A billing system is a crucial part of any business requiring automated accounting with a large number of customers. Multiple factors should be taken into account while choosing billing, but only nine of them are considered fundamental and ever-present in any area of company’s expertise.
Problem of choice
There are different solutions from various developers presented on the market, and it isn’t always possible to just buy billing with rapid integration and a subsequent use for business processes automation. The problem of choice basically means opting either for an out-of-the-box solution or for development from scratch. When ordering a turn-key solution, the company gets a flexible system that takes into account all the nuances and features of a particular business, but this is an expensive option that takes a long time to develop. Out-of-the-box solutions are less costly, capable to tackle most typical tasks and could be implemented fairly quickly.
Architecture
The quality of the architecture is one of the most important factors directly affecting the reliability, convenience and capabilities of the billing system. Essential requirements to the architecture are as follows:
- Data storing combined with dynamic calculation of various indicators (personal account balance, Internet traffic consumed, etc.)
- Structure of the stored data combined with the capacity to easily generate reports on each subscriber depending on the features of a specific service plan, personal discounts and individual solutions.
- Optimized management of big data based on the support of a specific, not various databases.
Technologies applied
An effective billing system must be developed and supported by modern technologies, otherwise in a few years it will be difficult to find professionals who are willing to work with outdated technologies when the need of some kind of an upgrade arises.
Integration support
Billing implementation is a challenging process requiring the involvement of highly qualified professionals. In the best case scenario the developer’s employees will be in charge of implementation, customizing, integration, optimization and migration from the old billing system. Moreover, should any malfunctions occur you could always contact the developer for troubleshooting in a timely manner.
Capabilities
The billing system is opted for a long run, so it must meet not only current demands, but also possible extended requirements in the next few years. It is therefore better to choose a solution that is not tied to a specific hardware complex, but supports a particular communication protocol.
Settings
A functional and user-friendly billing system should provide a flexible set of settings. This includes the possibility of analytics, simple changing of service plans combined with an assessment of their efficiency and support of integration with CRM and other supplemental systems.
Certificates
Billing is an automated payment system; therefore, this software product is subject to mandatory certification. The certificate is provided for a specific solution, so you should decide in advance what features and functionality are required now and will be in need in the foreseeable future.
Support quality and user community
High-end support of the billing system by the developer includes:
- 24/7/365 tech support.
- A specially allocated multi-channel phone number, a separate technical support e-mail, chats in messaging apps and social media.
- A well-developed application registration system with notification of the processing progress.
- A full-fledged user community.
Cost
Pricing model is a separate factor that the future owner of the system has to take a close look at. What do you get for the price set by the developer — a box-pack or cloud-based solution; a full-fledged service with integration, implementation and personnel training or only software; a flexible solution including subsequent free updates or the current version of the billing platform with a pre-defined set of modules featured in the basic service plan? Ask the developer about all these details in advance. Only then your billing system will become a truly effective tool for automating business processes, and not a byzantine and clumsy solution that is difficult for your employees to use.
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