Avoiding the 5 Pitfalls of Utility Billing Modernization | Webinar Recording & Highlights

“I feel like there is a lack of transparency with the Public Works and the city, as far as how they are actually handling the billing. It’s just a huge mess,” said a Midwest water district customer following a post-implementation billing surge. 

Incorrect utility billing implementations can have a ripple effect and ultimately lead to outrage, customer service lines flooded with calls, and news headlines that ruin public trust in your organization. These failures may seem like an IT problem, but they can affect the entire organization or city and take years to change public perception. 

Instead of getting hit with a PR disaster, you can stay out of the news by staying ahead of implementation pitfalls. In a recent webinar, experts Bob Benstead of Infor and Mark Oliver of VIP covered the most common pitfalls and how to avoid them. Watch the clip below to hear from them directly on what to avoid. 

1. Underestimating Data Quality

You’ve heard the saying “garbage in, garbage out” before, and the same goes for utility billing systems. In a New York city, the team discovered addresses listed as entire blocks rather than individual addresses that all needed individual bills. With this implementation, Mark and his team spent the time cleaning up the data—whether that was standardizing addresses, validating contact info, or establishing who owns data quality. No matter how great your billing system and setup is, the data must be accurate and cleaned to prevent billing issues.

2. Migrating Too Much Data

When it comes to migrating data, you have to ask yourself what’s worth migrating and  why. Moving unnecessary data is costly, adds complexity, and can create additional risk exposure. It can also be an inefficient allocation of your budget. To keep this under control, only migrate open balances, active accounts, and compliance minimums. By storing this data in a separate archive or data lake that’s searchable for any referenceability required, you will keep your main system clean and unmuddled. As Mark explained, “You can bring all that bill history over as history, right, in custom tables, so that it’s researchable. But it doesn’t have to be actual financial transactions.” 

3. Underestimating Staff Time

When starting an implementation project, everyone is very excited to get a new tool, but many teams don’t realize the staff time required to get them up and running. You can have the best system implementation firm in the world, but project staff is still required in the process, especially concerning governance & decision– making. Make sure to mitigate these delays by establishing a steering committee with decision authority and creating clear timelines.

4. Not Enough Parallel Testing

What is a parallel bill run? Before you send out bills to all the households in your jurisdiction, you’ll want to run parallel bill runs to make sure that different customer types and edge cases are all being run correctly. Reconcile every bill to the penny and make sure that everything lines up correctly. Use these parallel bill runs to catch any calculation issues that might come up. As Mark emphasized, “It’s got to be to the penny before those bills go out.” 

5. Poor Customer Communication

Before any go-live—whether it’s a portal, new account numbers, or a new bill format—be sure to communicate with your customers ahead of time. You can utilize bill inserts, emails, texts, and website banners. Take that preparation one step further by manning your customer support team with prepared questions and answers. When it comes to billing system changes, undercommunication—rather than overcommunication—tends to be the issue. As the webinar emphasized, “Overcommunication is never a problem” when it comes to billing system changes. 

Bottom Line 

Utility billing modernization doesn’t have to be risky. Clean your data, test relentlessly, communicate extensively, and never underestimate the time and resources needed. VIP implementation services can help you navigate these pitfalls as your go-live partner, ensuring you avoid becoming another cautionary tale in the news. Reach out to us at sales@trustvip.com to learn more.