techSHIP Support

There are several scenarios where you might need to temporarily switch from one Carrier to another, such as managing a short-term service disruption, testing a new provider, or handling specific seasonal demand. This guide provides a step-by-step workflow to seamlessly manage a temporary Carrier transition in techSHIP, from activating the replacement Carrier to restoring your original setup afterward. 

This article is divided into the following sections:

1. How to Quickly Activate a Replacement Carrier
   1. Add and Configure the Replacement Carrier's Billing Account
   2. Review and Update Rules (OMRs and Rule Sets)
   3. Configure Rate Shopping Settings
      1. For the Original Carrier
      2. For the Replacement Carrier
2. How to Restore the Original Carrier Setup
   1. Restore Original Business Rules (OMRs and Rule Sets)
   2. Restore Rate Shopping Settings

I. HOW TO QUICKLY ACTIVATE A REPLACEMENT CARRIER

This section covers the process of setting up a replacement Carrier and updating your settings to temporarily pause the use of the original one.

i. Add and Configure the Replacement Carrier's Billing Account

First, ensure the replacement Carrier is ready for use. This follows the standard three-phase Carrier setup process:

• Phase 1 & 2: Onboarding and Baseline Account Setup
  If this is a new Carrier for your portal, follow the standard Onboarding and Baseline Account setup instructions as detailed in techSHIP supported Carriers - Master List [Guides List].
• Phase 3: Billing Account Setup
  For each of your required Clients, you can either:
  • Create a new Billing Account by following the standard procedure, or
  • Clone an existing Billing Account from another Client using the following guide: How to Copy/Clone Billing Accounts from Client to Client [Step-by-Step guide].
     
    NOTE: Cloning a Billing Account speeds up the process, but requires you to carefully review the cloned account's options.

     

On each replacement Billing Account, carefully fine-tune the configuration as needed.

NOTE: To learn more about the Billing Account's general options, refer to How to configure the Billing Account General Options tab [Step-by-Step guide].

ii. Review and Update Rules (OMRs and Rule Sets)

Check if any Rule logic is still instructing techSHIP to use the original carrier (for example, by "hardcoding" a specific Service Code) and adjust the configuration to prevent that from happening.

There are several ways to address this, depending on the situation:

• Update the Conditions so the rule no longer applies. For instance, adjust them to ensure the rule will not be triggered.

• Edit the Service Code so it no longer forces the use of the original carrier.

• Rework the Rule's logic if its behavior needs to be fully reimplemented.

• Disable the Rule entirely (available for Rule Sets only) if it is no longer needed.

NOTE: Before making any changes, export the existing Rules as a backup. This will allow you to restore them easily. For more details, refer to How to Export and Import OMR rules [Step-by-step guide].

This review should include the following:

• Client-Level OMRs
  Review any OMRs that assign a specific Service Code and update them following the steps described in Order Management Rules (OMR) [Step-by-Step Guide].
• Portal-Level Rule Sets
  If you are using global rules, review the Rule Sets to check whether the original carrier is referenced and update the logic as needed. For detailed instructions, see How to set up Portal Global OMR rules [Step-by-step guide].

iii. Configure Rate Shopping Settings

If you are using Rate Shopping, update the preferences for both Carriers to complete the switch.

a. For the Original Carrier

1. Navigate to each original Carrier's Billing Account.

2. Uncheck Enable Rate Shopping.

This will prevent techSHIP from selecting this carrier during the rate shopping process.

b. For the Replacement Carrier

1. Navigate to each replacement Carrier's Billing Account and enable Rate Shopping.

2. If you use Restrictions (e.g., to include or exclude specific services), configure them in the Restrictions tab. For a detailed guide, refer to How to use Advanced Rate Shopping restrictions [Guide].

II. HOW TO RESTORE THE ORIGINAL CARRIER SETUP

Once you are ready to resume operations with your original Carrier, follow these steps to revert the changes.

i. Restore Original Business Rules (OMRs and Rule Sets)

Revert the temporary changes you made to your Rules logic either manually or automatically:

• Manually
  Review the OMRs and Rule Sets that were modified in Section I.ii and update them to revert your changes.
• Automatically
  • Delete or Disable any Rule specifically created for the temporary Carrier.
    
  • If you previously disabled a Rule Set, you can now re-enable it.
  • If you exported your Rules, import the original file to quickly restore the previous logic.
     
    NOTE: For instructions on the import process, refer to How to Export and Import OMR rules [Step-by-step guide].

     

ii. Restore Rate Shopping Settings

Finally, if applicable, re-enable the original Carrier for Rate Shopping: navigate to each of its Billing Accounts and check Enable Rate Shopping.

If the replacement Carrier is no longer needed for this workflow, you can either uncheck Enable Rate Shopping on each of its Billing Accounts to keep it as a backup, or delete the Billing Account entirely.