Plesi began life as a managed services provider (MSP) before branching into telecommunications. They specialise in solving problems for multi-site customers by providing reliable connectivity and streamlining business-critical communication systems. Offering data and voice products was a natural evolution.
They were initially attracted to Active Billing’s managed service aspect, which offered responsive support and the security of knowledge retention. Ten years later, the partnership is still going strong, proving the value of having an expert billing partner.
The Early Days
Billing became a barrier to growth as Plesi shifted into telecommunications. It was impossible to offer voice calls with a system that didn’t process CDRs. Immature processes led to inconsistent invoicing and significant revenue leakage. The invoices going out didn’t reflect Plesi’s professional image.
It was clear that the business needed a billing solution that would solve these problems and support the next phase of growth.
Nick Vassiliades, Plesi’s Business Manager, said, “Left to us, we’d never send invoices on time. Active Billing gave us the tools to make billing routine.”
He added, “Active Billing gave us more than a platform, they gave us the expertise and guidance we needed to become a serious telco. Their processes and support gave us the confidence to grow far faster than we could have on our own.”
Managed Billing Powers Growth
Within months, bill runs were a breeze. Active Billing gave Plesi exactly what they needed to scale. A structured approach to bill runs, combined with detailed checklists, created discipline and consistency. The ability to process and invoice a range of carrier feeds ensured that every service was billed correctly and on time.
It didn’t take long to see financial benefits from the partnership. The billing platform allows for flexible pricing and customised reports, providing visibility of margins across every customer and service. One audit uncovered a long-term underbilling issue, instantly boosting profitability.
Billing that once dragged on for weeks now takes just a single day. Over half of Plesi’s customers are on direct debit, allowing Plesi to stay lean and agile without needing a big collections team. Nick said, “Aged receivables are significantly lower for Plesi. That’s entirely because of Active Billing.”
The platform also integrates seamlessly with Xero, making reconciliations straightforward and reducing admin overhead. For Plesi, this has been another key factor in staying lean while freeing the team to focus on growth.
Managed billing also reduces exposure to the risks of staffing changes. “The knowledge was always with Active Billing. When our staff changed, they retrained us and kept us moving. That support has been invaluable,” Nick explained.
He also reflected on how daunting bill runs once were:
“Like a kid kicking on the floor, I dreaded it. Within months of Active Billing, it became a breeze.”
Reporting Drives Success
Reporting is far more than numbers on a page — it’s a strategic tool. Plesi uses reporting to gain complete visibility of margins at both the customer and service levels, making it easy to see which products are profitable and where revenue is being lost.
In some cases, reports highlighted services still billed at legacy supplier rates.
“Over time, we’ve seen the same service from our provider drop in cost, so what used to be $400 might now be $100. Reporting shows us who we’re still paying the higher amount, so we can renegotiate or move providers.”
Reporting also plays a direct role in customer retention.
“If we can see customers paying more because of those legacy rates, we’ll review their pricing and go back to say, hey, let’s save you some money and pass the savings on — so they don’t look elsewhere.”
Detailed reporting enables Plesi to review customer pricing, identify legacy rates, and pass the savings on. With Active Billing’s reporting functionality, they can take a proactive approach to customer success and build a stronger commercial position.
Enhanced Professional Image
Expanding their market meant that Plesi needed to look the part. “Our invoices didn’t meet the sophistication that voice and data service customers expect,” Nick explained. Working with Active Billing gave them a customised bill and branded customer portal that helped them project the presence of a much larger player.
“We went from sending plain invoices to looking like a serious telco. Recent research even valued us at $25M based solely on brand perception. We couldn’t have done that without Active Billing.”
The MyAccount customer portal was a significant drawcard for Plesi. Aggregating feeds to present all services in one bill gives them a competitive advantage. Nick shared that they saved a customer $700 per month by removing the need to pay a third party to aggregate bills. MyAccount enables cost centres, detailed reporting, and granular information by groups, such as longest and most common calls. Plesi’s customers benefit from real insights into how their business operates.
“Being able to offer the MyAccount portal, which most tier one providers don’t even have themselves, makes us stand out. I’ve never seen anything as good as MyAccount, even from the big carriers.”
Unrivalled Customer Service
It’s more than the platform that sets Active Billing apart for Plesi; it’s the people behind it. The team consistently goes beyond expectations, stepping in to tackle problems that would otherwise go into the ‘too hard basket’.
One example came when mismatched carrier data created thousands of errors. Left alone, Plesi admits they would never have attempted to resolve it. Instead, Col from Active Billing proactively reached out, ran SQL analysis to uncover the root cause, and guided both Plesi and the carrier through a fix. Within weeks, they’d cleared the backlog, and billable calls that would have been lost were able to be invoiced.
“It wasn’t technically their problem, but they treated it as if it were their own. Col’s ability to deep dive into the data and show us exactly what was happening saved us weeks of work and hundreds of dollars we would have otherwise missed.”
This kind of hands-on support has given Plesi confidence that, no matter the challenge, Active Billing will be there to resolve it as if they were part of the internal team.
The Future is Full of Potential
The versatility of Active Billing’s platform means that Plesi are looking ahead. They’re confident that anything with a feed can be billed through the platform, opening up exciting new opportunities — from mobiles to utilities and beyond. Nick shared,
“We don’t ask if we can bill it anymore because we know we can.”
Most importantly, Nick views Active Billing as Plesi’s trusted billing partner for the future.
About Plesi
Plesi is a Sydney-based telco helping small to medium businesses across Australia stay connected with purpose-built solutions across voice, data, cloud, and internet. Since 2003, they’ve built a reputation for being agile, innovative, and relentlessly customer-focused. Talk to them about everything from internet connectivity and MPLS to cloud services, data centre solutions, and hosted telephony.
Learn more at Plesi.com.au.
