There are some things we love about the “good ol’ days.” Like calling a phone number and speaking to a person, face-to-face interactions with customers, and a cup of plain black coffee. We find that most of our customers like these things too.

But as technology becomes more predominant, not just amongst the younger generations but all generations, it’s important that our agency—and yours—keep up with customers’ changing needs.

Is your utility billing software keeping pace with the 21st Century? If not, it may be time to consider moving your utility billing needs over to a software system that has all the enhanced features your customers have come to expect: automatic bank drafting, online statements and payments, enhanced reporting, real-time record updates, and the ability to query based on a variety of criteria.

Utility Billing Features Customers Expect

Automatic Bank Drafting

Automatic bank drafting is becoming more common for all types of industries and services. Automatic drafting ensures customers are never late and their service is never interrupted, while also ensuring utility bills always get paid on time.

Online Payments and Paperless Billing

Being able to access all account information and statements or pay online over a secure system saves on paper, postage and effort for both the customer and the utility company. The ability to pay online securely and have that information immediately updated in real-time is a general expectation for customers these days.

Cash Receipting Recorded in Real-Time

Customers expect that when they make a payment, all payment-related information should be updated simultaneously, allowing the utility company to query the customer information immediately and retrieve current account status. This prevents confusion between departments, overpayments, and outdated statements.

Enhanced Reporting

Itemized reports and statements with account balances should be easily accessible whenever a customer needs them. There are literally hundreds of reports built into our software systems to help you access, manage, and maintain accurate customer records.

Ability to Query an Account Without the Account Number

As busy as customers are, they may be calling about their account from work, in the car, or away from their house where they don’t have access to an account number. It’s annoying when the only way to access account information is with an account number. Black Mountain Software customer information can be accessed by address, subdivision, CEO code, phone number, or account name.

If your current utility billing software is not offering these features, it may be time to upgrade. With a quick call to one of our support specialists, agencies already connected with Black Mountain Software can enhance their Utility Billing applications with additional modules and features. But if you need to make the switch to a more robust utility billing system altogether, we can do that too, with easy installation and a seamless conversion process to Black Mountain Software.