A system of billing is a backbone of a business that works with billed services and conducts regular calculations with consumers. Automated billing systems are becoming in demand in different fields; medicine is no exception here. Small businesses are opting for free or low-cost programs. Large players with a large flow of customers can no longer afford this luxury. We tell you what to look for when choosing to bill for a large company or work from scratch.
What is important
Let’s take a look at what accounting requirements must meet for a large business to stay “afloat”, for example, if you provide speech therapy billing services in an environment that handles large streams of information 24/7. For starters, make sure that the system has no limits on the number of jobs so that you won’t end up in a situation where you can’t make the database with all your customers. The billing system must support the option of a uniform payment system and activities of switching equipment located in different time zones.
Choose a convergent system in order to bill for several types of services together. The fault-tolerant platform will provide “immunity” to peak loads, which is necessary for a system of billing so that information about payments and services is not lost. Remember about multilingual and multicurrency support in the system so that you won’t have problems with mutual settlements with foreign partners.
Important nuances
Decide in advance what systems and equipment the system of billing need to be integrated with. We advise choosing automated billing systems with a wide range of compatible software and equipment: payment systems, OSS solutions, electronic metering systems, and ERP. Pay attention that business is developing – the need for new hardware and software is growing, so do not focus only on the currently used technologies. In addition to billing, you should also consider unifying information services. Modern companies, going with the times, order an upgraded system to replace the one that is no longer relevant. Moving the information over the years, redesigning the established work processes, and staff training will certainly take some time. Still, during this period, your customers need the same high-quality service. Switching to a modern system by using only internal resources is dangerous inability to meet planned deadlines and a considerable number of mistakes made, which you can’t cope with on your own. That’s why the best solution is to sign a contract with a professional integrator.
Additional criteria when choosing a call accounting system
When choosing a call accounting system, do not focus only on the needs of a large company. A variety of tariff plans and their periods of validity, discounts, and types of customers require the automated billing system’s ability to structure them, change them, and add new parameters. Billing stores and processes information about the actions of a large base of subscribers – take care of reliable protection of the system from unauthorized access and delimitation of the rights of employees.
A real-time billing system makes dynamic calculations of the personal accounts of subscribers. This allows you to see at any time the current status of the account at any time and detail the transactions list. Look at what personal account for users allows you to create the selected billing system. The interface needs to be clear and adaptive. Try not to select a billing system alone – ask your colleagues for advice, study industry-specific cases, and consult with experienced integrators.