Consolidate your back-office tech stack to cut costs and streamline your telecom billing operations.
Running a telecom isn't just about connecting calls. It takes a lot of back-office software tools to keep things running smoothly. You obviously need billing, customer management, and some reporting tools. Payment management is also a necessity. Having the ability to provision your devices would also be nice.
Many telecoms use disparate back-office systems. I.e., they are operating multiple, separate software applications or databases that are not integrated. These systems work independently, often resulting in fragmented data and redundant processes. Maintaining these disparate systems and getting them to "play nice together" is challenging AND costly.
Let's look at the tools you need as a service provider and what they cost*:
Subscription Billing
Every month, customers expect their invoices to be accurate. Whether they're on a basic plan or using services that vary each month, you need a reliable billing system to track it all. Platforms like Chargebee or Zuora are common, but can be expensive, ranging from $500-$2,000 per month.
Usage Rating
Telecoms aren't like subscription box companies. Customers aren't just paying a flat fee—they're using minutes, texts, and data… that usage has to be measured and priced accurately. That's where usage rating comes in. It's the system that looks at every call, every message, and every data session and calculates how much it costs.
If a company uses 10 million minutes a month (which isn't unusual in this space). Based on available pricing models, this could cost around $520 for the first million minutes and approximately $1,800 for the next 9 million minutes. That totals around $2,320 per month.
Tax Calculations
Telecom taxes are a headache. You have city, state, and federal rules that constantly change. Tools like Avalara or Vertex help you stay compliant. But expect to pay $200 to $1,000 per month, depending on the number of jurisdictions you operate in.
CRM
Keeping track of leads, sales, and customer support tickets means using a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system. Salesforce and HubSpot are solid choices. Depending on your team size, this can easily cost $1,500 to $5,000 per month for a growing telecom.
Other Tools
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| Price comparison of multiple systems versus TimelyBill |
Here are some of the other systems that help your telecom business's day-to-day operations:
- Address Validator (confirming customer addresses): $100–$500
- Quoting Tool (sending professional pricing proposals): $150–$500
- Trouble Ticketing System (like Zendesk): $500–$2,000
- Customer Portal (for self-service and account access): $200–$500
- Email Platform (to send invoices, alerts, promos): $100–$500
- Commission Engine (for your sales team): $500–$2,000
- Workflow Tool (automating tasks): $100–$500
- Order Management System: $300–$1,000
- API Tools (for developer integration): $72–$200
- Reporting/BI Tools (for deeper insights): $350–$1,000
Total Cost of Running Separate Systems?
It's a comprehensive suite of tools. And when you add it all up, your monthly software bill could range anywhere from:
- Low end: $6,000/month
- Average: $12,000/month
- High end: $25,000/month
Then add up the licenses, support contracts, and labor needed to keep all these systems running... you're paying a lot. Sure, every tool solves a specific problem. But because they operate in silos, they also create problems: duplicate data entry, sync issues, and human error. We see it all the time.
A Unified Platform Alternative
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| TimelyBill's Universe of Features |
If you're looking to simplify operations, it might be time to replace your patchwork of different software apps with a single-stack platform designed for the job. This is where unified platforms such as TimelyBill come in. We integrate various functions into a single back-office system.
The TimelyBill Advantage
Here's how we simplify your stack.
Our billing platform is all-in-one. You run everything from a single interface, instead of using multiple vendors and cobbling together disconnected systems. And it's built to scale with your business!
TimelyBill consolidates everything into one universe. This helps decrease the volume of support tickets, automate manual processes, and reduce your vendor touchpoints.
TimelyBill operates on a single database, ensuring consistent data and a single source of truth. It also simplifies the effort needed to support your back-office infrastructure. This lets your team focus on keeping customers happy and making money :-).
Save Money
TimelyBill's all-inclusive billing platform is available at a flat monthly rate of $4,000. We also include billing, rating, CRM, tax engine, quoting, ticketing, workflow automation, and more — all in a single, natively integrated system: the TimelyBill Universe.
- ~50% cost savings: TimelyBill cuts monthly costs compared to connecting separate SaaS tools.
- Fully integrated: Everything works out of the box without custom APIs or syncing headaches.
- Streamlined operations: A single UI, vendor, and a unified data layer.
Unlike other billing platforms that cobble together multiple third-party tools, TimelyBill is a true single-stack solution.* The cost ranges listed align with industry-standard pricing for telecom business tools, based on vendor websites and review platforms (e.g., G2, Capterra). Direct quotes from vendors like WebCDR, Chargebee, Avalara, or Salesforce would be needed for exact pricing, as costs vary by configuration and scale.