LEC (Local Exchange Carrier) BILLING ALTERNATIVES????

**td77** · 11-11-2009, 07:15 AM

I'm not sure what section to post this thread in, but I'm hoping to get some decent feedback non the less.

For those of you who are familiar with the concept of LEC billing (Local Exchange Carrier), I am having a bit of a problem.

Basically, it is extremely difficult to get approved to bill your customers this way. With LEC Billing, you are able to bill the customer (end-user), directly on their monthly phone bill.

Now, my main question is whether anyone knows of a similar billing concept that I can implement. Is there a way to charge an end-user's other utility bills? (cable, gas, electric, etc.)
I've been researching this a bit, but I haven't been able to find anything solid as of yet.

Any info on this, or other "alternative billing" resources would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

**mrgodlike** · 11-11-2009, 07:25 AM

-mrgodlike edit- Changed the Topic Title just a tad so that people don't get confused w/ the OTHER LEC

**bluerickshaw** · 11-11-2009, 12:02 PM

what sort of value are you looking to get billed? there is sms billing, did you look into that?

**td77** · 11-11-2009, 01:50 PM

Originally Posted by bluerickshaw

what sort of value are you looking to get billed? there is sms billing, did you look into that?

I did explore the possibility of SMS.
However, due to the sheer popularity of SMS billing, the networks are hitting merchants with fees in the neighborhood of 50%.

My price points are between $15.00 - $20.00......

**prnmatt** · 02-04-2010, 03:06 PM

I am new to this service, but I am a developer and have been approved to submit billing thru the LECs. It is not that difficult. The other utilities you discussed must go thru the same process to submit their billing on any LEC users monthly bill.
If I knew more about your billing service request, perhaps I can assist you with your LEC biling?

**td77** · 02-05-2010, 02:50 PM

I would like to implement this type of billing for a dating site.
I should have the site up and running by the end of the month.

**prnmatt** · 02-05-2010, 06:00 PM

Regarding the LEC billing, my application permits an /Admin user to manually enter a billing phone numbers, the software utilizes TNS to validate the entry, and then passes it over to TC for re-validation and submission to the actual LECs.

Have you investgated the cost for TNS and TC?
It tends to be more cost effective if the billing is done perodically, like every month...

p.s. If you send me your phone number, I can call via VOIP
to discuss in more detail. My number is 954-431-5071

Matt Intihar

**td77** · 02-06-2010, 09:04 PM

Matt,

That sounds very promising.
You indicated that you have been approved to bill through the LECs.
Do you bill on your own behalf, or do you act as a clearing-house,
billing on behalf of other merchants? (similar to ILD Telecom)

I am very interested in discussing this matter further, and will contact
you by phone on Wednesday or Thursday of next week.

**prnmatt** · 02-07-2010, 11:52 AM

Hi td77;
Looking forward to your call.
I am a developer and have a business relationship with a Company that will be billing the LECs on a large scale.

I talk regularly with the TC folks where we submit the billing.
Our cost to TC to setup this account for approval & production billing was $20k dollars.
TC = Tranaction Clearing House

As you may know, we are always looking for alternative cash flows, and your service your considering is well within this scope. We simply need to tag your billing records and add them to our production billing. Of course I would need to clear this thru our officers, but I am sure he would be open to secondary revenue sources; however, we must all be sure this billing is legal with TC. My consern is the customer support for your billing records? Also, both you & I need to determine how much the LECs will pay us on the dollar? I beleive you said you were allowing a fairly small percentage commission.

All funds would need to go thru our approved Bank, reconcilled, and then we agree to a commission like rate. I don't even know if this arangement is legal with the TC house, so much needs to be discusses...

The LEC billing dataflow diagram may be viewed at my web site: www.prncomp.com/lecBilling.aspx

There is much to discuss, and for now, this is just talk...

Please let me know exact time/date so that we both can be prepared for that conference call.

**td77** · 02-08-2010, 01:05 PM

Matt,

I sent you a private message, but it occurred to me that you may
not be able to utilize that option yet.

I will simply post that message here.........

Matt,

I just had a quick question for you......
I have inquired with a few of the "clearing-houses"
that "bill on behalf of", and each company quoted
various set-up fees. I am just curious what type of
set-up fees, if any, I would potentially incur by
utilizing the services of your company.
Thanks,

Todd

**prnmatt** · 02-08-2010, 02:01 PM

LEC Characteristics, yes I sent a rather lengthy reply and did not know it was stopped because of the PM limitation with my account.
Unfortunately I do not have a copy of that response because I created as a reply to your PM.

**prnmatt** · 02-08-2010, 02:20 PM

Looking forward to your call.
I'm a developer and have business relationships with several Companies, including this billing LEC application.

If you & I can come to terms, I/We would need to talk with the TC technical support folks to validate our application as legal within the LEC system; we should not assume its ok with them.

As I said, our cost from TC to setup our account for approval & production billing was $20k dollars. TC = Transaction Clearing House

As you know, were always looking for alternative cash flows, and your dating service application should be within this scope; we simply need to tag your billing records and add them to our production billing. Of course I would need to clear this thru our officers, but I am sure they would be open to secondary revenue sources; however, we must all be sure this billing is legal with TC. My concern is the customer support for your billing records? Also, both you & I need to determine how much the LECs will pay us on the dollar? I believe you said you were allowing a fairly small percentage commission.

All funds would need to go thru our approved Bank, reconciled, and then we agree to a setup & commission like rate. Still, much needs to be discusses...

I would estimate your setup or one time software cost I would project at < $1k dollars; I need to know much more about your application, a) Is it a one time billing, recurring billing?, is the billing always the same, how can you supply me with your billing data??? This is just the beginning set of questions.

Again, the LEC billing dataflow diagram may be viewed at my web site: www.prncomp.com/lecBilling.aspx

There is much to discuss, and for now, this is just talk...

Please let me know exact time/date so that we both can be prepared for that conference call.

Matt

**prnmatt** · 02-08-2010, 03:35 PM

I talked to one of the Tech Reps for Transaction Clearing and the setup fee was $5k dollars. Sorry I was initially told the wrong amount.

I also found out that some clearing houses do not charge up front, but rather take the setup fee put of the first billing.

Matt

**td77** · 02-09-2010, 03:48 AM

Matt,

If you're telling me that you're going to need a $5000.00 set-up fee,
then I'm afraid that I'm going to have to pass......

This form of LEC billing is meant to be a secondary payment option,
in my opinion, used to supplement the lost revenue from customers
that could not or would not use a credit card.

I know in the grand scheme of things, $5000.00 isn't really a lot of money,
but to spend it on a secondary billing set-up fee just seems like a waste.

**prnmatt** · 02-09-2010, 10:50 AM

Sorry for the miss-communication.

I quoted my estimate w/o much detail from your project. We really need to discuss your dating project specifics.

I will re-quote below my earlier email:
"I would estimate your setup or one time software cost I would project at < $1k dollars; I need to know much more about your application, a) Is it a one time billing, recurring billing?, is the billing always the same, how can you supply me with your billing data??? This is just the beginning set of questions."

Please re-read that earlier reply, as it covers your questions. The $5k setup was referring to my clients cost for the original setup for lec billing. You and I are talking about an add-on application which will utilize our existing lec billing application.

I hope this clarifies your concerns?

Again, I really need to know your capabilities of how you plan on getting your billing numbers to our application, and the form of this communication, as well as the required LEC customer support as related to your billing numbers, when your clients call-in.

Matt Intihar

**prnmatt** · 02-09-2010, 10:57 AM

Secondary billing utilizing lec billing seems like the wrong way to go?
Why secondary as opposed to primary lec billing, when you don't need the clients secure credit card information, only the clients yes/no approval to place on their existingphone bill?

Matt

**prnmatt** · 02-09-2010, 11:01 AM

Regarding secondary billing, why not utilize lec as primary?
It is much more convenient form of billing, this is why it is getting to be so popular.

Matt