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Getting started with usage metering

Getting started with usage metering

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Now that you have identified the product to measure and the usage data to process, let’s look at the high-level steps that will guide you to design your usage metering solution.

High-level steps

Working with usage metering involves the following high-level steps, which need to be executed in a defined order:

  1. Create meter types

  2. Create a stream for feeding data to the meters

  3. Assign meters to customers (using APIs)

  4. Begin processing usage data

1. Create meter types

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Create meter type dialog

Define what you want to measure by setting up a Meter type for each product or service.
When creating a Meter type, specify:

  • The unit for usage aggregation (e.g., minutes, days, coffee cups)

  • The aggregation method

  • Any thresholds and the total capacity

  • The reset frequency for meters and when data should be sent downstream

You can create Meter types using the graphical interface or via APIs integrated with your product catalog

See:

2. Create a stream to feed data into meters

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A stream with a Meter processor function

After setting up Meter types, create a stream to ingest and route usage data to the correct meters.

Configure your stream to:

  • Collect, validate, enrich, and format usage data as needed.

  • Route data to the appropriate meters using ‘guiding rules’.

  • When a meter’s reset period occurs, forward the accumulated metered records to external systems (such as billing or analytics) using a forwarding function after the Meter processor.

  • Optionally, add additional functions to further modify data before it is sent externally.

  • If any thresholds are met (for example, a usage threshold), selected data is immediately sent to downstream systems. This is called a partial push; the meter continues to accumulate usage until the next scheduled reset.

See:

3. Assign meters to customers (using APIs)

 

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API reference documents

When a customer signs up for a metered product, create a meter (bucket) to track their usage.
To create a meter:

  • Use a unique User ID (e.g., phone number or email address) to identify the customer

  • Create meters exclusively via APIs, which can be integrated with your external systems (like a customer registration portal or ERP).

See https://infozone.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/DAZ/pages/866353153.

4. Start processing usage data

With all components configured, start your stream to begin collecting, processing, and forwarding usage data. This process generates the golden record for each customer’s usage.

See https://infozone.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/DAZ/pages/866189313.