Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about telecom billing and our services.
General
Q:What is a billing service bureau?
A billing service bureau is a third-party company that handles billing operations for telecom providers. Instead of building and maintaining your own billing infrastructure, you outsource to specialists who process your CDRs, generate invoices, and manage accounts receivable. This reduces costs, improves accuracy, and lets you focus on your core business.
Q:What types of carriers do you work with?
We work with CLECs (Competitive Local Exchange Carriers), long distance resellers, wholesale carriers, VoIP providers, wireless resellers, and any business that needs to bill for telecommunications services. Our systems handle voice, data, SMS, and value-added services.
Q:Can you bill for things other than telecom usage?
Yes. While telecom is our specialty, our billing system handles any type of charge. MRCs (monthly recurring charges) for equipment or services, NRCs (non-recurring charges) for one-time fees and installations, and any usage-based billing. If you can define the charge, we can bill it.
Q:How long does implementation take?
Typical implementation takes 4-8 weeks depending on complexity. This includes CDR format mapping, rate plan setup, invoice template design, and testing. We've done implementations in as little as 2 weeks for straightforward setups.
Technical
Q:What CDR formats do you support?
We process CDRs in virtually any format—CSV, fixed-width, XML, and proprietary formats from any switch or platform. If your system generates call records, we can parse and process them.
Q:How do you receive CDRs?
You upload CDRs to our secure FTP server. We poll for new files, process them through our mediation and rating engines, and archive the originals. Our systems include duplicate detection, sequence gap analysis, and acknowledgment tracking to ensure no records are lost.
Q:What's your processing capacity?
We currently process over 150 million minutes per month with capacity to handle significantly more. Our batch processing architecture scales horizontally to meet demand.
Q:How often do you process CDRs?
We run batch processing cycles based on your business needs—typically daily or multiple times per day. While we're not a real-time rating system, we can process as frequently as needed for your reporting and billing cycles.
Accuracy & Quality
Q:What is your unbilled call rate?
We achieve a 0.1% unbilled rate—meaning 99.9% of billable events are captured and invoiced. The industry average is around 2%, meaning we capture 20x more revenue that others miss. On a million dollars in billing, that's an extra $18,000+ in captured revenue.
Q:How do you ensure billing accuracy?
Multiple validation layers: CDR gap detection, mediation error queues, rating exception handling, invoice-level audits, and reconciliation reports. Every record is tracked from ingestion to invoice with full audit trail.
Q:What happens when there's a rating error?
Errors are flagged and queued for review. Our team investigates root cause, corrects the issue, and reprocesses affected records. You're notified of any issues that require your input. We don't just hide errors—we surface and fix them.
Integration
Q:Do you integrate with PSA systems?
Yes. We can sync customer data from PSA systems like ConnectWise, HaloPSA, and Autotask. This allows for consolidated billing where telecom charges and managed services appear on a single invoice.
Q:What accounting systems do you support?
We integrate with QuickBooks Online, Xero, and other accounting platforms. Invoices are posted to your accounting system automatically, and payments can sync back to update AR in the billing system.
Q:Can I use my own payment processor?
Yes. We integrate with Stripe for payment processing, but we can work with other processors as needed. Payments are posted and reconciled automatically.
Still Have Questions?
Our team has decades of telecom billing experience. We're happy to discuss your specific situation and requirements.
Contact Us