Internet News Internet Investing Internet Technology Windows Internet Tech. Inc. Service bureaus have long been available to offload billing chores from telecommunications providers. Every CLEC entering the market today must decide whether to build, buy, or outsource subscriber billing. It's just too hard, there are too many better choices, and most LECs want to focus on getting customers rather than building something that already exists.
Alternatives run the spectrum from in-house systems to outsourced services.
The CLEC may employ its own billing staff or contract the software vendor to run the in-house system. Other CLECs run billing applications offsite, on platforms hosted at a vendor service center. Capital financing is getting harder to come by, there's more rigorous scrutiny of revenue models, and CLECs need to show they can become profitable in a short time. Software licenses and computing platforms require up-front capital investment. Kim Hermann of billing systems vendor Intertech agrees.