Support of Wireless Internet Service Provider

[CountryConnections]

I am considering using WHMCS for billing and serving customers in a Wireless Internet Service Provider (WISP) business that also does some web hosting and dial up. Here are some of the challenges that I have identified after using the demo. Please tell me if these can be addressed of if this package is just not right for us.

 

1. We must install systems before billing starts. So if a person orders a package then we do not want them to be billed until after the install is complete. Is there some way a person can place an order for a package but then we can manually set when that order is paid for and charges begin?

 

2. Is there a way to batch print invoices that do not have automated payment so we can mail out invoices via paper mail. We want to migrate people to automated payment but this company we are buying is all paper now.

 

3. In the ticketing system, the e-mail address is a required field but our perspective customers may not have e-mail addresses and we don't even have e-mail addresses for some customers (not yet anyway). Not only is the e-mail field required, it also seems that it must be unique. We'd like the e-mail address to be optional and for the system to not send e-mails if the field is blank. Can this be changed?

 

4. The tickets have a department field but I wish that they could have an additional type/category field that could list the type of ticket within a department. I tried creating a custom field for this and that sort of works but you need to go to the custom tab to view it. For example, for our support tickets, we have tickets for wireless, dial-up, e-mail, networking, computer, and hosting. All these are in the Support department but different people do these different types of tickets. It would be good to be able to list the tickets according to a specific category.

 

5. In the clients list view, is there a way to change the fields that are listed and can I add custom fields to the list? If there is a template for this that I could edit then that would be wonderful. For us, we want to list IP addresses and Mac addresses in that list.

 

6. Can the list of product types be easily changed to add things like Wireless Internet and Dial-up Internet in addition to the current: Shared Hosting, Reseller Hosting, VPS/Dedicated, and Other?

 

Please note that the good things this product does are not mentioned here. I am really pleased with many features. I am a long time user of WHMCS in another business.

 

Thanks Much!

Mark

[PrvtPilot]

Hi,

 

I am currently using WHMCS as my WISP billing system and so far it has worked great.

 

>1. We must install systems before billing starts. So if a person orders a package then we do not want them to be billed until after the install is complete. Is there some way a person can place an order for a package but then we can manually set when that order is paid for and charges begin?<

 

Yes, you can do this, when you setup the package just make sure that the auto setup is set to OFF. That way it will not start billing till you activate it. And you can always change the billing start date.

 

As far as the other items they will require an answer from the WHMCS staff.

 

Out of curiosity what are you using as a backend to the wireless system? Such as Router, DHCP, Bandwidth Managment? Would be really interested.

 

Dean

[dkent]

I can also help with an answer to a couple of your questions.

 

2. Is there a way to batch print invoices that do not have automated payment so we can mail out invoices via paper mail. We want to migrate people to automated payment but this company we are buying is all paper now.

 

Unfortunately this is not possible, however it is planned to be implemented in one of the upcoming new versions of WHMCS.

 

5. In the clients list view, is there a way to change the fields that are listed and can I add custom fields to the list? If there is a template for this that I could edit then that would be wonderful. For us, we want to list IP addresses and Mac addresses in that list.

 

It is not currently possible to change the default fields unless you manually edit them via the files within the database, but you are able to add custom fields to the client area (Configuration > Custom Client Fields).

[eugenevdm]

I am considering using WHMCS for billing and serving customers in a Wireless Internet Service Provider (WISP) business that also does some web hosting and dial up. Here are some of the challenges that I have identified after using the demo. Please tell me if these can be addressed of if this package is just not right for us.

 

We run a WISP with about 700 clients using WHMCS and have been for over a year. We also use WHMCS to control our hosting. By far the most work we had to do and are still doing is the integration of our Radius system with WHMCS. Radius is quite installation specific and it's not so easy to put in something 'off the shelf'.

 

1. We must install systems before billing starts. So if a person orders a package then we do not want them to be billed until after the install is complete. Is there some way a person can place an order for a package but then we can manually set when that order is paid for and charges begin?

 

We have been getting away from this problem by creating the user on the day we do the installation. Not ideal, but seems to work. I like the other user's suggestion of control when a package is commissioned, but we're not doing it this way.

 

3. In the ticketing system, the e-mail address is a required field but our perspective customers may not have e-mail addresses and we don't even have e-mail addresses for some customers (not yet anyway). Not only is the e-mail field required, it also seems that it must be unique. We'd like the e-mail address to be optional and for the system to not send e-mails if the field is blank. Can this be changed?

 

Having the e-mail address as an unique identity is a very good idea. My suggestion is to start thinking about migrating new your clients the digital age. For clients that don't have e-mail addresses create a pseudo address, e.g. whmcs123 (WHMCS client ID) @ wispdomain.com somewhere where you can find cheap mailboxes. This way everyone will be able to receive an online invoice and you'll be able to keep track of everyone. In the future you could change it to their real address. Maybe 'giving' them a small mailbox with the service will also be a good selling point.

 

5. In the clients list view, is there a way to change the fields that are listed and can I add custom fields to the list? If there is a template for this that I could edit then that would be wonderful. For us, we want to list IP addresses and Mac addresses in that list.

 

You can definitely add custom fields, but I don't know about viewing them in a list view. However finding anything in a custom field is a breeze with intelligent search, we use it often when looking for a client's Radius username (we have created a custom product field).

 

6. Can the list of product types be easily changed to add things like Wireless Internet and Dial-up Internet in addition to the current: Shared Hosting, Reseller Hosting, VPS/Dedicated, and Other?

 

As far as I know something like Wireless Internet would fall in 'Other' but there are no significant problem with it now having it's own category. Products are listed by their actual category not by what WHMCS has as a 'master' category.

 

Please note that the good things this product does are not mentioned here. I am really pleased with many features. I am a long time user of WHMCS in another business.

 

Indeed it has. And if you can tell me about one other product that comes as close to user-friendly, fast, and with great backup as WHMCS I would find it hard to believe!

[9DollarDomains]

Hi. I'd like to BUMP this thread, to get any more recent feedback on using WHMCS in a ISP / WISP environment. Like the above posters, we also run a WISP business along with doing domains/webhosting, and we currently do our WISP billing in a separate program.

 

Frankly, I'm not too concerned about the WISP billing aspects of WHMCS, since our old billing solution isn't broken. What I am more interested in is how people are using WHMCS (or any other program you want to mention) to manage customers, track issues, create work orders, schedule installs and service calls, and so on.

 

We have begun using a second install of WHCMS (separate from our normal webhosting billing installation) as a support / trouble ticket system, and it's doing an OK job. With custom fields, we can track additional info about the clients, and while it's not 'ideal' for our WISP, it's better than trying to use our previous billing program to track these things. We still bill in that old program, but are using WHMCS as our support system.

 

So, I thought I'd bump this in order to hear anyone's new and improved ideas - even if that includes ''we stopped using WHMCS and are using XYZ-WISP-PRODUCT now'' instead.

[eugenevdm]

We're still using WHMCS after all these years to run our WISP. We started out with QuickBooks and manual provisioning, then went over to WHMCS, and then as soon as we had a Radius module we started provisioning out of WHMCS. We also migrated our Kayako help desk to WHMCS for tickets. We also moved our creditors out of QuickBooks and put those in Pastel.

 

I am very happy with WHMCS as a billing platform. Creating the Radius modules really weren't that hard because it's so easy to extend WHMCS with PHP.

 

I would say the strong points of WHMCS are:

 

* Hosting billing

* Repeat billing of domains, monthly services etc.

* Ticket logging

* Extensible

* Large support of modules

 

What I miss:

 

* True accounting features. I can't begin to tell you the drama I have had with my accountants and WHMCS. The problem is WHMCS is a real-time billing system and my accountants need to rely on age analysis of debtors in order to provide me with accurate management reports. It's gone so far now that I don't even pay VAT on invoice any more, but rather on income received. This is a real balls-up.

* You mention these things which I could really use:

**Work orders

**Schedule installs and service calls

 

We were approached by this company that has a very awesome product for WISPs:

http://www.azotel.com/

 

They have huge experience creating these systems for WISPs. There are two problems why we won't migrate across:

1. Cost

2. They don't do domains, hosting, overuse, etc. They were open to adding it in, but I never really went as far as the quote phase.

 

In my opinion WHMCS is still the best just simply because it's so customizable. The guys at WHMCS are also very open to developing any kind of module at very competitive rates.

 

My only bother is the lack of true accounting features e.g. age analysis, credit notes, trail balance, lock down of invoices (so that you can't just "make changes") and so on.

 

Good luck in finding something else. It's very hard to find a system that blends well with a WISP AND does hosting billing. Keep us posted.

[9DollarDomains]

Hi - thank you for your reply and your suggestions.

 

For us - we don't necessarily need to integrate our Domain/Hosting side of the business with our ISP/WISP side of our business into one billing program. Right now, we have two separate billing programs, and that doesn't really bother us too terribly - we use WHMCS for the Hosting Division, and we use (old and obsolete) NT Paymaster for our WISP business. We have a couple thousand WISP customers and we have a couple thousand Domain/Hosting customers - but 80-90% of those Hosting customers are spread across the country and around the world, so there is not a lot of overlap in the two customer bases. For us, having them in two separate billing programs isn't a deal breaker at all - it would just be 'nice' to have them together, but that is about 20th on my feature wish list.

 

We also have looked at AZotel and at PowerCode for the WISP side of things - both of which are specifically written for the WISP industry, which gives them a HUGE advantage. The strongest core feature of WHMCS is simply that it is specifically written for the Hosting industry, and there are 1000's of us every day using WHMCS - which means we are all requesting features, finding bugs, customizing, writing modules and so on - all for the Hosting industry. Without WHMCS themselves deciding to go after the WISP industry (so that there is the same critical mass of WISP users) then WHCMS won't really get that same sort of integral support. Not that I'm picking on WHMCS at all - if we didn't love it for our Hosting division, we would be trying to adapt it for our WISP division. However, only when the WHMCS.com website says ''click here if you are a WebHost OR click here if you are a WISP'', and only when there starts to be built in modules for Provisioning Canopy SM's and creating Static DHCP entries and tracking MAC Addresses and an Installation / Service Call schedule and a Mileage tracker, and so on - only then will WHMCS be a real WISP program. However - baby steps! That's where we need to get, so how do we get there from here...

 

We do have the Radius module, so we may install that and give it a try - but for us, the billing part is secondary, since our 'Paymaster' is still working. We are primarily looking at the Management and Work Order and Service Call and trouble-ticket and Installation tracking side of things (which are SO vitally important) and then for us billing features can be secondary to that. Of course, WHMCS already has good billing features, with the exception of the actual accounting features you mention, but we are confident that WHMCS can do our WISP billing if we need it to - so our main concern is seeing if it can do the rest of our WISP features.

 

Also - I agree about the cost - the Azotel and PowerCode programs (as well as several others) have a per-client $ model, were you 'only' have to play them $1 or $1.50 per client per month, or something like that. I HATE THAT. I know they have to be compensated for their work, but $2,000 / month seems like quite a jump. I'm not expecting the best program in the world for free - I don't mind paying for something that will save in labor costs, but these programs would be $25,000 - $40,000 per year for us - that's insane.

 

Now - I see that Yesterday, there is a new addon module for Projects and Work Orders - so I'll have a look at that. It looks to be (again) more Web Design oriented, but we are going to have a look and see how adaptable for a WISP business it can be.

[evil]

What radius module are you all using?

[9DollarDomains]

Hi Evil. If you are asking me - we have the Radius module from WHMCS - we paid Matt to build us one. However, we have never implemented it. We currently use WHMCS to bill for out Website and Domain business, and we still use a separate (OLD) program for our ISP billing.

 

We have begun using a WHMCS installation for our customer support system, in anticipation for using WHMCS as our total solution at some point.

[eugenevdm]

We've been using using a Radius module that I developed 6 years ago with WHMCS. To a degree a Radius module can be very strait-forward. If you're using industry standard stuff like FreeRadius and MySQL populate these MySQL tables:

 

* radcheck (for adding usernames and password)

* radgroupreply (for adjusting rate limiting parameters, possibly on your server module)

* radreply (to populate specific attributes such as fixed IP address)

* usergroup (to set specific user attributes using groups, for example assigning rate limiting to a user upon creation)

 

Furthermore you probably need to front-end stuff to read radacct so that you can generate usage statistics / graphs for your clients.

 

Where Radius gets tricky is with the implementation of capping and uncapping. There are a 100 ways to skin a cat here. You typically end up using quite a few queries that can be done in quite a few different ways. And then when it comes to "post paid" versus "pre-paid" data it gets even more tricky. Post paid kind of work out of the box, pre-paid is another story altogether. For our client base we now use FreeRadius and DMASoftlab Radius Manager and this seems to find the sweet spot. The only real hassle is Radius Manager runs it's own billing system that is completely separate from WHMCS.

[9DollarDomains]

Hi. Currently, we use two totally separate programs - WHMCS for our Hosting/Domains and 'NT Paymaster' for the ISP/WISP billing. We don't ''need'' to change this, and the 'not broke, don't fix' logic has it's merits.

 

However, NT Paymaster is old - the company went out of business several years ago - so it will have no enhancements or updates. We have started using a WHMCS installation to use the Support Tickets as our ISP/WISP support system, and that's working OK.

 

So - if it's practical, we'd like to use WHMCS to do our WISP billing, so that we can start to offer some usage based billing plans - right now NT Paymaster really only does flat rate billing, and with all the recent NetFlixer's - that's a problem.

 

I don't think we have any real interest in switching from NT Paymaster to some other billing software, unless it's to integrate everything into WHMCS. If I understand you, Radius Manager does it's own billing, and while it may be excellent, I was hoping to integrate all our customers and billing and support into one program.

 

Also, we are hoping to hire this setup. Our current Radius is on an NT server, and as I say, we have the NT Paymaster software, so we will have multiple new things to figure out at once - if we can hire out the setup, that would be a better use of our brain power.

[otel]

hello,

We're currently programming a FreeRadius based Radius module for WHMCS,

 

and we're also in the process of creating a JAVA based Accounting module which works live with WHMCS. It will include creditors (debtors is already in WHMCS as clients), journal ledger, inventory, bank, and some others. the facility will be easy to use, starting from importing your bank statement in CSV format and allocating by 'one-click' to relevant accounts. Inventory will initiate from 'Purchase orders', and will have serial number tracking.

We're looking at low monthly fee for unlimited users and transactions.

 

Anyway, i'll open a new thread for this Accounting module..just wanted to note of the FreeRadius module, which is more advanced than WHMCS standard one..

[eugenevdm]

...we're also in the process of creating a JAVA based Accounting module which works live with WHMCS. It will include creditors (debtors is already in WHMCS as clients), journal ledger, inventory, bank, and some others. the facility will be easy to use, starting from importing your bank statement in CSV format and allocating by 'one-click' to relevant accounts. Inventory will initiate from 'Purchase orders', and will have serial number tracking.

We're looking at low monthly fee for unlimited users and transactions.

 

Anyway, i'll open a new thread for this Accounting module..just wanted to note of the FreeRadius module, which is more advanced than WHMCS standard one..

 

This could be a very exciting development and we would certainly sign up if your product is up to scratch. One question, if you are doing this in Java, could it mean that it will also work on Linux? We only use Linux desktops.

[otel]

Hi Eugene,

We're keeping it simple, have the program hosted in a cPanel sub-domain (yours pointing to our server) and using TOMCAT..

 

It's still some time away...we've just started..

[eugenevdm]

...It's still some time away...we've just started..

 

Good luck, it's a massive undertaking. I hope you have sufficient time and resources.

 

With regards to your solution, I have these comments:

 

1. Might this also work with Plesk? Many hosts are using Plesk instead of cPanel. Plesk support Tomcat. A further question would be does it matter if the desktop is Linux?

 

2. Is this a hosted solution? We live in South Africa and latency to US or UK servers are in the 200 to 300 millisecond range making "overseas" hosted applications not very responsive.

[9DollarDomains]

Hi. We would be interested in anything that lets us integrate all our billing (Website / Domain / Service / WISP / HotSpot) into one billing software, so if development goes ahead, let us know.

[9DollarDomains]

We've been using using a Radius module that I developed 6 years ago with WHMCS.... ...For our client base we now use FreeRadius and DMASoftlab Radius Manager and this seems to find the sweet spot. The only real hassle is Radius Manager runs it's own billing system that is completely separate from WHMCS.

Hi. I was re-reading your post and I'm confused - does this mean that you use Radius Manager entirely separately for your WISP/Radius billing, or does this mean you've somehow integrated it into WHMCS somehow? It doesn't look like WHMCS.com is prepared to extend WHMCS into being a WISP program, so we will need to move ahead with some other solution.