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Posts in the tips category.

Balance Based vs. Invoice Based Billing

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The two different approaches to billing customers in the telecom industry. Balance-based versus invoice-based billing. Balance-based billing systems like TimelyBill typically use a customer's account balance method, while invoice-based billing systems use the specific invoice method. Hybrid approaches are also possible, combining both methods based on customer preferences or business requirements.

Essential Features of a Telecom Billing System

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Billing for telecom is a complicated process. If accounts and services are incorrectly billed, it can lead to lost revenue. The ability to produce both accurate and timely invoices is paramount. The software platform you select should be able to make precise billing information every time. A robust telco billing platform will also have other important back-office processes integrated.

Key Challenges In Telecom Billing

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Identify and Reduce Your Telecom Billing Issues A telecom bill is a statement that communications companies provide to their customers.  These bills must accurately reflect the correct services, service dates, charges, taxes , and fees. An inaccurate bill can have several negative impacts on customers, both financially and in terms of customer satisfaction.

Billing Calling Plans with Free Minutes

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TimelyBill Manages Complex Billing for Calling Plans with Free Minutes Introduction One common hurdle telecom providers face is managing complex rate plans and incorporating the concept of free minutes for calling. In this post, we'll delve into the complexities of rate plans with free minutes and explore how they impact billing processes.

Build Product Types with Usage Plans

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Timely Tips #2 Build usage-based products and relate them to specific rate plans. TimelyBill uses product types to determine how the billing system handles service and what information needs to be stored along with it.  For example, setting a product as toll-free requires you to assign a number as well as a usage plan.

Subscriber Billing for Channel Partners

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TimelyBill Enables Partners and Resellers to Bill for Subscription-based Services. An increasing amount of companies are looking to reduce capital expenditures and move their spending to operating expenditures (OPEX). At the same time, many telecommunications companies are transitioning their offerings to a subscription-based model.

Using Add-on Services to Drive Revenue

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Timely Tips #1 How service providers can use add-on services to drive revenue and customer value. Service bundling refers to selling two or more related services together under one SKU (so only one item is added to the order), usually at a lower price than it would cost to purchase items individually.

10 Things That Should Be Included in a Telecom Invoice

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Telecom Invoice Ideas A professionally designed invoice can help ensure you get paid on-time. A billing statement that clearly presents your charges and fees can boost customer trust and satisfaction. Here's a cheat sheet for communications providers and what they should include in their invoices.

The Convergence of Managed Services and Telecom

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Managed Services Providers A managed service provider (MSP) delivers services, such as network, application, infrastructure, and security, via ongoing support and active administration at customer locations.  Traditionally, managed service agreements have included some or all of the following:

Be Prepared: Ransomware and Software Safety

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How We Protect Against Ransomware As an SSAE (SOC 1) Type II certified company , TimelyBill prides itself on having a reliable and secure platform. TimelyBill is always looking out for your company and its assets with our enterprise-level data security and compliance initiatives. Following multiple malware and ransomware attacks at the U.S. state level, TimelyBill has been asked how to keep personal and company assets safe. TimelyBill is not a security system-- make sure your organization is equipped with high-quality security protocols. Firewalls, two-factor authentication, or 2FA, and secure backups are all elements of creating a secure system. Be Prepared Before An Emergency Back up all important information and data to an external hard drive or another storage device. Create and maintain a company-wide backup plan. Make sure all users are on the same page. Regularly update and patch third-party software when updates are available. Use different, strong passwords for every device an

Telecom Billing Vendors Checklist

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Looking for a telecom billing system vendor?   Our software was built from the ground up by a team of telecommunications professionals.  We prioritized flexibility, functionality, and scalability during the development process.  We continue to add new features in an effort to make TimelyBill the best OSS on the market.

Telecom Billing Process Flow Chart

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What is Telecom billing and revenue management? Telecom billing and revenue management is the methodology that involves communication services and debt collection management. The process consists of gathering data usage files, calculating billing fees, generating invoices, and managing customer payments. How does TimelyBill rate usage, calculate billing charges, and generate invoices? The diagram above depicts the telecom billing process flow from the service provider's usage through invoicing and all the way to the processing of payments. Here is a summary of standard telecom billing process steps below: Step 1:  The service provider gathers the usage data files within their network Calls, bandwidth, faxes, per-use… Step 2:  The service provider pushes the usage files to a secure FTP location (via a VPN) At predefined intervals (15 minutes is typical) Step 3:  The billing system imports the usage files and "types" the calls Local, intralata, on-network… Step 4:  The bil

Streamline Your Billing Migration

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Making the Switch to a New Telecom Billing System Doesn't Need to be Painful Today's communications service providers want to improve the customer experience to grow revenues. However, many CSPs need help with antiquated billing systems. These complex and disparate software systems can be expensive to operate. They often need more flexibility to handle modern product and service offerings. We help keep your billing migration on the right track. Although a desire to replace these old systems exists, telecoms are reluctant to tackle such migration projects due to the required scale, effort, and resource dedication. TimelyBill has addressed these concerns by utilizing a time-proven implementation process to streamline billing data migration. Note, these migration phases are intended to be combined efforts to ensure success (aka "Happy Path"). Implementation of you

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Telecom Billing Process Flow Chart