Small requests, all day
The finance inbox at a telecoms reseller has a particular rhythm. A customer's accounts team needs copies of the last twelve invoices for their auditors. Another customer wants an itemised list of calls from one extension last Tuesday, because a manager wants to know whether a salesperson rang a prospect. A third asks which numbers they have and what each costs, because their finance director is reviewing overheads. A new office manager wants to know why the bill has a line called 'CPS' on it.
Each request takes a few minutes: log into the billing platform, find the account, export the PDF or run the call report, check it is the right customer, attach it, send it. Some need a bit of explaining. Some come from people you have never heard of, and you have to check whether they are allowed to see call records at all.
Across a week it adds up to a good part of someone's job, and none of it moves the business forward.
It also creates delay for the customer. Their auditor wanted the invoices yesterday. The manager checking call records wants an answer before a meeting. Waiting for your finance team to get to the inbox is not what they expected from a supplier whose whole service is about being reachable.
Why the requests keep coming
- Invoices are emailed once, to one contact, and then lost in someone's inbox.
- Itemised call data is not on the invoice for most customers, so they have to ask.
- Customers have no way to see what services they have without asking you.
- Contacts change at the customer, and the new person starts from scratch.
- Call records are personal data about the customer's staff, so they need care about who sees them.
The information already exists in your billing platform. The only thing missing is a safe way for the right customer contact to reach it themselves.
What it costs your team
| Request type | Hidden cost |
|---|---|
| Copy invoices | Finance time, repeated for every audit or query |
| Itemised calls for a date or extension | Support time running reports |
| Service and number lists | Account manager time, often with errors |
| Explaining bill lines | Repeated answers to the same questions |
| Checking who is allowed to ask | Delay, or data sent to the wrong person |
There is a risk side too. Call records sent to someone who turns out not to be authorised is a data protection problem for both you and your customer, and it is easy to do when the request looks routine.
The customer portal we build
- The portal reads from your billing platform by API or scheduled export, so invoices, services and call data are always the same as your own records.
- Each customer has authorised users with permissions: some see invoices only, some see call records, some see everything. An existing authorised user can add or remove colleagues, and changes are logged.
- Invoices can be downloaded individually or as a batch for a date range, with a statement of account.
- Call records can be searched by date, extension, number or destination, and exported to a spreadsheet, within whatever limits you set.
- A services page lists every number, line, seat and handset on the account, with its monthly charge and contract end date.
- A short explainer sits beside each bill line type, written by your team, so common questions are answered where they arise.
- Anything the portal cannot answer goes to your team as a request with the customer and account already identified.
It is branded as yours and runs on your domain. We build it around what your billing platform can provide, and tell you honestly where its data has gaps.
What it takes off your plate
The routine requests largely look after themselves. Customers download what they need, when they need it, without waiting for your finance team. The requests that do reach you are the ones that need a person, such as a disputed charge or a service change.
Account managers find the services page useful too, because it gives them and the customer the same view of the account in a renewal meeting.
Is this your inbox?
- Copy invoice requests arrive every week.
- Staff run itemised call reports for customers by hand.
- Customers cannot see what services they have without asking you.
- You are not always sure the person asking for call records is allowed to see them.
- Bill line questions are answered from scratch each time.