Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Benefits Of Utilizing Utility Billing Systems

By Nancy Gardner


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.

The existence of a way to automate billing to their clients has saved the utilities costs on having to employ more personnel to read meters which are located in remote and dangerous areas. It has minimized the risk exposure of the company to injuries of its employees and liabilities caused to customers.

This system has reduced the volume of calls to the utilities call centers from customers lodging complaints because some concerns from customers are sorted out by the mere click of a button. In this way, the automated system has increased customer satisfaction.

Automatic meter reading, on the other hand, can be done remotely without necessarily going to the customer meter. Automatic meter readers are generally regarded to as any system that makes it possible to read the meters at a distance of one hundred meters or more.

The justification for the automatic meter reading systems are that some meters are located in hazardous areas which pose a risk to the workers of this service company who are sent to read them. Some meters are also located in areas which are hard to access such as behind locked gates or harsh terrain, this makes manual gauge reading time consuming and costly to this service firm. Inaccurate meter readers also cause disputes with customers which cost time and money to resolve.

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.

There may be a utility invoicing software which will give your customers an option to pay online which is a huge advantage. The customers will have to register on an online portal where they will have to log in with the necessary information and allow them to pay their bills online.

Customers with multiple locations are also well catered for in this system. The software will enable the utility to setup the multiple locations of this customer as belonging to a single user. Therefore, the customer will receive a summary invoice for all the accounts.




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