This SOAP web service allows a reseller to:
Thus allowing zero administration for the reseller.
https://www.simplylookupadmin.co.uk/WebServiceCustomerPortal.asmx
When using the Reseller Portal we require the following:
Reseller Customer Portal contents:
Included as part of the example code download is a VB.NET example program, in the "reseller" directory, which demonstrates the functionality of the “Reseller Customer Portal”.
The following section discusses this:
Screen shot of example program:
First, enter your Reseller ID and account password in the top part of the window. The program will remember this data.
This should typically be done when a customer opens an account on your system
Enter Company name
For the purpose of this example, we have simply filled in example company details. Of course, if this was a fully implemented system then the full address would be required. We require Company name and Full address to return to the royal mail. This is part of our Terms and Conditions.
Now press the [Create] button. The Customer Portal will now create a customer record under your Reseller Account. This new account is marked as a test account, which allows you to use the reset function to clear any purchases of postcode software. We also ignore any purchases on the accounts marked as a test account.
See “Customer Record” for more information
The Portal now returns a customer ID, which we use to update/identify the account in later operations. Also, the DataKeys are returned, which are used by our standard address calls (SOAP, COM and HTTP/XML) to identify the user of the data. These should be stored in your database.
The one beginning with “I” should be used for internal use, for employees of a company, and “W” for public-facing web sites. These should be used for address queries to be fired to our server.
See “Create Customer” and “Customer Record” for more information
This should typically be done when the customer amends their details in your database to make sure our details are up to date.
Use the [Get] and [Update] buttons to demonstrate this.
See “Update Customer”, “Get Customer Details” and “Customer Record” for more information
This can be used for testing, to remove any purchases against the account. This is covered later in walkthrough.
The [Get license details] button will show any purchases/licenses the customer has purchased. This is covered later in walkthrough.
The lower part of the window demonstrates the get pricing and purchasing functions.
When using our programming interface, you must use the DataKeys prefixed with "I" to access the data. This key is returned in the customer record we saw earlier.
Reseller Customer Portal functionality will allow requests for the current Internal license pricing.
The lower part of the example program demonstrates the internal user license and credit packs purchases.
Example 1 Get prices for internal users:
Having pressed [Get prices for Internal USERS] shows a demo window:
Enter 3 users and press one of the buttons in the middle of the window to get the appropriate prices.
The suggested price to the customer and the price to you is shown in the lower part of the window.
See “Get Price Internal Users function” for more information
Example 2 Get prices for internal users for specific postcode areas only:
Having pressed [Get prices for Internal USERS] the following window appears:
Enter 3 users, 2 areas and press [Get price for Full Address] button to get the appropriate prices.
Example 3 Get prices for internal credit packs
Having pressed [Get prices for Internal CREDITS] the following window appears:
Enter the number of credits you want a price for. In this example 500. The packs are available in 500 and 5000 credits.
See “Get Price Internal Credit Packs” for more information
Having created an account, the customer can purchase during or after the 30 day evaluation period, via the functionality of the Reseller Customer Portal.
Example 1 Purchase Internal user licenses
Having pressed [Buy Internal USERS License] the following window appears:
If we enter 2 users, and press [Purchase Full License], then the system will purchase a 2 user license. The function returns the reseller discounted price we expect to be transferred to our bank account, including VAT.
Please put the Customers License ID in the reference of any payments for the reconciliation process.
After a year this would need renewing.
On the first purchase of user license, the reseller needs to store an event trigger for 12 months in the future, to purchase another license (with the renewal flag set), charge the customer and pay simply postcode. After the purchase, the event trigger would need moving on 12 months, for the next renewal.
The reseller should also be able to handle more than one license for the customer, as the customer may purchase another license. Thus end up with two, or more renewal dates.
The license will be immediately available for use. Calling for the License details using the [Get License Details] button on the previous window will result in:
“System fully functional. Order in progress“ is returned at end of license details until we have reconciled the payment.
See “Account License Information” for more information
Use the [Reset Account] button, on the previous window, to clear any purchases during testing. See “Do Command function” for more information
This demo program can be used to reset test data while testing, etc.
Example 2 Purchase Internal user licenses for certain postcode areas:
First, we need to update the customer record with a list of Postcode areas the customer requires.
Enter two postcode areas, in the box shown above. Then press [Update]. This will now apply an area filter on the customer's account.
See “Get Adjacent Postcode Areas” for more information
If we enter 2 users, and press [Purchase Full License], then the system will purchase a 2 user license, for 2 postcode areas. The function returns the reseller discounted price we expect to be transferred to our bank account, including VAT.
Please put the Customers License ID in the reference of any payments for our reconciliation process.
After a year this would need renewal. It is the reseller's responsibility to renew annual license’s prior to the renewal date.
See “Purchase User license” for more information
The license will be instantly available. But calling for the License details, using the [Get License Details] button on the previous window will result in:
Until the payment has been reconciled. See “Account License Information” for more information
Example 3 Purchase Internal credit packs:
Having pressed [Buy Internal CREDITS] the following window appears:
If we enter 500 credits, and press [Purchase Full Credits], then the system will purchase a 500 credit pack. If we enter 1500, then it will purchase 3 packs of 500. The function returns the reseller discounted price we expect to be transferred to our bank account, including VAT.
Please put the Customers License ID in the reference of any payments for our reconciliation process. The level of these credit packs can be monitored easily, as the current balance is returned with every address query.
See “Purchase Internal Credit packs” for more information
The license will be instantly available. Using the [Get License Details] button on the previous window will result in:
“System fully functional. Order in progress…” is returned at end of license details until we have reconciled the payment.
When using our programming interface, you must use the DataKeys prefixed with "W" to access the data.
This key is returned in the customer record we saw earlier.
Reseller Customer Portal functionality will allow requests for the current Internal license pricing. The lower part of the example program demonstrates the internal user license and credit packs purchase.
Example Get Price of Web Credit Packs:
Having pressed [Get prices for web CREDITS] the following window appears:
Because the web credit packs are sold in different sizes, then the function returns a series of pack sizes and suggested prices to the customer. Note the Pack size and Prices are tagged with and so the returned data can be parsed, or simply displayed.
When making a call to purchase a pack, simply supply the line number for the appropriate pack. Thus to purchase 5,000 credits, the line number would be 3. See “Get Price of External Use Packs” for more information.
Example Purchase 5,000 Web Credit Pack:
Having pressed [Buy web CREDITS] the following window appears:
If we enter 3, which corresponds to the 3rd line returned by the function of the price, see get price walkthrough in the previous section.
Press [Purchase Full Credits], then the system will purchase a 5,000 full address credit pack. The function returns the reseller discounted price we expect to be transferred to our bank account, including VAT.
The level of these credit packs can be monitored easily, as the current balance is returned with every address query.
See “Purchase Web Credit Packs” for more information
The license will be instantly available. Calling for the License details, using the [Get License Details] button on the previous window will result in:
“System fully functional. Order in progress” is returned at end of license details until we have reconciled the payment.