Managing VPN Subscriptions

Overview

This journey covers how a customer views and manages their VPN subscription in the portal. VPN is a router-based service that provides a pre-configured VPN connection to either the United States (San Francisco) or the United Kingdom (London), primarily for accessing region-specific streaming content. The subscription is a monthly rental with no long-term contract. Management is straightforward -- the portal shows subscription details and billing history.

Portal Flow

Viewing a VPN Subscription

Go to Subscriptions from the sidebar.
The subscriptions list shows all services. VPN subscriptions have product names like "SonixNet USA Remote Access VPN Service (Monthly)" or "SonixNet UK Remote Access VPN Service (Monthly)."
Click on a VPN subscription to open the detail page.
The detail page shows four stat cards across the top:
- Service Status -- Active, Pending, Suspended, etc.
- Billing Amount -- the monthly rental fee with the billing cycle label.
- Next Due Date -- when the next invoice is due.
- Registration Date -- when the VPN service was first activated.
Below the stat cards is a Billing History section showing all invoices related to this VPN subscription.

VPN subscriptions do not have a SIM Management tab or any special management dashboard. The detail page only shows the Overview & Billing view.

Understanding VPN Plans

VPN plans are simple. There are two region options:

VPN USA (San Francisco) -- routes traffic through a US server. WHMCS product ID 33, billed monthly.
VPN UK (London) -- routes traffic through a UK server. WHMCS product ID 54, billed monthly.

Each VPN order also includes a one-time VPN Activation Fee (WHMCS product ID 37, approximately 3,000 JPY). This activation fee covers the initial setup and router preparation.

Key points about the VPN service:

It is a router rental -- a physical pre-configured VPN router is shipped to the customer.
No technical setup is required by the customer (plug in and connect).
Any device connected to the VPN router's WiFi is routed through the VPN.
Content subscriptions (Netflix, Hulu, BBC iPlayer, etc.) are NOT included.
The service does not guarantee access to any specific streaming platform.
Monthly rental with no long-term contract -- the customer can cancel at any time.
Prices exclude 10% consumption tax.

VPN Subscription Billing

A typical VPN subscription consists of two WHMCS services from the same order:

Monthly VPN Service -- the recurring monthly charge (e.g., "SonixNet USA Remote Access VPN Service (Monthly)").
VPN Activation Fee -- a one-time charge (e.g., "SonixNet VPN Services (Account Activation Fee)").

Both appear in the subscriptions list. The activation fee will show a status of "Completed" after it has been paid, while the monthly service shows "Active" during the rental period.

Cancelling a VPN Subscription

VPN cancellation is not currently handled through a self-service portal flow in the same way as SIM or Internet cancellations. To cancel a VPN subscription, the customer should contact customer support through the support case system.

If a self-service cancellation flow is added in the future, it would follow a similar pattern to the Internet cancellation flow (select a cancellation month, confirm, submit).

What Happens in WHMCS

Action	WHMCS Impact
View subscription	The subscription data comes from WHMCS (product name, status, amount, billing cycle, next due date, registration date). Data is cached for 5-10 minutes.

Where to find VPN services in WHMCS:

Go to Clients > [Client] > Products/Services.
VPN services have product names:
- "SonixNet USA Remote Access VPN Service (Monthly)" (WHMCS product ID 33)
- "SonixNet UK Remote Access VPN Service (Monthly)" (WHMCS product ID 54)
The activation fee appears as: "SonixNet VPN Services (Account Activation Fee)" (WHMCS product ID 37).
Both the monthly service and the activation fee are part of the same WHMCS Order.

What Happens in Salesforce

Action	Salesforce Impact
View subscription	No Salesforce read for basic subscription display (comes from WHMCS).
Order VPN	A Salesforce Order is created with Order_Type__c referencing VPN. Order items link to VPN Product2 records. The Order tracks the WHMCS Order ID and service IDs.

Where to find VPN data in Salesforce:

Order: VPN orders contain OrderItems linked to VPN Product2 records. Check for items with SKUs like "VPN-REMOTE-ACCESS-USA-SF" or "VPN-REMOTE-ACCESS-UK-LONDON."
Product2: VPN products have Product2Categories1c = "VPN". The VPN_Regionc field stores the region (USA-SF or UK-London). WH_Product_ID__c maps to the WHMCS product.
Opportunity: A related Opportunity may exist depending on the sales workflow, tracking the VPN service lifecycle.

Key Things to Verify

Subscription Detail Page

VPN subscriptions do NOT show a SIM Management tab.
The four stat cards show correct values matching WHMCS.
The billing amount matches the expected monthly VPN fee.
Billing history shows both the recurring monthly charges and the one-time activation fee invoice.
The product name clearly identifies the VPN region (USA or UK).

Subscriptions List

VPN subscriptions appear in the subscriptions list alongside SIM and Internet subscriptions.
The VPN activation fee appears as a separate subscription entry with status "Completed" (after payment).
The monthly VPN service shows status "Active" during the rental period.
Search and status filters work correctly for VPN subscriptions.

Billing Verification

The first billing cycle includes both the activation fee and the first month's rental.
Subsequent months only show the monthly rental charge.
The billing cycle is shown as "Monthly" for the service and "One-time" for the activation fee.

Cross-Service Verification

A customer can have VPN, SIM, and Internet subscriptions simultaneously.
VPN subscriptions are counted in the dashboard subscription statistics (Active, Completed counts).
The subscription stats on the subscriptions list page correctly include VPN services in the totals.

7.0 KiB Raw Blame History