Billing

As a software solutions developer, you may be required to develop phone bill payment software at some point. This task may be coming from a newly-established phone carrier, who wants to have software to facilitate bill payments. Or the task may be coming from a long-running phone company, that wants to improve its operations through software. Either way, the challenge would be for you to create a system through which phone bill payments can be made.

That would probably also have to be an application that is capable of keeping track of the amounts of money expected to be received from customers in terms of bill payments. And it would have to be an application that can keep track of the bill payments as they are made, and update the customers’ accounts accordingly. At yet another level, the bill payment software would need to have the capability to keep track of the monies received from customers (in terms of bill payments). Then it should be capable of integrating with the accounting system used by the phone company – to ensure that the bill payments received from customers are automatically accounted for.  So having been assigned the task of creating such software, you would have to figure out where to get started on the task, and how exactly to go about it.

How to get started

The first step for you, having been given the task of developing phone bill payment software, would be that of understanding the client’s needs. So the objective here would be to get a very clear idea of what exactly the client wants. But you may be surprised to learn that the clients themselves don’t always have very clear ideas of what they want. So you may be forced to use your expertise, as a software developer, to figure out what an ideal solution for them would be. You have to understand that some of the clients may be people who lack a deep understanding of software, and its capabilities. So it would be upon you to create the best possible solution for them, keeping in mind the fact that they would have entrusted the task to you.

There are two key steps here, then. The first step is to listen to the client (with a notebook), to understand the client’s needs in terms of phone bill payment software. From this exercise, you get to understand the capabilities that the client is looking for. And the second step then is to see if there is something you can add, in order to end up with an even better software solution. But you would still have to discuss these additional things you think of with the client, before actually including them in the software. When all is said and done, the most important thing would be for you to understand the client’s needs.

Having understood what exactly the client needs, the next steps would be those of:

Designing the phone bill payment software

So this is where you first have to conceptualize the phone bill software, before actually going ahead to code it. The objective here is to come up with some sort of architecture, on which the phone bill payment software would be based. Based on your discussion with the client (on the client’s needs), you’d need to work out the exact features the phone bill payment software would need to have. You’d need to work out which modules the phone bill payment software would need to have, and what components would go into each of the components. Then you would need to work out how the various components would be interacting, and where the connections between the various components would be. Ultimately, the most important thing here is to end up with a plan, on the basis of which you’d then proceed to actually create the phone bill payment software.

Coding the phone bill payment software

So this is the main step – where you put the building blocks of the phone bill payment software together, to end up with a complete application. You will first have figured out what programming language(s) you’d be using in the project. So what you would be doing is creating code, in the programming language(s) you settled on, in order to end up with the desired features/components of the phone bill payment software. You may need to put together a team of coders, each assigned to a specific task in the project. Then, at the end of it all, you’d need to bring together the various pieces coded by the respective programmers, in order to have the desired complete application.

Testing the phone bill payment software

Once the phone bill payment software has been coded, the next step would be to test it. The objective here would be to ensure that that the software functions the way it is supposed to. So you would be looking to ensure that there are no glitches in the workings of the phone bill payment software. You would need to go a step further, and test the software system, to ensure that there are no security vulnerabilities in it. There are people who specialize in software testing, and you may need to enlist their help in this regard. The most important thing is to ensure that the phone bill payment software is thoroughly tested, before it is released.

Deploying the phone bill payment software

After having tested the phone bill payment software thoroughly, the next step would be to actually deploy it. So this would be a question of handing the complete software package to the client, and getting the client to start using it in day to day operations. A critical step here would be that of training the operators who would be manning the software on how to use it properly. If customers would be interacting with the software directly, they too would need to be trained on its proper use.

Continually updating and improving the phone bill payment software

After deploying the phone bill payment software, you’d need to get the client to be aware of the need to continually update and improve the software. The objective would be to ensure that the phone bill payment software is continually updated, so as to have the latest features (as they come up), and to cope with operating system updates. Continually updating the phone bill software would also ensure that it doesn’t become prone to security vulnerabilities as time goes on.

There are times when employees have to use their own phones to make work-related calls. In such circumstances, it often becomes necessary to reimburse the money that the employees spend on such phone calls. However, certain questions tend to arise with regard to the reimbursement of employees’ phone bills. The first question is as to whether, in fact, an employer is under any obligation to reimburse such expenditure. The second question is as to what qualifies to be viewed as a ‘work-related phone call’ – on the basis of which reimbursement can be done. And the third question is as to how an employer can keep track of the expenditure incurred in this way, to ensure that they don’t end up reimbursing too much. Those are the questions we will be attempting to answer in this article.

On whether employers really have to reimburse employees’ phone bills

In some places, there are actually laws in place, making it mandatory of employers to reimburse employees for funds spent on work-related phone calls. In other places, the employers are allowed discretion on whether to reimburse the employees for funds spent on work-related phone bills or not. But even where an employer is under no obligation, it would still be a good practice to reimburse the employees for funds spent while making work-related phone calls. Failure to do so can lead to loss of morale on the part of the employees, which can in turn start hurting the business.

It is worth noting that there are some situations where employees have to make numerous work-related phone calls. There are, for instance, sales employees who may find themselves having to make phone calls whose total cost is nearly half of their salary. It would then be very unfair to fail to reimburse such people the money they spent making such phone calls. It would amount to ‘impoverishing’ them, and chances are that staff turnover rates for such positions would be very high. On the other hand, there are employees who only have to make work-related phones very rarely – sometimes once in two months. Such employees therefore spend very little on the work-related phone calls, and they probably don’t even expect to be reimbursed.

So the most important thing here is to ensure that all the employees who have to spend sizable sums of money on work-related phone calls are reimbursed. It is something you should do, as an employer, even if you are not legally required to do so. At the very least, reimbursing the employees will raise their morale, and that will surely be beneficial to your business.

On what qualifies to be viewed as a ‘work-related phone call’

In most cases, it is not hard to figure out what qualifies to be viewed as a work-related phone call. Like if, for instance, a sales rep calls a customer on behalf of the business, that would qualify to be termed as a work-related phone call. If a person in HR calls a worker whom the business is headhunting (on behalf of the business) that too would qualify to be termed as a work-related phone call. But then, there are some tricky cases – where some employees try to pass off some personal calls as work-related calls. So this is where the controversy arises. And there is really no way in which an employer can know for sure whether the phone bills he is being asked to reimburse are work-related or not. That is unless one takes the rather drastic measure of recording the phone calls (which can in turn bring legal complications, if the people who are being recorded aren’t notified properly).

When all is said and done, the best an employer can do is to request the employees to ensure that they only request reimbursements for work-related phone calls. Then the employees would need to be informed that if they request reimbursements for phone calls that are not work-related, they would be committing fraud. And that could make them legally liable. They need to be told that in any event, by defrauding the company they work for, they would be potentially contributing to its downfall (which could in turn leave them unemployed).

In most cases, when people are told what the right thing to do is — and why it is in their best interests to do it– they tend to comply. So in this case, you only need to tell the employees that they only need to request reimbursements for work-related phone calls, and that it would be in their best interests to only do so. Most of the employees would then probably comply.

On how an employer can keep track of the reimbursable amounts

Employees who really make lots of work-related phone calls can be given special, company-owned phones, through which they would be making the phone calls. Then there would be a system through which the phone calls made through the device can be audited, before the employees are reimbursed. In fact, the company can go a step further, and take the responsibility of paying the bills incurred on that phone. So it is not the employees who would be paying the bills, and the question of reimbursements wouldn’t arise… Even then, the phone calls made through the device would have to be audited, to ensure that they are all work-related.

Another approach that can be used is that of giving employees worksheets, on which they would be logging all work-related phone calls they make. So they would include details like who the (work-related) phone calls were made to, what the purpose of the calls was and what the outcome from the phone calls was. Reimbursements would then be based on these stats.

Figuring out the exact reimbursable amounts can still be tricky. You see, many people pay flat monthly phone bills (under contracts with the phone carriers like metro pcs). Having made these flat monthly payments, they are able to make both personal and business phone calls – assuming they are using their personal phones for work. So it can become difficult to know what percentage of the (fixed) phone bill to reimburse, on account of the work-related phone calls. But the most important thing is to ensure that, as an employer, you reimburse a ‘reasonable’ amount. You may therefore find yourself having to work with estimates. So you look at how many work-related phone calls the employee made, as well as their durations. Then you get to make a decision (an educated guess really) as to what would amount to reasonable and adequate reimbursement of the phone bills for such work-related phone calls.

How much you spend on phone bills will depend, to a great extent, on the phone plan you subscribe for. The quality of service you enjoy, as a phone user, will also be greatly influenced by your choice of phone plan. You therefore need to be very careful, while choosing a phone plan to sign up for. And you need to ensure that you undertake proper due diligence, before opting for a specific phone plan. Remember, the wrong choice of a phone plan could end up costing you hundreds of even thousands of dollars in the long run. And on another note, the wrong choice of a phone plan could mean that you have to endure a very poor quality of service for the duration that you would be on the plan. So you need to be very careful.

Therefore, while choosing a phone plan, you need to:

1. Consider the cost of the plan: The question you need to ask yourself here is as to how much money you would be expected to pay, in terms of phone bills, under the plan. Then the next question is as to what you would be getting, in terms of ‘features’, under that particular plan. The question that would follow then is as to whether the plan would be good value for money – given how much you have to pay for it, and the features you would be getting. An important consideration here is at the maximum amount of money you would be willing to spend on phone bills, on a monthly basis. Then you need to ensure that the phone plan you sign up for is one where you will never find yourself having to spend beyond that ceiling. Note that this is not a question of opting for the cheapest phone plan. You may find a phone plan that is very cheap, but where you then have to endure a very limited experience. You may find one that is slightly costlier, but where you get to enjoy a better experience. So the most important thing is to look at the ‘value for money’ offered under the various plans, rather than just look at the prices/phone bills you have to pay under the various plans.
2. Look at how much data is available under the plan: The first question you need to ask yourself here is as to how much data you are likely to use on a monthly basis. Then you need to ensure that the phone plan you sign up for is one that allows you to use that much data. If you sign up for a phone plan with less data than you are likely to use in a month, you are likely to find yourself going past the data caps/limits regularly. You are then likely to find yourself having to pay ‘excess’ fees regularly – and the excess fees in question here can easily add up to hefty sums.
3. Look at how many phone calls you can make under the plan: Again, the first question you need to ask yourself is as to how many phone calls you are likely to need to make on a month-to-month basis. Then you need to sign up for a phone plan that allows you to make those many phone calls. If you are likely to make very many phone calls on a monthly basis, it would be prudent to opt for a phone plan that allows you to make ‘unlimited’ calls. Otherwise if you opt for one with ‘limits’ and you go past the limits, you could find yourself having to pay a bit of money for the extra usage.
4. Ask whether it is a prepaid or a postpaid plan: With a prepaid plan, you pay for the service before you use it. Conversely, with a postpaid plan, you pay for the service after using it. So the question you need to ask yourself here is as to whether you’d prefer an arrangement where you would be paying for the service before – or after—using it.
5. Ask whether it is a contract or contract-free plan: With a contract plan, you are bound to the service provider/carrier. If you opt to ditch the contract midstream, you have to incur a penalty. But then again, a contract plan can give you access to a good phone, which you would be paying for in installments (with the installments being part of your monthly phone bill). If you opt for a contract-free plan on the other hand, you would have to buy your own phone upfront. But then, your bills would be lower – because they wouldn’t include installments for the phone. And given that you wouldn’t be contractually bound, it would mean that you can ditch the plan at any time, without incurring penalties.
6. Consider the reputation of the carrier offering the plan: So here you need to look at things like quality of service, and the customer support that is available, as well as billing issues. You may need to look at the reviews of the various phone service providers, and actually talk to people who have subscribed for the services offered by various carriers. The most important thing is to ensure that you don’t get yourself entangled with a carrier who will cause you grief. Sometimes, it is even better to pay more, if that is what it takes to avoid the stress associated with the disreputable phone carriers.
7. Look at your needs as a phone user: This is perhaps the most important consideration, hence our decision to bring it in last. The most important thing is for you to carry out an objective assessment of your needs, as a phone user. Then you would need to ensure that the phone plan you sign up for is one that is best suited for those needs. If, for instance, you make lots of phone calls, you opt for a plan with ‘unlimited calls’. If you use plenty of data, you opt for a plan with ‘unlimited data’… Just consider your needs, against the various phone plans that are on offer, and then simply go for the one that is best suited to your needs. If you take that approach, you probably won’t regret your choice of a phone plan.