Billing My Customers? (Order Form Issues)

[VOIPoTim]

There are currently 2 options on the order form. Auto-order enabled or disabled.

If we could just get a 3rd option, with auto order still disabled, but allowing customers to browse and "request" a number (though still not guaranteed), that would be an easy solution requiring very little extra programming.

The problem is resellers would still have to pay for the number in order for us to order it. So the idea behind non-automatic is that if someone comes through and runs through a bunch of fake orders, the reseller wouldn't be stuck paying for a bunch of numbers (even if just 1 month).

[VOIPoTim]

With the auto-order disabled, the customer cannot see the list of available number... it just grays out.
So this order form won't even work for making reservations and then paying for them.
I have been asking the same question for 2 years now...
How are we supposed to sell these services if we can't show the customer that we have the number they want?
Either we can't show them, or we have to open up our pockets to fake account creation.

Tim, why doesn't VoIPo just develop an API for reseller integration?

I understand that you - eventually - want your system to be an all-in-one package for resellers, but until that day ever comes, please be a bit more considerate of our needs on this!

We keep all reseller feedback in mind and an API is on the list of things we will likely develop in the future. It's not something currently in development though so I can't give a timeline or ETA.

[GreenLantern]

We keep all reseller feedback in mind and an API is on the list of things we will likely develop in the future. It's not something currently in development though so I can't give a timeline or ETA.

My idea is not to actually let the customer "order" the number. Merely indicate to the reseller in a more seamless fashion, what number and rate center they would like. Then the reseller could process the order (or not).

[VOIPoTim]

My idea is not to actually let the customer "order" the number. Merely indicate to the reseller in a more seamless fashion, what number and rate center they would like. Then the reseller could process the order (or not).

I understand where you're going with it, but it's a lot more complicated than that.

The main problem is the number inventory would change too frequently and may not be available by the time the reseller processes the order.

The number inventory is shared by hundreds of other providers and services including Google Voice so it's rapidly changing. It's also a situation where even if the number is not already assigned, we can't just request that number from our carrier partner via their API. We can only pass the rate center and they pass back the available numbers and we have to choose one that they pass at multiple times.

The only way to really offer number selection is to order the number immediately when it's presented as available which is a big challenge since most resellers don't want to pay for numbers on orders that may not finish.