Can or should resellers handle the converged billing requirements of their customers, or should they outsource to experts?

At Inform Billing we believe the answer is yes; Resellers can handle their customers’ billing requirements if using professional billing software, such as our Eclipse platform, to take the pain out of billing a variety of converged products.  Many resellers choose to manage their own billing to maximise their control, visibility, improve profit margins and increase customer satisfaction.

However, when managing billing in-house resource must be allocated to fulfil the billing manager role – someone who can learn to understand and utilise the full feature-set of the billing platform.  Whilst some resellers do not have the resource internally with the right skills and experience to manage the billing process, others find the responsibility detracts attention from a primary role.

In this scenario, or if a reseller does choose to outsource to experts then a combination of the two is often preferable.  Inform Billing offers both a ‘Bureau Billing’ service and an ‘Outsourced Billing Manager’ service, where depending upon the level of involvement a customer wishes to have, we can manage much of the billing process, leaving the reseller free to concentrate on growing their business.

Here a reseller gets the best of both worlds; access to a fully featured professional billing platform, yet when the monthly bill cycle comes around it is handled by our experienced and knowledgeable billing team.  The reseller maintains the key benefits of being a reseller; control and visibility.

Resellers do not have to stick with one approach forever.  The ‘Outsourced Billing Manager’ service provides a stepping-stone between bureau billing and a self-managed option.  It provides an ideal opportunity for staff to become fully proficient in the billing process, over an extended period of time, whilst receiving the full support of our experienced team.  Customers often gain the most value from using this service in the first six to twelve months of setting up, or when moving from a bureau service.

Inform Billing’s ethos is to help re-sellers to eventually become self-sufficient when the time is right, providing expert help and support as needed.

The key here is choice as no one solution fits all.  Some resellers may prefer to outsource entirely whilst others prefer to maintain a greater degree of control in-house but benefit from the experience and expertise of a professional billing partner.

 

Find out more about our Bureau Billing service or our Outsourced Billing Manager service