DialogWeb Help: How Do I Keep Track of Costs?

Displaying Cost Information
To display cost information, click Cost from any DialogWeb page.

Using SET NOTICE
Use the SET NOTICE command to display cost estimate information for TYPE and PRINT commands that exceed the system default of $100.00.

Using Subaccount Billing
Subaccount billing lets you keep track of your online costs by specifying an account name or number. When you logon to DialogWeb, you can enter an account name or number in the Subaccount text box. You can also enter the SET SUBACCT command in the Dialog Command text box at any time during your search session.

Subaccounts let you specify account names or numbers so that costs can be billed back to departments, projects, or individuals. When you use this feature, special reports are created with your monthly Dialog invoice. There are two reports, a summary by subaccount for all user numbers associated with your Dialog billing account, and a user number summary that is arranged by subaccount. These reports are delivered to you electronically.

The subaccount information you enter when you logon or enter the SET SUBACCT command specifies the subaccount name for charges for your current search session. The subaccount name is an alphanumeric designation of up to 32 characters and can include blanks, leading zeros, and any punctuation except semicolons (;) and question marks (?), for example, set subacct michael 031193. The subaccount name should be meaningful to you -- a department name or number, the name of an individual, a charge code, or an organization job number.

A subaccount designation stays in effect until a new designation is entered or until you logoff of the system. It does not remain in effect after a logoff hold or reconnect.

When you specify subaccount information with the SET SUBACCOUNT command, the system displays a cost estimate of your search up to that point and a confirmation of the subaccount name. The cost estimator for the file you are searching is restarted at zero when you enter the command, however, the total session cost continues to increment.

Subaccount designations are not validated for accuracy or content. If you enter an incorrect designation, you can enter a SET SUBACCT BACK command and re-enter the designation. The SET SUBACCT BACK command sets the subaccount designation for all costs incurred since your last BEGIN command unless you have entered an intervening SET SUBACCOUNT command, in which case, the subaccount session is reset to the time when the last subaccount was entered.

Note:
If you have stored a prompt for subaccount request, SET SUBACCT ? or SET SUBACCT BACK ? command in your Dialog Profile, you must enter a subaccount at the logon prompt. If you do not enter a subaccount, after three prompts you will be automatically logged off the system.

If you store a SET SUBACCT BACK command in your Profile, all charges incurred from LOGON are assigned to the subaccount specified at the subaccount prompt.