The SphereMail platform offers two pricing models for its operators: pay-per-user and revenue share. The SphereMail platform also offers three payment term options for its operators: a monthly subscription, a semiannual subscription, and a yearly subscription. Therefore, billing on the SphereMail platform consists of two components. The first billing component occurs between the customer and the operator. The second billing component occurs between the operator and SphereMail. These two components are standard in both pricing options offered.
The Pay-Per-User Pricing Model
For the first component (customers and operators), the billing
process functions according to the following:
- Billing methodology for monthly fees are divided into two charge events:
- The subscription charge:
Recurring billing, or subscription billing, collects payments monthly for platform access and use of the mail management software and its features for the customer service plan. Customers are invoiced, and the billing occurs via payment merchant for the upcoming month (in advance). The date that the customer activates their SphereMail account becomes their subscription renewal date. Therefore, they will be automatically charged at regular intervals going forward.
- The services charge:
Any additional services the customer opts into throughout the month, are charged (in arrears) on the customer's subscription renewal date.
- Billing methodology for semiannual fees are divided into two charge events:
- The subscription charge:
Recurring billing, or subscription billing, collects payments semiannually for platform access and use of the mail management software and its features for the customer service plan. Customers are invoiced, and the billing occurs via payment merchant for the upcoming 6 months (in advance). The date that the customer activates their SphereMail account becomes their subscription renewal date. Therefore, they will be automatically charged at regular intervals going forward.
- The services charge:
Any additional services the customer opts into throughout a given month are charged (in arrears) on the date the customer subscribed. For example, if the customer subscribed on the 15th of September for a semiannual plan, they will be charged for the additional services they used on the 15th of the following month (15th of October).
- Billing methodology for yearly fees are divided into two charge events:
- The subscription charge:
Recurring billing, or subscription billing, collects payments annually for platform access and use of the mail management software and its features for the customer service plan. Customers are invoiced, and the billing occurs via payment merchant for the upcoming 12 months (in advance). The date that the customer activates their SphereMail account becomes their subscription renewal date. Therefore, they will be automatically charged at regular intervals going forward.
- The services charge:
Any additional services the customer opts into throughout a given month are charged (in arrears) on the date the customer subscribed. For example, if the customer subscribed on the 15th of September for a yearly plan, they will be charged for the additional services they used on the 15th of the following month (15th of October).
*Note: The Notary service is also charged in arrears on the customer's subscription renewal date. However, the SpherePhone service and the Live Receptionist service have different billing cycles based on the date the customer activates them.
For the second component (operators and SphereMail), the billing process functions according to the following:
- Billing methodology for monthly fees are divided into two charge events:
- The subscription charge:
Recurring billing, or subscription billing, collects payments monthly for platform access and use of the mail management software and its features for the user license fees. Operators are invoiced and charged via the operator's credit card at the end of each month (in advance).
- The services charge:
The operator is charged the operator fees for all the services the customer utilizes throughout the month (in arrears) at the end of that month. The operator is also charged for any additional services the customer opts into throughout the month (in arrears) at the end of the month.
- Billing methodology for semiannual fees are divided into two charge events:
- The subscription charge:
Recurring billing, or subscription billing, collects payments semi-annually for platform access and use of the mail management software and its features for the user license fees. Operators are invoiced and charged via the operator's credit card at the end of the month of the subscription renewal (in advance).
- The services charge:
The operator is charged the operator fees for all the services the customer utilizes throughout any given month (in arrears) at the end of that month. The operator is also charged for any additional services the customer opts into throughout the month (in arrears) at the end of that month.
- Billing methodology for annual fees are divided into two charge events:
- The subscription charge:
Recurring billing, or subscription billing, collects payments annually for platform access and use of the mail management software and its features for the user license fees. Operators are invoiced and charged via the operator's credit card at the end of the month of the subscription renewal (in advance).
- The services charge:
The operator is charged for all the services the customer utilizes throughout any given month (in arrears) at the end of that month. The operator is also charged for any additional services the customer opts into throughout any given month (in arrears) at the end of that month.
*Note: SphereMail does not offer the option for Operators to disable the annual/semiannual pricing option and only enable the monthly one for their plans.
The Revenue Share Pricing Model
The revenue share pricing model is a simple model that allows operators to easily receive payments from their customers without a payment merchant. SphereMail is responsible for collecting payments from customers, consolidating them, and sending them to the operators.
For the first component (customers and operator), the billing process functions according to the following:
- Billing methodology for monthly fees are divided into two charge events:
- The subscription charge:
SphereMail collects payments monthly for platform access and use of the mail management software and its features for customers' service plans. The date customers activate their SphereMail accounts becomes their subscription renewal date. Therefore, they will be automatically charged by SphereMail at regular intervals going forward.
- The services charge:
Any additional services the customer opts into throughout the month, are charged (in arrears) on the customer's subscription renewal date.
- Billing methodology for semiannual fees are divided into two charge events:
- The subscription charge:
SphereMail collects payments semiannually for platform access and use of the mail management software and its features for customers' service plans. The date customers activate their SphereMail accounts becomes their subscription renewal date. Therefore, they will be automatically charged by SphereMail at regular intervals going forward.
- Any additional services the customer opts into throughout a given month are charged (in arrears) on the date the customer subscribed. For example, if the customer subscribed on the 15th of September for a semiannual plan, they will be charged for the additional services they used on the 15th of the following month (15th of October).
- Billing methodology for annual fees are divided into two charge events:
- The subscription charge:
SphereMail collects payments annually for platform access and use of the mail management software and its features for customers' service plans. The date customers activate their SphereMail accounts becomes their subscription renewal date. Therefore, they will be automatically charged by SphereMail at regular intervals going forward.
- Any additional services the customer opts into throughout a given month are charged (in arrears) on the date the customer subscribed. For example, if the customer subscribed on the 15th of September for an annual plan, they will be charged for the additional services they used on the 15th of the following month (15th of October).
*Note: SphereMail collects payments on behalf of the operator from their customers on a given month, consolidates these payments, deducts any additional services customers used throughout the month and SphereMail's 30% license fees, and manually submits them to the operator's bank account.
For the second component (operators and SphereMail), the billing process functions according to the following:
- SphereMail charges the operator 30% for the user license fees. The license fees and any additional services the operator's customers used on a given month are deducted from the customers' consolidated payments collected by SphereMail. The operator receives the final payment (net revenue) by the third week of the following month. For example, if SphereMail collected payments from an operator's subscribers throughout September, the operator will receive their net revenue by the end of October (by the third week of October).