Best telecom billing solutions

Are you still processing your telecom invoices and payments manually? It might be time to upgrade your in-house technology with the latest software. Automated billing can improve productivity, cash flow, and time management for any telecom business. In this guide, we’ll cover what to look for in the best telecom billing solutions.  

What are telecom billing solutions?

A complete telecom billing solution measures and processes all the policies and usage data that service providers use to charge their customers. Every provider will have a different formula for calculating rates and billing. With the best billing systems, you can input these rates, use them to issue accurate invoices, and collect payment.

Telecom billing includes components such as:

• Conversion of usage data into monetary rate

• Addition of applicable service fees, taxes, and other charges

• Adjustments for disputes and discounts

• Payment processing

Is there a SaaS telecom billing solution?

In short, yes. You can still purchase many telecom billing solutions with a one-time license fee, but others are available in SaaS form. SaaS telecom billing solutions are usually paid for on a rolling basis, which comes with added flexibility both in terms of pricing and deployment.

Important features of telecoms billing solutions

In addition to flexibility and pricing, here are a few additional features to consider when comparing telecoms billing solutions.

1. Customer relationship management

There are many ways to improve your billing process, chief among them being good customer relationship management. A good billing solution in telecom will include a CRM feature to help you build stronger relationships. Send automated reminders to encourage timely payments.

2. Security

Data security is a non-negotiable feature for any telecom company. Cyberattacks can be costly both in a monetary sense as well as in the hit it takes to your brand reputation. Choose billing products with built-in security features like a secure socket layer (SSL) certificate and tokenization.

3. Payment gateway integration

When looking at billing in accounting, using an integrated payment gateway helps keep everything in one place. It’s easier to collect payment and generate financial reports when your billing system includes multiple payment gateways. This also gives your customers plenty of choice at payment time.

What are the advantages of a billing solution in telecom?

The best telecom billing solutions measure usage in real time, providing more accurate data. This reduces the chance of billing errors. Accurate billing is a huge advantage for any telecom service provider. Billing errors can be costly in multiple senses. Not only are they irritating for your customers, but they also take time for investigation which can slow down your payments process and resultant cash flow. With subscription billing platforms, you’ll enjoy benefits like real-time data collection, rate verification, payment reminders, and automated payment collection.

Top telecom billing solutions

Here are our top choices for telecom billing solutions.

Invoiced

This cloud-based billing solution is well suited to medium to enterprise-level service providers. It features four modules including recurring billing, payment plans, customer portals, and invoice-to-cash. It also integrates with multiple payment gateways for your customers’ convenience, including PayPal, Stripe, and GoCardless. Pricing is available by quote from the vendor.

Aria

Another billing and invoice software to consider is Aria, which excels in recognizing revenue at the time that service is provided. It’s fully automated for convenience, with rate adjustment and full integration with a variety of different software. In terms of telecom-specific features, it pulls data from private networks, mobile and fixed line networks, voice, data and messaging, and both metered and non-metered services. Real-time billing keeps your invoices error-free.

Emida

Emida offers a wide spectrum of solutions for telecom companies, including specific tools for iPhone, Verifone, Android, and more. Perhaps its key benefit is the InstaPay Portal, which lets customers log in to pay their bills from any smart device. Customers can also integrate the Emida platform into other POS solutions, from ecommerce sites to bank terminals and virtual kiosks.

Sage Management

Part of the wider Sage suite of software, Sage Management offers telecom solutions for larger carriers and government agencies. This includes the ability to manage high-stakes mergers and acquisitions while pulling information from multiple data streams. Sage uses the latest machine learning technology to analyze data and reduce billing errors.

How can GoCardless help?

Payment collection is an essential component of the billing process. The best billing solutions for telecom companies integrate with payment gateways like GoCardless. Fully automate your invoicing using ACH Debit, which allows your company to pull authorized payments on the day they’re due for easier recurring billing. Reduce failed payments thanks to Success+, which automatically retries collection if the payment fails the first time around. It’s also quick and easy to set up, without any starting fees and lower per-transaction rates in comparison to card payments.

We can help

GoCardless is a global payments solution that helps you automate payment collection, cutting down on the amount of financial admin your team needs to deal with. Find out how GoCardless can help you with one-off or recurring payments.