A customer in Atera is the base entity, and all other functionalities rely on the correct initial creation of a customer. Once you've added a customer, you can add the customer's contacts and devices, install Atera agents, and begin monitoring your customer's devices.

Create a Customer

Creating customers is available to users with admin permissions.

To create a customer:

1. From the New dropdown, select Customer.

The New Customer page appears.

2. Add the customer's name.

Note: Click Show more to view and fill in the optional fields.

Optional Fields:

• Rank: For internal purposes. The customer Rank has NO IMPACT within the Atera system, and all customers are processed/handled/viewed in exactly the same way, regardless of the rank you choose for them.
• Domains: Automatically associate incoming support email with the customer and assign them as company contacts (list domains without the ‘@’ symbol).
• Business ID Number: Add a business ID number for tax identification purposes.
• Phone, Fax, Address, City, Country, State, Zip Code

3. Click Next.

To create a contract (optional):

It's time to create a contract for the customer. A contract spells out the how, when, and how much your customer will be billed. It’s optional but recommended, so you can fully use all of Atera’s professional services automation (PSA) features, such as seeing which support tickets need attention, as well as reporting on your response/resolution times.

4. Give your contract a name. 

5. Select the contract type from the dropdown menu.

Contract types:

• Retainer/Flat fee: This is the most popular contract type. It's used to charge customers a flat periodic rate that includes a predefined set of support services. Learn more
• Hourly: This contract is used to charge a customer for work-hours based on a specific hourly rate. This is a standard Break/Fix model. Learn more
• Block hours: This contract is used to bill a customer for a block of working hours at a specified price per hour. During the billing period, of the number of hours consumed is deduced from the purchased "Block." There are options to both roll-over hours not used, or charge an overage rate for excessive consumption. Learn more
• Block money: This contract is used when you want to charge a customer in advance. The customer pays for a block related to a specified hourly rate. As hours are used, money is deducted from the block based on the hourly rate. Learn more
• Remote monitoring: This contract is used to charge a customer based on the number of monitored devices, multiplied by a selected rate. Learn more
• Online Backup: This contract is used for billing a customer for the usage of Atera's integrated Online Backup. The contract automatically calculates the usage. Learn more
• Project: One-time fee: This contract is used to bill a customer an inclusive flat fee for a project, and the price is agreed upon prior to starting the project. Learn more
• Project: Hourly rate: This contract is used to charge a customer a set hourly rate for work on a specific project. Learn more

6. Fill out the rest of the contract details. 

Note: Click Show more to view and fill in the optional fields, which are identical across contract types.

7. Click Next.

To create an SLA (optional):

It's time to create a Service Level Agreement (SLA) and threshold profile for the customer. The SLA sets customer expectations by setting the initial response time and expected close time for a ticket. Learn more about SLAs

8. Select the SLA from the dropdown or add a new SLA

9. Select the alert threshold profile. This profile determines the alerts you receive about your customer’s devices. Learn more about alert threshold profiles

Note: SLAs and threshold profiles can be added or modified later.

10. Click Next.

To add a contact (optional):

It's time to add a contact. A contact is required to use some basic features, like opening a ticket. 

11. Add the first name, last name, and email address. Click Show more to view and fill in the optional fields.

Your new customer has been created, and now appears in the Customers page.

Import Customers in Bulk

You can also import your customers, contacts, and assets in bulk to streamline the process of incorporating your existing business data into Atera. To learn more about how to import customers in bulk, see Import data to Atera 

Manage your Customer

Once you've created the customer, it's time to manage certain customer permission and security settings.

Manage the main contact

To set the main contact for the customer:

1. From Customers (on the side panel), click the customer where you'd like to add a new contact.

The Customer page appears. 

2. From the Contacts tab, select the contact. 

4. Under Permissions, toggle Set as Main Contact.

To set tickets to be created by the main contact only:

1. From Customers (on the side panel), select a customer.

The Customer page appears. 

3. From the Overview tab, select Only main contacts can create tickets. 

Note:

• This applies only to tickets raised via email. It will not affect ticket creation via the Customer Portal.
• Main contacts can view tickets belonging to other contacts within the same customer. This access is facilitated through the Customer Portal, where tickets from the same customer can be viewed.