Product Bundles are groups of items (products or services) defined by the user. These bundles can then be assigned to other items within inventory. This helps salespeople when creating quotations by providing visibility of related items e.g. handsets for a fixed line, or bolt-ons for a mobile tariff.
Above - Two items (A and B) have access to a bundle containing items C, D and E.
Bundle types and how they can help you!
There are three types of Product Bundle.
This page serves as an introduction to bundles and covers common functionality between the different types. For an in-depth look at each, please click the bundle type name below.
1. Linked Items
The first type is Linked Items. The purpose of this is to prompt sales team to quote for products and services that might be selling as a package or might be required for a complete sale.
You can link items across base categories - for example, building a fixed line deal might require Handsets, PoE switches, broadband deals might also require routers and so on.
As a user, you can define Linked Item bundles that group items into logical bundles that will assist the sales team in selecting the right companion items.
2. Child Services
The second type is Child Services. This type allows the linking of child services to parent items - for example, linking a bolt-on to a mobile tariff. Bundles provide visibility of potential child assets appropriate to parent tariffs when creating a quotation. For example, additional data, minutes or texts, or roaming etc.
One benefit of linking the child services to the parent tariffs through this set up is that the system will retain this parent/child link all the way through quotation, sales order and Data Capture stages. This improves visibility of the relationships between parent and child items.
Child services are only applicable to services - products cannot be parents or children. They cannot be added to child service bundles.
3. Packages
Packages offer a way to bundle items together in a way that offers special functionality to the user.
They allow products and services to be optionally hidden on quotes, and excluded from billing / invoicing.
They allow fixed pre-set package bundles to be defined so that they may be more quickly added to quotations. This includes the ability to set default quantities of each item.
Permissions
Users must have permissions to access Settings in order to amend and create bundles.
Frequently-Asked Questions
Can I assign multiple bundles to one service?
A service can only have one bundle assigned to it - parent child, linked, or package.
Can one item exist within multiple bundles?
Yes, there is no limit to how many bundles an item can be part of.
How can I have an item added to / removed from a bundle?
Speak to your administrator in The Layer. Settings access is required to amend a bundle.
Can I import a bundle?
No, but please check the section below for tips on how to make bundle creation quicker and easier.
Does a child service (e.g. bolt-on) inherit the parent's term?
No, you can set any term length for the child when you add it.
Tips and Advice
Keep your bundles up-to-date
Bundles are most useful when they are kept up-to-date, so make sure to remove outdated services, and add any new ones.
Name your bundles something sensible
Bundles will be easier to manage if their names are a reflection of what they contain. This will also make it easier when assigning a tariff to parent items.
Bundle creation - Use search filters
Use the filters on the price book to get a view of tariffs that are likely to be relevant. For example, you may want to create a bundle of O2 data bolt-ons, as below. For child service bundles, we also suggest filtering on non-core services.
