SATbill's Billing Process

Overview

SATbill combines the call data records (CDRs) from the providers, with the non-call-based charges, such as subscriptions, which are held in SATbill. Many different CDR formats may be loaded and billed – the diagram above only shows a selection of the various supported formats.

The charges held in Call Plans (tariff plans) are linked to equipment items (terminals or SIMs) on an air-time agreement.  A contract may be for an installation (a vessel or an aircraft, for example) or it may be for land-based units.

The billing run calculates the price of each call and the amount to charge for each non-call-based service you provide.

The billing documents (invoices and traffic details) may be generated in a variety of formats and automatically emailed to the appropriate recipients.

The monthly billing cycle

The process of producing monthly invoices and their linked documents is driven by the receipt of the monthly CDRs generated by the air-time providers.

The process can be logically split into the following stages:

1. Preparing the system for billing
2. Receiving and loading the Call Data Records (CDRs)
3. Reviewing and clearing CDR mediation errors
4. Generating the ‘Draft’ documents
5. Reviewing the ‘Draft’ documents, pricing errors and invoicing errors
6. Generating the ‘Final’ documents, PDFs, Word documents and Excel Traffic Advice sheets
7. Generating the Cost of Sales (COS) and Finance Reports
8. Generating the invoice export file for your accounting system

SATbill’s airtime billing process saves time and money whilst improving cash flow. Margin controls within the system enable you to optimise profits whilst remaining competitive.