Next Telecom is a growing Australian telecommunications provider within Comms Group. The company has expanded significantly, now holding four major telco brands and 20 brands in total. That growth brings real complexity across incompatible systems, several billing teams, and five billing platforms.
Justin Bianchini, Operations Manager at Next Telecom, has worked alongside the Active Billing team for a decade. When it came time to bring the brands together under one billing provider, he knew exactly who to call.
“I knew what we were getting ourselves into, and I knew it was going to make life easier. It has even made life a little bit easier than I thought. I only wish I’d pushed harder for it to be done sooner.”
Justin Bianchini, Operations Manager
Five platforms, one problem
Growth through acquisition brings plenty of opportunities. The billing infrastructure it leaves behind is another story.
Through the mergers, Comms Group had accumulated five separate billing platforms. Each was running its own processes, team, and credit strategy. The customer service teams were fielding billing calls from other departments, resulting in inconsistent service.
Revenue reports required manual assembly from five systems, as none was complete independently. The system was too fragmented to integrate with the company’s ticket system. Instead, five credit management workflows ran in parallel. The results were predictable.
One brand’s migration to a new billing provider took years to complete and still had issues. That history was front of mind for Justin’s leadership team, and some were openly sceptical. The question wasn’t only whether a migration this complex could be done; it was whether there was a billing partner they trusted to do it.
“It’s a big change. It’s complex, and there’s risk. People are naturally hesitant about approaching that.”
Ten years in the making
For Justin, the decision wasn’t a decision at all because he already had the relationship. The consolidation was necessary to save money and improve the customer experience. After working alongside the Active Billing team for a decade, he knew what they were capable of.
“I was confident because I trusted their ability. They had never let us down before.”
An evaluation found that no other billing platform offers billing-as-a-service like Active Billing. Their in-house billing team was frustrated. They faced platform limits, unresponsive customer service, and inconsistent terminology. Reporting capabilities were limited, and fee structures were unclear.
The fragmented approach meant their customers’ experience depended on which brand they called. Justin’s team wanted changes letting them provide consistent, efficient service.
As Justin put it, “Active Billing basically gives you a Billing Manager built into your monthly fees at a fraction of the cost of hiring one, with proven systems and everything else that comes with them”.
Nine months. Five platforms. One chance to get it right.
Consolidating five billing platforms into one is not a small undertaking. Active Billing achieved what a competitor could not over several years. They delivered successfully in a complex, multi-brand setting in just nine months.
When Justin proposed a nine-month project plan, he knew it was aspirational. It was a stretch goal, but Active Billing was up for the challenge. What happened next was a team effort. An outgoing provider withheld records and invoices needed for the migration, but they still reached their goals.
The level of access and responsiveness was important to Justin. He said, “I could reach out at any time and get a response. I was never left waiting to move forward on things that mattered”. Weekly check-ins kept things moving and prevented complexity from causing delay.
When the bundled packages for one particularly complex brand threatened to slow things down, Katie made it happen. This allowed Justin and his Chief Technical Officer to jump in and help on other brands because they trusted that the most technically demanding work was under control.
“I knew the whole thing was in good hands — especially with the Switched On brand that had these bundle packages I couldn’t even get my head around. Katie just took care of it.”
The transition came in one day over the nine-month target. One brand’s migration was delayed by an invoice they were waiting on. Both parties wanted the confidence of final checks before cutover.
Justin has nothing but praise for the Active Billing team and said of our CEO Kerry. He said, “she took it personally that the deadline went over by a day and was clearly disappointed when she delivered the news. Not like some other vendors who treat you like a number”.
When the deadline was met, the Chairman and CFO were over the moon. Even the sceptics were impressed after their previous bad experience with billing migration.
“Because of the previous experience, there were people who just didn’t think it was going to get done. They just thought, did you guys actually sleep for the last nine months? How the hell did you get this done? They ended up being proud of what we’d achieved.”
The results
The impact showed up quickly and, in more places than Justin had expected.
Billing costs dropped by approximately $300,000 a year. Resourcing could finally be matched to actual need, and the efficiencies of running one integrated platform rather than five flowed through the whole business.
Reporting is now done in a single click. No more stitching together five data sets that were each incomplete in their own way. Justin and his finance team now have clean, accurate data on demand. Straightforward reporting has freed up time and removed guesswork for forecasting and analysis.
Credit management has been transformed. Where five separate strategies were too fragmented for automation, a seamless workflow now runs through Active Billing and the company’s ticketing system. Overdue accounts automatically trigger tickets. Follow-up calls are managed by customer status, and suspensions happen after 30 days. Payment closes the collections ticket. If needed, a reinstatement ticket is automatically raised for the provisioning team. None of this existed before.
Then there was the result nobody anticipated. Billing disputes dropped sharply with a single platform and team, and consistent processes. In a business where customer bills are the only regular touchpoint, this is a big win. It sets the tone for the whole relationship.
“We have such a low rate of billing disputes. It’s because it’s easy to use, and because the team know what they’re doing, they bill things correctly.”
What’s next
Justin is already working on the next phase. He’s exploring automation and even deeper integration between Active Billing and the company’s ticketing system. After almost twelve months of building a solid foundation, he’s looking forward to reviewing his first full year of consolidated revenue reporting.
When asked to explain Active Billing to someone new, Justin kept it simple.
“They’re a constant. No surprises. It’s a consistency thing. If anything gets promised, it will get done. And if they drop the ball — because everyone does sometimes — they own it, push it to the top of the queue, and get it done fast. It’s all about the relationship.”
About Next Telecom
Next Telecom is an Australian telecommunications provider delivering voice, data, and connectivity solutions to businesses across the country. With a focus on delivering seamless service at scale, Next Telecom has grown significantly through acquisition and continues to expand its capabilities and customer base.
Learn more at nexttelecom.com.au.
