Utilities are services consumed by the public and are provided by a public service. Organizations that maintain the infrastructure for the aim of providing a public service are referred to as public functions. These services include water, sewage, natural gas and electricity. Utility billing systems can really reduce labor cost as this system is automated and does not require a lot of manpower.
Manual gauge reading has been widely used but is being replaced by automated meter readers. The personnel employed by these service companies are exposed to risks where the meters are in dangerous locations. Moreover, not all meters are located in areas where they are readily accessible. The meter readers in some instances have to deal with hostile owners and restricted access of other areas. This makes the process of meter reading lengthy such that the bills are not mailed to the customers in time. It also results to increased costs.
Manual meter reading has been used for a long time in most countries. However, there are cases especially in the rural areas where it may be very difficult to access the meter in order to read. This makes manual meter reading time consuming.
service billing technology has various functions which include collecting data on usage of these services and products and based on this data prepare utility bills. For every individual customer, data must be gathered and translated into an amount that is then billed to their esteemed customers. This is a very time consuming process but the iteration enables this process to be automated. The utility can invest in automatic meter reading systems which quicken the process of data collection and avoid the costs which would have rather been incurred if employees were sent to read the meters.
As part of installing an automated reading system the utility will have to put together an accurate database of their meters and customers. Most of these utilities report many unregistered service connections or missing accounts from the old database. Therefore, illegal connections are removed or registered appropriately into the system to generate new revenue.
Automated billing software specifically tailored for the function is a move towards improving the overall operations. To determine the potential benefits of automated billing software there needs to be a deep understanding of the operating characteristics of the utility. The utility provider should identify aspects of automation that will benefit them.
The accounts receivables should be considered before designing a functional billing software. Utilities which bill their customers quarterly a year or once in two months has increased accounts receivables and larger customer bills. It gets worse if the bills are disputed by the customers perhaps because of inaccurate readings making the whole process lengthy. Energy and water rates are continually on the rise and it is advisable for such service providers to provide bills in a timely manner and consistently. This is only possible by the use of an automatic gauge reading system suited for the utility.
Automated meter reading enable flexible schedules for reading these service usage thereby avoiding delays in summary billing of accounts. Summary billings are usually for customers who have multiple businesses within the area. Therefore, it necessitates the utility to hold bills of the individual businesses until all of their accounts in the summary billing are read. With automated billing software, all the accounts can be read on time enabling the summary bills to be provided to the customers promptly.
The utility will have to analyze the customers reason for calling from the call logs in the call centers. Automated meter readings have reduced the customer calls and led to an increase in customer satisfaction.
Manual gauge reading has been widely used but is being replaced by automated meter readers. The personnel employed by these service companies are exposed to risks where the meters are in dangerous locations. Moreover, not all meters are located in areas where they are readily accessible. The meter readers in some instances have to deal with hostile owners and restricted access of other areas. This makes the process of meter reading lengthy such that the bills are not mailed to the customers in time. It also results to increased costs.
Manual meter reading has been used for a long time in most countries. However, there are cases especially in the rural areas where it may be very difficult to access the meter in order to read. This makes manual meter reading time consuming.
service billing technology has various functions which include collecting data on usage of these services and products and based on this data prepare utility bills. For every individual customer, data must be gathered and translated into an amount that is then billed to their esteemed customers. This is a very time consuming process but the iteration enables this process to be automated. The utility can invest in automatic meter reading systems which quicken the process of data collection and avoid the costs which would have rather been incurred if employees were sent to read the meters.
As part of installing an automated reading system the utility will have to put together an accurate database of their meters and customers. Most of these utilities report many unregistered service connections or missing accounts from the old database. Therefore, illegal connections are removed or registered appropriately into the system to generate new revenue.
Automated billing software specifically tailored for the function is a move towards improving the overall operations. To determine the potential benefits of automated billing software there needs to be a deep understanding of the operating characteristics of the utility. The utility provider should identify aspects of automation that will benefit them.
The accounts receivables should be considered before designing a functional billing software. Utilities which bill their customers quarterly a year or once in two months has increased accounts receivables and larger customer bills. It gets worse if the bills are disputed by the customers perhaps because of inaccurate readings making the whole process lengthy. Energy and water rates are continually on the rise and it is advisable for such service providers to provide bills in a timely manner and consistently. This is only possible by the use of an automatic gauge reading system suited for the utility.
Automated meter reading enable flexible schedules for reading these service usage thereby avoiding delays in summary billing of accounts. Summary billings are usually for customers who have multiple businesses within the area. Therefore, it necessitates the utility to hold bills of the individual businesses until all of their accounts in the summary billing are read. With automated billing software, all the accounts can be read on time enabling the summary bills to be provided to the customers promptly.
The utility will have to analyze the customers reason for calling from the call logs in the call centers. Automated meter readings have reduced the customer calls and led to an increase in customer satisfaction.
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