Ameritech Summary Billing Service
Implementation Guide
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Ameritech Summary Billing Guide contains:
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Introduction ................................................................................................... 1
An Overview ................................................................................................. 2
Service Functionality ..................................................................................... 3
The Cost ........................................................................................................ 4
Ordering Procedures ...................................................................................... 5
Modifying an Existing Order ........................................................................ 6
Payment Procedures ...................................................................................... 7
Payment Amount Discrepancies ................................................................... 8
Delivery Support ........................................................................................... 8
Appendix A (Sample ASBS) ......................................................................... 9
Notes ............................................................................................................ 10
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Ameritech Summary Billing Service
Implementation Guide
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INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this ASBS Implementation Guide is to describe the Ameritech Summary
Billing Service. It describes, in detail, the procedures to follow from ordering the service
to paying the summary bill transmittal.
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Implementation Guide
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AMERITECH SUMMARY BILLING SERVICE OVERVIEW
What is Ameritech Summary Billing Service?
Ameritech Summary Billing Service (ASBS) offers Ameritech business customers like
you the option of receiving one summary bill for a chosen group of Ameritech billable
account numbers. The chosen group can be from any one or more of the five states in the
Ameritech region. This region consists of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and
Wisconsin.
Note: ASBS is for business accounts only; residential accounts can not be included
on an order. ASBS is limited to accounts billed from the ACIS Billing
System.
Advantages of the Ameritech Summary Billing Service:
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Eliminates the cumbersome task of paying multiple Ameritech standard
telephone bills
Saves time
Easy to read
Provides one summary bill for a chosen group of accounts that exist within
the Ameritech five state region
ASBS provides the variation of charges from the previous month
Restrictions of the Ameritech Summary Billing Service:
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ASBS is for business accounts only; residential accounts cannot be
included on ASBS
Each order can have up to 500 account numbers
Payment via Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) is not available
Payment via credit cards is not available
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AMERITECH SUMMARY BILLING SERVICE FUNCTIONALITY
Ameritech Summary Billing Service supplies regionally consolidated information on a
single paper bill. It allows Ameritech business customers like you to make one payment
for a grouping of Ameritech billable account numbers.
There is one line of information on the bill for each billable account number. The line
item contains the following information:
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Bill Number
Charges Billed Through Date
Previous Bill
Payments
Adjustments
Balance
Current Charges
Total Amount Due
Last Month Current Charges
Net Dollar Change
Percentage of Change
ID Code
A remittance page and a pre-addressed payment envelope are included with the
Ameritech Summary Billing Service. The remittance page includes grand totals for
Current Charges and Total Amount Due. The remittance page and payment should be
mailed, in the pre-addressed envelope provided, before the Payment Due Date.
If the pre-addressed envelope is not used, the remittance page and payment must be sent
to the following address:
AMERITECH ASBS
P.O. BOX 2356
SAGINAW, MI 48605-2356
Failure to send to this address will result in a delay of up to a two periods in processing
your payment.
(Appendix A contains an example of an Ameritech Summary Bill.)
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Implementation Guide
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THE COST OF AMERITECH SUMMARY BILLING SERVICE
When ordering the Ameritech Summary Billing Service, there is a non-recurring initial
setup fee of $50 per grouping for the establishment of the ASBS product.
After the initial setup, there is a recurring monthly transmittal fee of $10 per ASBS.
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AMERITECH SUMMARY BILLING SERVICE ORDERING PROCEDURES
For additional information on the Ameritech Summary Billing Service, please
contact your authorized Ameritech representative or Account Manager.
Here’s how you, the ASBS customer can place your order:
 Choose the Ameritech billable account numbers you wish to add to your ASBS order;
 Select an Effective Date on which the bill is to be processed each month;
 Provide an optional ID Code for each selected account number.
The chosen account numbers are consolidated onto one bill. Each ASBS order may
contain 1 to 500 Ameritech billable account numbers. An Ameritech Account Manager
will place these numbers onto an ASBS order. Data is gathered for every account
existing on an order for an entire collection period.
The Effective Date selected must be one of Ameritech’s ten common billing dates: 1, 4,
7, 10, 13, 16, 19, 22, 25, and 28. The bill date selected as the effective bill date
determines when the ASBS is to be processed each month.
The collection period starts the day after the chosen effective date and continues through
the corresponding effective date of the following month. For example, if you choose an
effective date of 1, data is collected from the 2nd of that month through the 1st of the
following month. (i.e. if the effective date is 10/1, data is collected 10/2 through 11/1.
The first ASBS is produced and mailed in November). Customers should not pay their
standard individual bills during this period (i.e., bills for 10/2 – 11/1 in the example).
An optional ID Code may be provided for each Ameritech billable account number. The
ID Code is a ten digit code chose to identify each account. Examples of ID Codes are:
 Store numbers
 Department numbers
 Location numbers
 Region numbers
The ID Code could be used to identify the physical location, or department that the
account number belongs to. You should provide the Ameritech Account Manager
with your optional ID Codes at the time you add the account number(s) to the ASBS
order. You may add or modify additional ID Codes by contacting an Ameritech
Account Manager.
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It takes a minimum of six weeks from the time the product is ordered to when the
first ASBS transmittal is received.
The date the first ASBS transmittal is received is dependent on the chosen effective date
and the day the order is made. For example, if you request an ASBS order on January 2,
2000 with the chosen effective date (processing bill date) of January 28, 2000, data will
be collected, for a one month period, starting January 29th and ending February 28th
(which is the selected processing date). The first ASBS will be mailed the first week
of March.
The collection period starts the day after the chosen effective date and continues through
the corresponding effective date of the following month. For example, with a chosen
effective date of January 28, 2000, the collection period is January 29th through February
28th. Any selected ASBS accounts having bill dates within this period should be paid
using the ASBS transmittal and not the standard Ameritech bill (i.e., January 28 –
February 28 in the example).
You will continue to receive your standard Ameritech bills along with your ASBS
transmittal; however, you do have two other options. You may request to receive the
summary pages of your standard bill or simply have your standard bill suppressed. After
receipt of the first ASBS transmittal, the standard bills and summary pages of the
standard bills for the ASBS order accounts will state the following: “DO NOT USE
THIS BILL FOR PAYMENT. ALTERNATE PAYMENT ARRANGEMENTS HAVE
BEEN MADE.”
MODIFYING AN EXISTING AMERITECH SUMMARY BILLING SERVICE
ORDER
You may have Ameritech account numbers added to or deleted from an existing ASBS
order. An Ameritech Account Manager should be contacted to make these modifications.
If an account is deleted from an ASBS order, it will not appear on the next transmittal. If
a new account is added to an ASBS during a collection period, the account information
may not appear on the next transmittal. Newly added accounts for which data is not
present will appear on the ASBS transmittal with the message “BILLING
INFORMATION HAS NOT BEEN RECEIVED – PLEASE PAY YOUR LOCAL
AMERITECH BILL FOR THIS ACCOUNT.” If the “Pay your local bill” message
appears, you should pay their local bill.
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Implementation Guide
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AMERITECH SUMMARY BILLING SERVICE PAYMENT PROCEDURES
Only the Ameritech billing telephone numbers listed on the ASBS transmittal are to be
paid to the ASBS Payment Center in Saginaw, Michigan. All other standard Ameritech
bills should be paid as normal.
To pay the ASBS transmittal:
1. Place the top page, the ASBS remittance page, of the ASBS along with the
payment into the pre-addressed payment envelope provided.
2. Do not include any non-ASBS bills with your payment. They should be paid in
their normal manner.
3. The payment should match the Total Amount Due of the ASBS statement.
4. Add postage and mail the payment so it is received by the Payment Due Date.
If the payment is not received by the payment due date, the payment may not be
reflected on the next ASBS transmittal causing an incorrect balance for the amount due.
(If this occurs pay the late charges.)
The address of the Ameritech Summary Billing Service Payment Center is:
AMERITECH ASBS
P.O. BOX 2356
SAGINAW, MI 48605-2356
Note: Failure to send to the above address may result in up to a two period delay in
processing your payment. When using an automated payment system, the
Subscription ID and Reference Number must be included on the check.
Please remember to include the ASBS remittance page.
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Implementation Guide
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PAYMENT AMOUNT DISCREPANCIES
If there is a billing discrepancy on the ASBS transmittal, you should call your Ameritech
Billing Representative to resolve the problem.
You are required to pay the total current charges by the due date listed on the transmittal.
Failure to pay the total current charges by the due date may result in discontinuance of
the ASBS service.
ASBS DELIVERY SUPPORT
Any questions regarding the delivery of ASBS should be directed to the Ameritech
Customer Support Help Desk:
1-888-800-6325 (Option 2)
Monday through Friday, 7AM to 6PM, CST
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Implementation Guide
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APPENDIX A (Sample ASBS)
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Implementation Guide
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NOTES
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