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Saturday, 19 September 2015

Adoption Of Utility Bill Software

By Daphne Bowen


Utility bills are the amounts spent by the public on the basic products and services which include water, natural gas and electricity. The amounts to be paid vary largely with the usage of some consumers, the higher the usage of such products and services the higher the fees to be charged. However, due to the sensitivity of such services being offered and their necessity to human life, most of these products are regulated by the national governments. Utility bill software is used by companies which provide utilities to help in the management of their customer and to charge them fees for usage of their products. Automating the systems of operations has led to higher efficiencies and significant reduction in the costs incurred.

A feature of such a system is that it is possible to establish an audit trail that shows the movement of funds and payments into the company. Corruption cases have been reduced due to this and accounts that are in debt can be easily identified. Another feature is the possibility of communicating directly to the consumers through emails. Consumers are alerted and given notices on payment dates and other important information.

Installing a utility bill program ensures that the customers receive a detailed statement showing their actual usage and the rates used to charge them. This has significantly reduced the amount of complaints lodged by the customers as a result of inaccurate readings if the meters were read manually.

Companies which have adopted this system are much more efficient in their bills distribution. These companies are able to have electronic billing whereby the bills are sent to the consumers through their emails. Postage costs that used to be incurred before to send bills via post have been eliminated.

A utility company that is looking to automate its operations with view of making improvements in its operations should consider software that is specially suited for their operations. The designers of such software should have an in depth understanding of activities of that company.

An automated system is perfect for summary billing of an account. In the case where a single user is in charge of several other accounts the bills of those accounts can be merged into one. This improves the efficiency in payments. In most cases, installation of an automated system may not require heavy investment in hardware. The software can be installed into the existing hardware in the company therefore no additional costs.

Companies which have installed automated billing systems have reaped the benefits of reduced negative lawsuits. Due to the elimination of manual meter reading in their firms, the number of injuries and accidents reported by their employees reduce significantly. Even the lawsuits from hostile home owners who deter entry into their homes and term it trespass are avoided.

It is clear that adoption of a utility billing software can benefit the firm and the consumers. Consumers benefit from timely services and constant access to their accounts while the company benefits from reduced operation costs.




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