Technology simplifies intricate jobs and speeds up sluggish tasks in a business. The VoIP industry often handles hundreds and thousands of customer accounts with complicated billing formulas. The manual billing process can be extremely intricate and slow, but nothing to worry about as a VoIP billing solution is here to simplify and speed up this job.
This blog post gives complete information about VoIP billing software to help you learn about this powerful VoIP software in detail.
What is a VoIP Billing platform?
It is a software solution that automates the job of managing customer accounts and tracking the usage of the system. Based on the configured billing pattern and details, this software generates invoices and sends a bill. The system automates the process of payment processing, too.
In general, a VoIP billing solution can be used with any VoIP software to automate tracking, billing, and invoicing customers based on their usage. If the VoIP development company has built a customized solution for a specific VoIP solution, that software is known by the name of that software such as a SIP trunking billing solution, interconnect billing solution, etc.
The VoIP billing solutions are also known based on the technology, which is used to develop that solution. For example, the Asterisk billing solution is developed using Asterisk technology. FreeSWITCH billing software is developed using FreeSWITCH technology.
You can also find a proprietary and open source VoIP billing solution. The proprietary solution is offered by third party vendors and companies. They also provide integration of this billing system with your existing software. You have to pay the license cost to the provider. On the other hand, the open source VoIP billing software is available for free from the community website. Usually, you need to install and deploy the system on your own, but you can also use paid help from the community or any other company offering this service.
Major Accounts Managed by a VoIP Billing Software Solution
There are three major accounts with any VoIP system. Therefore, a majority of VoIP billing solutions support the following account types:
Admin
It is the main user of the software that configures rates, subscription plans, user accounts, vendor accounts, and other details.
Discover the Definitive VoIP Billing Solution for Your Business.
Discover the Definitive VoIP Billing Solution for Your Business.
Vendor
In any VoIP system, there would be some vendors that provide different services like call termination service, DID (Direct Inward Dialing) numbers, and more. The SIP trunking billing solution or any other type of billing system will have a vendor account.
Reseller
VoIP businesses can cross borders and generate revenue for the business owner. A reseller network can really help in expanding at a faster rate by being a local representative of the business. Moreover, resellers can also handle support jobs in the local area. However, all billing platforms might not have this account.
Key Features Available in the VoIP Billing Software
Whether it is a FreeSWITCH or Asterisk billing solution, it will have all must have features, which are mentioned hereunder:
- Subscription management
- Rate card
- Tariff management
- VAT accounting
- Prepaid/ postpaid billing
- Real time billing
- Multicurrency support (Manual or automatic exchange rate)
- Invoice generation
- Call detail reports (CDR)
- Email and system notifications
- And more
Major Advantages of Proprietary and Open Source VoIP Billing Software:
There are multiple advantages to using a VoIP billing platform. Let’s explore the major ones.
Increase the Accuracy of Billing
The major benefit of using an interconnect billing solution or any other billing platform is accuracy. As the system automatically tracks all customer usage and bills customers based on their usage. Automation removes possibility of manmade errors and therefore, it makes the whole billing process highly accurate and efficient.
Read Also:- Must Have VoIP Features in Your Smart Telephony Platform
Streamline Billing Cycle
Sending bills on time is as necessary as accurately generating bills. The manual system is a bit slow because accounting in any VoIP business is huge. The best VoIP billing software makes the whole process automated. Thus, it can always send bills as per the stipulated timeline. This will ensure that all billing emails are sent on time and the billing cycle is streamlined.
Reduce Expenses
One of the best benefits of using Asterisk or FreeSWITCH billing software is that it automates the whole process, so there will be no manual resources involved in the VoIP invoicing and billing process. This eliminates expenses related to human resources such as salaries, added perks, etc. This reduces expenses considerably. Moreover, the system is a software based solution, which is not prone to wear and tear like a hardware based system. This further reduces expenses.
Increase Happy Customers
A proprietary or an open source VoIP billing solution makes the whole billing process transparent, timely, and detailed. The customers will receive detailed bills as per their billing cycle. There will be no chance of errors. This actually helps customers to use the best service at the best rates. Therefore, this can add to good customer service and increase customer satisfaction.
Support Business Growth
The best VoIP billing software is highly scalable and it supports growing VoIP businesses. This is a fascinating benefit of this software. The best solution can manage N-number of customers, vendors, and resellers. At most, the VoIP business owner may need to upgrade the software to manage scaled up business models and accommodate all clients, vendors, and resellers in a single system. But, all in all, a billing system will support the business growth and expansion accurately.
Concluding notes
Billing is an important part of any business. VoIP is one of the industries, in which billing is a complicated job. There are several aspects that need to be handled to make the whole billing process efficient. The manual process can make things slow, inefficient, and inaccurate. Therefore, it is necessary to use a billing system that fits the business model. Usually, all billing platforms available in the VoIP industry offer the same features. However, scalability, security, robustness, and unique features make the right VoIP billing solution stands apart.
ASTPP is one of the best VoIP billing and invoicing platform that has proven its worth as the top solution by catering to more than 10,000 businesses worldwide. To learn more about it, contact us.
