builder also has a Disconnect a ceased service in ZOEY recipe, if you prefer to run this from an automation.
With the ZOEY Disconnect Service file
Tick the Cease Date changes and export them with the ZOEY Disconnect Service file.
Disconnect the services in ZOEY, by upload or by hand. The file gives each change's service code and its disconnect date, which is the end of the cease date (23:59:59), along with The Layer's change, asset and customer IDs.
Back in the Change Queue, tick the same changes and set their outcome to Processed.
Processed sets billing to Ceased
When a Cease Date change on the ZOEY route is set to Processed, whether by hand or by the Disconnect Service button, the asset's recurring billing status on that route is set to Ceased. This only happens when the asset has a cease date.
Cease cases
If Cease cases is ticked on the ZOEY billing platform, ceasing a service on the ZOEY route raises a cease case for the finance team, so the cease is seen as soon as it is made. The cease case customisation must also be on.
New and Cease
When a service is replaced with a New and Cease, the service being replaced can be disconnected in ZOEY as part of the release of the new line. Tick Disconnect replaced services on the ZOEY billing platform to do this. It is disconnected at the end of its cease date. Otherwise, disconnect it through the Change Queue as described above.
Troubleshooting
What you see | What to do |
The Disconnect Service button is not in the Automations menu | It is off when ZOEY is installed. An administrator adds a button for ZOEY: Disconnect Service on the Change Queue record type. |
The service cannot be found | The asset was probably set up in ZOEY by hand. Disconnect it in ZOEY, then set the change to Processed. |
ZOEY refuses a future-dated disconnection | Run the button again on or after the cease date. |
A change stays Overdue after the service was disconnected in ZOEY | Set its outcome to Processed. Disconnecting in ZOEY by hand does not update The Layer. |
Audit trail
Outcomes set on ZOEY changes, including those set by the Disconnect Service button, are recorded on the customer's audit trail with the user who set them.