wispa-billing-vendors.html

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   4 <title>WISPA Member Billing Software Comparison 2017</title>
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   9   <h6>WISPA Member Billing Software Comparison 2017</h6>
  10
  11 <p align="left">I put together a concise comparison highlighting the differences between different billing systems.  I tried hard not to make a useless advertisement with a long list of features, but rather a digestable, fair comparison of relevant information about the competition.
  12
  13 <p align="left">Of course I hope you'll consider <a href="http://freeside.biz/">Freeside</a>, but I know we're not the right fit for everyone.  These eleven vendors support WISPA through association membership and trade show sponsorshop.  Please consider supporting vendors who support our industry.
  14
  15 <p align="left">I hope this helps you find the right billing vendor for you!
  16
  17 <p align="left">P.S. Friends don't let friends use Quickbooks for subscriber billing.  :)
  18
  19 <p align="left">
  20 -- <br>
  21 Ivan Kohler<br>
  22 President and Head Geek<br>
  23 Freeside Internet Services, Inc.<br>
  24
  25 <br><br>
  26
  27 <table width="98%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tblprod">
  28   <tr><td align="center" valign="top">
  29
  30 <table width="100%" class="comparison" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
  31
  32   <tr>
  33     <td></td>
  34     <td><a href="http://freeside.biz/"><img src="imgs/big-logo.png" alt="Freeside" width=170></a></td>
  35     <td><img src="http://www.wispsolutions.com/images/stories/AzotelSIMPLer/azotel-logo.gif" width=130 alt="Azotel"></a></td>
  36     <td><img src="https://www.billmax.com/images/BillMax-shadow.jpg" width=130 alt="Billmax"></a></td>
  37     <td><img src="cdg.png" height=64 alt="CDG"></a></td>
  38     <td><img src="http://www.directlinkadmin.com/img/logo.png" width=130 alt="DirectLink Admin"></a></td>
  39     <td><img src="http://www.iea-software.com/images/emerald/emerald6sm.png" width=130 alt="Emerald"></a></td>
  40     <td><img src="http://site2.ispbilling.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/platypus_logo_250x77.jpg" width=130 alt="Platypus"></a></td>
  41     <td><img src="http://www.wispa.org/Portals/37/ContactImages/8978.png" width=130 alt="Powercode"></a></td>
  42     <td><img src="http://www.wispa.org/Portals/37/ContactImages/8952.png" width=130 alt="Sonar"></a></td>
  43     <td><img src="https://d1a309rwthnrm3.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/04183021/visp.png" width=130 alt="VISP"></a></td>
  44     <td><img src="http://www.wispmon.com/img/wispmonsm.png" width=130 alt="WISPMon"></a></td>
  45   </tr>
  46
  47   <tr>
  48     <th><a href="http://www.wispa.org">WISPA</a>&nbsp;member</th>
  49     <td><span class="yes">&#x2714;</span></td>
  50     <td><span class="yes">&#x2714;</span></td>
  51     <td><span class="yes">&#x2714;</span></td>
  52     <td><span class="yes">&#x2714;</span></td>
  53     <td><span class="yes">&#x2714;</span></td>
  54     <td><span class="yes">&#x2714;</span></td>
  55     <td><span class="yes">&#x2714;</span></td>
  56     <td><span class="yes">&#x2714;</span></td>
  57     <td><span class="yes">&#x2714;</span></td>
  58     <td><span class="yes">&#x2714;</span></td>
  59     <td><span class="yes">&#x2714;</span></td>
  60  </tr>
  61
  62   <tr>
  63     <th>Exhibiting at <a href="http://www.wispa.org/Events/WISPAmerica">WISPAmerica&nbsp;2017</a></th>
  64     <td><span class="yes">&#x2714;</span></td>
  65     <td><span class="yes">&#x2714;</span></td>
  66     <td><span class="yes">&#x2714;</span></td>
  67     <td><span class="yes">&#x2714;</span></td>
  68     <td><span class="yes">&#x2714;</span></td>
  69     <td><span class="no">&#x2716;</span></td>
  70     <td><span class="yes">&#x2714;</span></td>
  71     <td><span class="yes">&#x2714;</span></td>
  72     <td><span class="yes">&#x2714;</span></td>
  73     <td><span class="yes">&#x2714;</span></td>
  74     <td><span class="no">&#x2716;</span></td>
  75  </tr>
  76
  77   <tr>
  78     <th>WISP&nbsp;features</th>
  79     <td><span class="yes">&#x2714;</span></td>
  80     <td><span class="yes">&#x2714;</span></td>
  81     <td><span class="no">&#x2716;</span></td>
  82     <td><span class="no">&#x2716;</span></td>
  83     <td><span class="no">&#x2716;</span></td>
  84     <td><span class="maybe">new/preliminary</span></td>
  85     <td><span class="no">&#x2716;</span></td>
  86     <td><span class="yes">&#x2714;</span></td>
  87     <td><span class="yes">&#x2714;</span></td>
  88     <td><span class="yes">&#x2714;</span></td>
  89     <td><span class="yes">&#x2714;</span></td>
  90   </tr>
  91
  92   <tr>
  93     <th>CDR&nbsp;billing / Telco&nbsp;features</th>
  94     <td><span class="yes">&#x2714;</span></td>
  95     <td><span class="no">&#x2716;</span></td>
  96     <td><span class="maybe">new/preliminary</span></td>
  97     <td><span class="yes">&#x2714;</span></td>
  98     <td><span class="no">&#x2716;</span></td>
  99     <td><span class="maybe">new/preliminary</span></td>
 100     <td><span class="no">&#x2716;</span></td>
 101     <td><span class="no">&#x2716;</span></td>
 102     <td><span class="maybe">new/preliminary</span></td>
 103     <td><span class="no">&#x2716;</span></td>
 104     <td><span class="maybe">new/preliminary</span></td>
 105   </tr>
 106
 107   <tr>
 108     <th>Fiber ISP features</th>
 109     <td><span class="yes">&#x2714;</span></td>
 110     <td><span class="no">&#x2716;</span></td>
 111     <td><span class="no">&#x2716;</span></td>
 112     <td><span class="yes">&#x2714;</span></td>
 113     <td><span class="no">&#x2716;</span></td>
 114     <td><span class="no">&#x2716;</span></td>
 115     <td><span class="no">&#x2716;</span></td>
 116     <td><span class="no">&#x2716;</span></td>
 117     <td><span class="no">&#x2716;</span></td>
 118     <td><span class="no">&#x2716;</span></td>
 119     <td><span class="maybe">new/preliminary</span></td>
 120   </tr>
 121
 122
 123   <tr>
 124     <th>Deployment</th>
 125     <td>Mostly&nbsp;Premise (New:&nbsp;Hosted)</td>
 126     <td>Hosted</td>
 127     <td>Mostly&nbsp;Premise (also&nbsp;Hosted)</td>
 128     <td>Hosted or Premise</td>
 129     <td>Hosted</td>
 130     <td>Premise</td>
 131     <td>Premise</td>
 132     <td>Premise</td>
 133     <td>Hosted</td>
 134     <td>Hosted</td>
 135     <td>Mostly&nbsp;Hosted (also&nbsp;Premise)</td>
 136   </tr>
 137
 138 <!--  <tr>
 139     <th>Client</th>
 140     <td>Web</td>
 141     <td>Web</td>
 142     <td>Web</td>
 143     <td>Web</td>
 144     <td>Web</td>
 145     <td>Web</td>
 146     <td>Windows</td>
 147     <td>Web</td>
 148     <td>Web</td>
 149     <td>Web</td>
 150     <td>Web</td>
 151     <td>Web</td>
 152   </tr>
 153 -->
 154
 155   <tr>
 156     <th>License</th>
 157     <td>Open-source</td>
 158     <td>Proprietary</td>
 159     <td>Proprietary</td>
 160     <td>Proprietary</td>
 161     <td>Proprietary</td>
 162     <td>Proprietary</td>
 163     <td>Proprietary</td>
 164     <td>Proprietary</td>
 165     <td>Proprietary</td>
 166     <td>Proprietary</td>
 167     <td>Proprietary</td>
 168   </tr>
 169
 170   <tr>
 171     <th>Price</th>
 172     <td>No per-customer or license charges.  Can purchase implementation, support, and customization services.</td>
 173     <td>?/customer/month</td>
 174     <td>$0.15-$0.20/customer/month</td>
 175     <td>"If you have to ask, you can't afford it"</td>
 176     <td>$0.50/customer/month</td>
 177     <td>?/customer/month</td>
 178     <td>100 customers free, then $0.05-$0.70/customer/month</td>
 179     <td>$0.63-$1.40/customer/month</td>
 180     <td>$0.50-$1.25/customer/month</td>
 181     <td>$0.90-$1.30/customer/month</td>
 182     <td>$0.75-$1.25/customer/month</td>
 183   </tr>
 184
 185   <tr>
 186     <th>Monthly price, 1000 customers</th>
 187     <td><span class="smyes">$195</span></td>
 188     <td>$18,000 (one-time, not monthly)</td>
 189     <td>$199</td>
 190     <td>?</td>
 191     <td>$500</td>
 192     <td>$4170 (one-time, not monthly), plus $141/month</td>
 193     <td>$170 <!-- ($167 Platypus + $3 Windows 10 license amortized over 36 months) --></td>
 194     <td>$1330</td>
 195     <td>$1250</td>
 196     <td>$1300</td>
 197     <td>$1100</td>
 198   </tr>
 199
 200   <tr>
 201     <th>Monthly price, 3500 customers</th>
 202     <td><span class="smyes">$195</span></td>
 203     <td>?</td>
 204     <td>c. $600</td>
 205     <td>?</td>
 206     <td>$1750</td>
 207     <td>$8145 (one-time, not monthly), plus $141/month</td>
 208     <td>$368 <!-- ($314 Platypus + $54 Windows 2012 server &amp; SQL server 2014 Standard w/10 CALs, amortized over 36 months) --></td>
 209     <td>$3920</td>
 210     <td>$4375</td>
 211     <td>$3150</td>
 212     <td>$2625</td>
 213   </tr>
 214
 215   <tr>
 216     <th>Monthly price, 10,000 customers</th>
 217     <td><span class="smyes">$195</span></td>
 218     <td>?</td>
 219     <td>?</td>
 220     <td>?</td>
 221     <td>$5000</td>
 222     <td>?</td>
 223     <td>$641 <!--($472 Platypus + $169 Windows 2012 server &amp; SQL server 2014 Standard w/25 CALS, amortized over 36 months) --></td>
 224     <td>$11,250</td>
 225     <td>$9,100</td>
 226     <td>$9,000</td>
 227     <td>$7,500</td>
 228   </tr>
 229
 230 <!--
 231
 232   <tr>
 233     <th>Monthly price, 100,000 customers</th>
 234     <td><span class="smyes">$195</span></td>
 235     <td>?</td>
 236     <td>?</td>
 237     <td>?</td>
 238     <td>?</td>
 239     <td>$50,000</td>
 240     <td>?</td>
 241     <td>?</td>
 242     <td>$66.250</td>
 243     <td>$90,000</td>
 244     <td>?</td>
 245   </tr>
 246
 247 -->
 248
 249   <tr>
 250     <th>Ongoing development</th>
 251     <td>Active (new major version last year)</td>
 252     <td>Active</td>
 253     <td>Active</td>
 254     <td>Active</td>
 255     <td>Active (new product)</td>
 256     <td>Active</td>
 257     <td>Minimal</td>
 258     <td>Active</td>
 259     <td>Active (new product)</td>
 260     <td>Active</td>
 261     <td>Active (new major version 2015)</td>
 262   </tr>
 263
 264 <!-- XXXXX .... survey says?  not opening this can of worms right now
 265   <tr>
 266     <th>Share of WISP market</th>
 267     <td>Small</td>
 268     <td>Large</td>
 269     <td>Small</td>
 270     <td>New market / Small?</td>
 271     <td>Small?</td>
 272     <td>New product</td>
 273     <td>Large</td>
 274     <td>Large</td>
 275     <td>New product</td>
 276     <td>Medium?</td>
 277     <td>Small</td>
 278   </tr>
 279 -->
 280
 281   <tr>
 282     <th>Vendor&nbsp;country</th>
 283     <td>US</td>
 284     <td>Ireland (sold through US distributors)</td>
 285     <td>US</td>
 286     <td>US</td>
 287     <td>US</td>
 288     <td>US</td>
 289     <td>Canada (Platypus in US)</td>
 290     <td>US</td>
 291     <td>US</td>
 292     <td>Philippines / Hong Kong</td>
 293     <td>US</td>
 294   </tr>
 295
 296   <tr>
 297     <th>Vendor&nbsp;business/ownership</th>
 298     <td>Billing software</td>
 299     <td>Billing software</td>
 300     <td>Billing and geologic software</td>
 301     <td>Billing software</td>
 302     <td>MDU ISP (VideoDirect)</td>
 303     <td>Billing software</td>
 304     <td>Domain names, mobile phone service (OpenSRS, Ting, Tucows)</td>
 305     <td>WISP (Bertram wireless)</td>
 306     <td>Billing software</td>
 307     <td>Billing software, managed ISP services (call center, email/web hosting)</td>
 308     <td>Billing software</td>
 309   </tr>
 310
 311   <tr>
 312     <th>Vendor&nbsp;size</th>
 313     <td>Small</td>
 314     <td>Small</td>
 315     <td>Tiny</td>
 316     <td>Huge</td>
 317     <td>Tiny</td>
 318     <td>Small</td>
 319     <td>Medium</td>
 320     <td>Large</td>
 321     <td>Small</td>
 322     <td>Medium</td>
 323     <td>Tiny</td>
 324   </tr>
 325
 326   <tr>
 327     <th>Since</th>
 328     <td>1998</td>
 329     <td>2010<!--2005 (2010 USA)--></td>
 330     <td>1997</td>
 331     <td>1970</td>
 332     <td>2015</td>
 333     <td>1996</td>
 334     <td>1996</td>
 335     <td>2003</td>
 336     <td>2015</td>
 337     <td>1996</td>
 338     <td>2010<!--2007 (2010 billing features)--></td>
 339   </tr>
 340
 341   <tr>
 342     <th>Notable&nbsp;fact(s)</th>
 343     <td>Mature and full-featured ISP and CDR billing.  New UI, WISP mapping features and hosted option.</td>
 344     <td>Simple hosted system for small WISPs, almost like a franchise</td>
 345     <td>Old ISP system, dormant for years, revived in 2012</td>
 346     <td>Large telco/cableco system</td>
 347     <td>New system with MDU features</td>
 348     <td>Classic ISP system added WISP features and joined WISPA in 2017</td>
 349     <td>Windows client/server application; limited web interface.  Can print and mail your invoices.</td>
 350     <td>Humongous trade show booths.  Glassdoor horror stories.</td>
 351     <td>Ex-Powercode team, rapid development</td>
 352     <td>Can also host your email and answer your support calls</td>
 353     <td>No longer requires Adobe Flash</td>
 354   </tr>
 355
 356 </table>
 357 </td></tr>
 358 </table>
 359
 360 <br>
 361 Last updated Jan 27th, 2017 | <a href="http://freeside.biz/gitlist/www.git/commits/master/wispa-billing-vendors.html">Revision history</a>
 362
 363 </div>
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