Questions to Ask Before Selecting an ISP Billing Provider

Your payments, customer list, and router key are all stored in a billing system. You should look past a price page because you will depend on it on a daily basis for years to come.

At every demo, phone call, and free trial, ask these questions and record the responses.

Each explains what constitutes a sound response and what should raise red flags.

Payments

1. Which M-Pesa methods do you support: STK push, Paybill, or Till?

Listen for: A definite yes for each, with an explanation of how a customer pays.

Be wary of: An answer that customers pay and you forward them the message. That means someone is cross-matching payments.

2. How fast does a customer get online after paying?

Listen for: Seconds, with no one approving anything. Confirmations should come directly from Safaricom to the system.

Be wary of: An admin clicking "approve."

3. Whose number receives the money?

Listen for: Your own Paybill or Till, with payments going directly to you.

Be wary of: Money going to the provider's account first and getting passed on to you later. Ask about delays, and about what happens to your money if the provider has an issue.

4. What happens with wrong, duplicate or late payments?

Listen for: Tools to find unmatched payments, and a retry when a confirmation fails to arrive.

Be wary of: No one has thought about it.

Your routers and network

5. Which routers do you work with, and is there setup guides?

Listen for: Named models and written steps. MikroTik is the common choice among Kenyan ISPs, so check if yours is supported.

Be wary of: "It should work with anything."

6. Do you handle both hotspot and PPPoE customers?

Listen for: A yes, and an example of each. Many owners end up with both.

7. Can you set speed, time and data per plan, and cut off people who are already online?

Listen for: All three limits, and a way to end an active session, not just block the next login.

Be wary of: Customers being able to stay connected after their plan has ended.

8. What happens to my customers if your server goes down?

Listen for: An honest, specific answer about what keeps working and what pauses.

Be wary of: "That never happens." Every system has bad days, and honesty about them is a good sign.

Your customers

9. What can customers do on their own?

Listen for: A portal to check balance and expiry, and to top up. Fewer questions to you means more time for the business.

10. Can the system remind people to pay by SMS or WhatsApp, and who pays for those messages?

Listen for: A clear yes, and a clear answer on cost.

Be wary of: Messaging charges only showing up on your first bill.

11. Can I give a helper limited access?

Listen for: User roles, so a helper can add customers without seeing everything or changing their settings.

Money and contract

12. What exactly does it cost, and what is extra?

Listen for: A full list, including setup, per-customer charges, messages and support.

Be wary of: A real price not showing up until you sign up. Safaricom's own fees are separate, so ask which costs belong to whom.

13. Can I leave and take my records with me?

Listen for: An export of customers, payments and usage, in a format you can open.

Be wary of: Your data being hard to get out. That is how people get locked in.

Support and trust

14. How do I reach you, when, and how fast do you answer?

Listen for: Real hours, a real person, and a language you are comfortable in, English or Swahili.

Be wary of: The only way to contact being an email address.

15. Where is my customer data kept, who can see it, and is it backed up?

Listen for: A plain answer about backups and access. You hold customers' phone numbers, so the duty to protect them is yours too. Check the current Kenyan data protection rules, and ask the provider how they help you meet them.

16. Can I try it first, and can I talk to someone who runs a business like mine?

Listen for: A free trial and a real customer reference.

Be wary of: You having to pay before you can see how anything works.

The five-minute test

Questions only go so far. During any free trial, run this yourself:

Make one plan with a price, a time limit and a data limit.

Connect a test router.

Pay with your own phone, and time how long access takes to open.

Let the plan expire, and check that access is closed by then.

Send support a question, and note how long and how well they answer.

Five minutes of this teaches you more than any sales page. 

Noch Wired is compatible with MikroTik routers, STK push, Paybill and Till, hotspot and PPPoE billing, and has a free trial that allows you to ask the same questions.