Selecting the proper telecom billing software is critical for enhancing operational efficiencies, customer satisfaction and accurate revenue management. Here’s a list of the best recommendations for selecting the best solutions for your business:
1. Identify Your Business Requirements
– Identify your billing requirements at the present and in the future.
– Consider if your billing is with prepaid, postpaid or hybrid services.
– You need to understand how many Subscribers and Services you are going to support.
2. Scalability
– You want to make sure to pick billing software that can grow with your business.
– You will want to make sure it can handle additional merchandising, transactions, users, service types etc. without degrading performance.
3. Support for Various Billing Models
– You will want it to support usage-based, subscription-based and event-based billing.
– You will want flexibility in pricing structures and promotional offers such as discounts, bundling, “packages” etc.
4. Integration Capabilities
You will want to be able to connect to:
– CRM systems
– Network management systems
– Payments gateways
– Accounting / Finance tools
– A strong API would also be needed to provide global capabilities for business telecom systems.
5. Compliance & Taxation
– You want to make sure that the system supports local, regional and international regulations (e.g. GDPR, FCC etc.).
– Look to see if it has built-in taxation capabilities for multiple-regions
(e.g. VAT, GST etc.) productivity.
6. Automation and workflow
Automate the following key processes:
– Invoicing.
– Payment reminders.
– Service provisioning.
– Timeline is important and you want to work towards automation to minimize risk of manual errors and adding operating costs.
7. Real-Time Billing & Reporting
– The ability to bill in real-time is crucial for any prepaid service and or usage moderation capabilities.
– Expect detailed real-time analytics and reporting dashboards to provide useful insights for the business.
8. Customer Self-Service Portal
This will improve the user experience at each customer touchpoint by allowing customers/the end-user to:
– See usage and bills
– Make payments
– Raise support tickets
– Will reduce workload to the customer support teams.
9. Security & Data Protection
It’s also important to identify software that adheres to best practices in data encryption, access control, audit trail and so on.
– Look for ISO 27001 or similar certifications.
10. Vendor Reputation & Support
Select a vendor with experience in the telecom space and a good reputation.
They provide:
– 24/7 support
– Regular updates
– Well defined Service Level Agreements