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How can local ISP business succeed? The secret to a successful business product is universal for all industries. You have to look at your customers’ pain and the needs your product meets. Product development and business growth will only be possible if you can meet this need and fix this pain.
Pain is, in fact, a broken process. It can be hard to figure out what’s wrong with something, even if you use it yourself and have the right skills and experience. Due to blurred vision, things may appear absolutely normal. Therefore, you must turn your head 360 degrees and listen to what customers say. This article explores ten main challenges our clients had before switching to Splynx and how our solution, designed specifically for WISPs, solved them. It is based on over 50 interviews with our clients worldwide, who faced similar problems, albeit with some individual differences. So, let’s explore how Splynx can make a significant difference for your business.
Time-consuming admin tasks, billing-related revenue losses, persistent non-payers enjoying free internet, and more.
One significant challenge our current clients faced before switching to Splynx was the manual handling of various tasks, including record-keeping, paper documents, duplicate data entry, and invoice sending.
Depending on the individual ISP’s billing cycle, someone had to manually send out invoices every month, which is very time-consuming and prone to errors. This often led to delays and mismanagement in billing and customer service. Scheduling tasks and managing customer complaints were also bulky, as information wasn’t centralized. Each team member had to rely on manual notes written illegibly on different papers, which caused miscommunication and inconsistent service.
The main issue is that we required a software platform that could offer us end-to-end solution by joining all parts of the business and fulfilling all the requirements. From the onset of signing up the client to installation and billing. Having these different packages, they could not offer us this solution.
Splynx automates the entire billing cycle, from invoice generation to payment collection and reconciliation. This reduces the time spent on manual billing tasks, minimizes errors, and ensures timely and accurate billing. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg—other crucial billing tasks, such as blocking settings, reminders, refunds, credits, fees, and more, can also be fully automated. All are tailored to your specific needs.
Many South African ISPs issue invoices on the 25th of each month (in advance), so customers should pay by the 1st of the new month. Other people issue invoices on the 1st of the month and define the required payment period by themselves. Each business is unique, but the best part is that you can configure any settings and scenarios for your needs.
Because normally on the 25th I myself personally had to send out the invoices manually, but now it’s just a button click away. It is saving so much time. Secondly, it’s helping our scheduling team a lot because now we can schedule a task, and all parties will receive it. Also, now we can leave comments, so if someone else assists a client, they can see what comment I left regarding the client’s complaint, etc.
Do you think ISP billing software is expensive?
Having non-paying customers who enjoy your services and waste your bandwidth?
This is a fairly common problem among providers who try to track it manually. But as the base grows, it becomes impossible to administer it manually. So, without automatic blocking and unblocking by payments, the provider simply cannot exist — it is one of the fundamental principles!
techCONNECT is one of those ISPs that was previously stuck (no more with Splynx) in a manual mess (here you can read their full success story); billing at the end of each month took them over 20 hours of hard work. They had to cut off customers who didn’t pay manually, which got crazier as more people signed up. With Splynx, 20-hour manual invoicing at the end of each month is now a less-than-30-minute process.
Originally, month end used to take us up to 3 days or more to complete. With Splynx, we can process month-end billing in about 1 hour. The time saved to process anything has improved across the board. No more do we miss on tickets or nonbillings to customers. Customers can now track their own accounts and view all the tickets and pay online. The amount of support to our call center has dropped significantly.
Read Raajjé Online success story about how the Splynx billing system has become the “brain” of all operations they run.
Most small and medium ISPs initially concentrated on keeping costs low and focusing more on enlarging the footprint than administering it. However, as one of our clients previously said, you can never grow if you do not create a solid ground for growth.
Starnet started by providing services in rural areas and has since expanded to major cities.
Splynx has a clear potential to make small and medium-sized ISPs play like the big players in the market, so definitely, we are fully capable of competing and offering services without the limitation that billing and management software like Splynx can offer. Splynx is very advanced software. It’s giving every ISP the prestige of playing a big game.
Here’s Starnet’s full success story on gaining competitiveness against big players after switching to Splynx from multiple solutions.
Another big challenge for ISPs is accepting different payment methods while ensuring they don’t lose customers who prefer specific ways to pay.
We had issues ranging from communication with customers and hardware compatibility to payment automation and prepaid payments. UISP doesn’t support this very well; we had clients disconnected before or well after due dates. This was a big issue since our client base is almost 95% prepaid. We primarily used M-PESA and were forced to develop our plugin, but it was tedious having to work on updates.
Splynx software can be connected and integrated with multiple payment systems for each market, allowing customers to pay using their preferred methods. Unlike several Splynx competitors, we do not restrict our customers from choosing their desired payment instrument.
The billing process automation was magical. Game changer. Payment integration, disconnection, and reconnection. We cut down on losses from clients who had not paid bills but enjoyed the service till manual disconnection was done. 2 am “I have paid reconnect me” calls ended. We forgot about manual payment reconciliation, manual disconnection, and reconnection and we focused on onboarding more and more customers.
Our platform already supports IPPay, Stripe, Authorize.net, Netcash, Payrix, and others. In total, we support 15+ payment systems from different markets, and we’ll be adding more. Also, we have a Cashdesk module for processing cash payments and the opportunity to manually add payments, credit notes, refunds, and other things by yourself if needed. Moreover, with open API, you can integrate your own payment service, or our team can do it for a custom development project.
Yes, of course, there is no way without accounting, which is an essential part of any business. Just stop torturing your accountants and save hours of their work. And if you have a contractor, you’ll save money too!
Monthly invoice run would take 20 hours plus. Now it takes half an hour thanks to Splynx integration with Xero, and most of things are automated in any case.
Splynx integrates with Xero, Sage, Quickbooks, Holded, Zoho Books, and NetSuite. Here is a prominent example with a local South African ISP that saves 20+ hours each month after integrating Splynx with online accounting software.
Read the full techCONNECT success story about how Splynx’s billing boosted the company’s MRR and ARPU by over 30% and cut churn from 7% to 3%.
For one reason or another, many ISPs continue to do everything manually, including customer onboarding. This is not about pragmatically weighing the cost/benefit perspective, even in a short-term management initiative. Relying on manual processes to save costs leads to the loss of valuable time spent on repetitive mechanical tasks. It also increases the risk of human error and non-compliance with regulatory standards.
Before Splynx, a 10-minute call with a customer to sign up used to take more than 20 minutes, plus extra work at the back end.
Splynx CRM provides valuable statistics that offer insights into internet usage and VoIP service statistics. ISPs can easily track and analyze data related to customer usage patterns in real time, helping them make informed decisions regarding service offerings and optimizing sales strategies.
After your lead has agreed to the quote, a simple click of a button in Splynx enables you to transition it seamlessly into a customer. This facilitates immediate invoice generation using the quoted amount and provisioning the customer’s active service plan.
Also, Splynx’s CRM is connected to Ticketing and Scheduling features. Once customers agree to proceed with the services, a relevant task and ticket can be instantly created directly on the customer’s profile. The ability to show tailored plans to a specific customer within a particular location has been a deal-breaker, as customers are not frustrated searching through all available services but see a personalized set of plans available in their area.
Auto-provisioning features with ACS TR-069 integration simplify Wi-Fi installation for ISPs, allowing remote configuration and management of customer devices without manual intervention. This central management enables easy troubleshooting, mass configuration changes, and efficient firmware upgrades. Splynx uses the open-source Genie ACS for backend support, offering a frontend add-on for seamless integration. This service supports Mikrotik, Zyxel, TP-Link, Cambium, Ubiquiti, and other TR-069 compatible vendors, charging only $0.10 per device monthly, compared to $0.5-$1 for commercial ACS platforms.
Communication is critical during the sales and onboarding process. You can track and manage all customer information and interactions (calls, emails, SMS messages, tickets, and activity history are all in one place). You can leave notes for your team and create to-do’s related to each customer.
This approach brings your professionalism and customer onboarding to the next level. For instance, many of our clients have discovered that integration with 3CX for calling helps them deliver a personalized experience to their users, as most customers are impressed when you instantly greet them with their names. Because when a customer calls, their profile automatically opens up.
Thanks to the Splynx helpdesk, there is now less duplication of information, fewer mistakes, and a smoother workflow. It is now three times faster due to the customized sign-up form that Splynx has created for their company. This creates the customer’s account and lists the tasks that need to be done for sign-up. It also allows customization of the form depending on the type of customer – wireless, fiber, residential, or business.
Here’s Primo Wireless’s full success story. It had to work across multiple systems before switching to Splynx to cover all workflows, such as customer sign-ups, job scheduling, installations, ticketing, etc.
Often, ISPs struggle with using multiple systems that do not integrate well, leading to inefficiencies. This is especially true when using various free, open-source platforms that cover only specific tasks, suffer from poor optimization, and lack integration between key modules. Having one system to manage everything saves a lot of time and money, giving space to focus on sales, support, and marketing.
One of the most time-consuming tasks was manually locking non-payers, a bottleneck in our operations. We used 4–5 products to cover various aspects of operations and faced challenges in managing scattered new leads within email messages, lacking a proper CRM system. Additionally, on-site visits left the team without crucial information on customers’ requested services. This was expensive and led to fragmentation and inefficiencies.
Splynx has added provisioning and all of the things we’ve wanted to do over the years but no system could really support them.
Here is BluBroadband’s full success story. It is about how Splynx helped a regional internet service provider specializing in the Multi-Dwelling Unit (condominiums, apartments, shared housing) and enterprise markets in the Florida Panhandle switch from multiple solutions to one unified system, saving time and money.
At the core of every successful ISP lies a customer-centric approach. Approximately 70% of users prefer resolving their issues independently before contacting customer support, highlighting the importance of offering self-management options. Everyone wins from having a self-service, which lowers operational costs, improves customer satisfaction, and boosts retention rates.
Within Splynx’s Customer Portal, customers can conveniently access and review their account details through an informative dashboard: balance, current services, plan details, usage, CAPs, and billing updates. This helps customers understand what they are paying for and how to access, pause, or order a new service, enhancing self-service management across various devices. Сustomizability here is one of the key advantages, with ISPs can tailor the portal’s widgets to align with their brand identity, fostering a consistent and branded user experience.
Additionally, the Customer Portal Mobile App offers the possibility of white-labeling the login screen and customizing the home screen icon with a recognizable brand ISP logo. Here, you can read more about our new overhauled mobile app, which acts as a customized mobile self-service client portal for ISPs of any size.
By allowing customers to manage their own plans, we have seen customers selecting faster packages on their own. That has resulted in additional revenue that we were not seeing prior to Splynx when all changes were manual. Customers tend to upgrade themselves instead of calling in or emailing our support teams to upgrade them.
By automating and centralizing ticketing management, Splynx eliminates the complexities and bottlenecks that arise from manual and multi-step processes. Our team uses the Splynx system to manage all business processes, including client support, and we are constantly improving it. Check out more about Scheduling and and Ticketing modules in Splynx.
Improvement of our ticketing system, it is much easier to track and more useful for both the customer and our external customer support staff. We have RADIUS authentication of all users and that functionality is built in rather than deploying add-on services to our servers. Almost a 50% reduction in recurring costs.
Many ISPs highlighted terrible support from previous software providers, which resulted in delays, inefficiencies, reputation losses, and frustrated end users who ran away to competitors. We understand that support is key to business success in this case.
One of Splynx’s pillars—we consider it our trademark—is a reliable support team that is always ready to assist. When customers ask for help, we’ll do everything we can to ensure that the query is resolved quickly and in the best possible way. On average, our team receives 1200 monthly tickets and responds to them in the first 15 minutes. 85% of all our tickets are answered in under 60 minutes, as some need additional research.
I wanted to give a shoutout to Splynx. I had a critical VM host fail over the weekend. Not only was restoring from backup simple as can be (on a fresh install), but the few issues I did experience, Splynx responded to my tickets and solved within 15 minutes of opening tickets, on a weekend. This is exactly what I need (and expect) in a partner!
Here is a real-life customization example in action: BluBroadband, our client from the United States, constantly works on optimizing its own Splynx instance to improve customer service. As part of this effort, the customer portal default view was changed to match the company’s branding. Below is a screenshot that clearly shows the result, and here are step-by-step instructions on how to customize your customer portal page in a few steps.
Here is another example of Splynx’s flexibility. Our client effortlessly added a new helpful section to his customer portal by integrating the Uptime Kuma monitoring service (screenshot below).
Now, its customers have a simple and easy way to check the availability of services on their own and get notifications when there are problems (downtime or performance issues), which reduces the load on technical support. Also, it helps to address problems promptly and maintain high service reliability.
Managing customer bandwidth and packages is another pain point for many ISPs. This can result in network congestion, slow internet speeds, and customer dissatisfaction. Additionally, ISPs often need help enforcing fair usage policies, which protect them from unfair bandwidth distribution and potential revenue loss.
We had manual management of LTE authentication and bandwidth management for Wireless and DSL lines.
Splynx leverages the MikroTik API to efficiently manage traffic and bandwidth for ISPs efficiently, enabling detailed traffic accounting, robust bandwidth shaping, and customizable authentication and blocking rules. Through API integration, Splynx gathers traffic statistics, implements shaping methods like Simple Queue and PCQ Shaping, and manages DHCP leases, firewall rules, and PPP/DHCP/Hotspot authorizations. This ensures precise control over network resources and enhances performance.
In Splynx, ISPs can customize Fair Usage Policy (FUP) settings to control customer speeds based on their monthly, weekly, or even daily data consumption. Moreover, they can adjust speed limits for different times of the day, such as increasing speeds during off-peak hours or throttling them during weekends.
In addition to FUP settings, Splynx’s CAP configuration allows ISPs to set monthly data limits for internet plans, which can be based on download, upload, or total data usage. Consequently, this feature enables ISPs to create data plans that meet specific customer needs, ensuring fair usage and preventing excessive data consumption. Furthermore, ISPs can offer Top-Up plans automatically or manually, providing customers with extra data allowances at predefined prices and validity periods. This level of customization, therefore, helps ISPs accommodate various customer requirements while effectively monetizing additional services.
After migration to Splynx, we got one central platform that resolved these tasks and provided us central IP address management, equipment tracking and map of the network. Now we have reduced the time for provision one customer two or three times compared to what was before Splynx deployment.
Nowadays, many different software solutions are on the market. Most offer similar features and have pros and cons. Nevertheless, as with any other business, one of the main challenges for service providers is limited possibilities without the right tools. It is impossible to optimize business processes and establish effective management without the ability to integrate third-party solutions and customize software for your needs. Existing software solutions often lack essential features like billing, customers, ticketing, inventory, scheduling, and Radius/NAS, not to mention the integration of third-party custom solutions.
Previous solutions offered no support, which possessed high risks to our network in the case of a breakdown. Moreover, it limited our ability to scale the business due to shortcomings in the software’s features and integration with other solutions.
Splynx stands out for flexibility. It offers full customization, allowing easy creation of additional modules and integration with 3rd-party software solutions. Open REST API gives ISPs full freedom of action, allowing for custom integrations and expanding the system’s functionality. Splynx already offers modules for managing Huawei OLT, 3CX integration, LibreQoS, Preseem, and Whalebone Peacemaker – here is a full list of already available integrations and add-ons. Almost any kind of integration is possible if needed.
Our team also contributes to our clients’ success by providing custom-made solutions. A large provider from New Zealand already had most of its processes on point, so the complete transition to new software was impossible without developing custom modules. Splynx offered this customization, and the development of initial modules took around three months in total. It was a doubtless benefit for the Wireless Nation team because it meant they could meet all their requirements by adjusting a part of the billing and inventory processes.
Migrating all their customers and business processes to the Splynx platform took one month. Splynx has completed over 25 customizations and modules, saving around 40% in costs compared to their in-house developed system. Read their whole success story on our website.
Local ISPs face high costs because they must provide faster and more reliable internet services while competing fiercely, cutting their profits. Upgrading networks is risky since the market is saturated and customers are very price-sensitive, making the return on investment uncertain. So, to remain competitive, ISPs need to choose the right software.
Even though in-house systems can provide the most suitable feature set, they have proven costly and complex, requiring significant time, money, and skilled personnel investments. These systems became inefficient, hindering scalability and adaptability, while the expense of retaining qualified developers and the software’s rapid obsolescence have eroded their competitive edge.
One of the key aspects of our business was always our management software. Our company was developing own in house solution for a long time that matched exactly our needs and processes. But in certain point we found that support and further development is inefficient and decided to move to commercial platform. Splynx delivered us custom modules and development took around 3-4 month in total. And then it took one month to migrate all our business processes and customer to the Splynx platform.
We were looking for a solution backed by experienced software developers and architects with experience in the telco industry. The product had the modules we wanted as part of the solution, and after visiting the Splynx headquarter and discussions with the founder, we had the confidence that Splynx is the right partner for us and the system the right solution.
Taking into account the prices for various software, salaries of the in-house team and other related expenses, the Wireless Nation now save 40% of the recurring costs, having everything they need, including professional team that is always ready to help. In our success story, you can learn more about how Splynx helped Wireless Nation save around 40% of recurring costs.
We were looking for a solution backed by experienced software developers and architects with experience in the telco industry.
The price of Splynx, considering all possibilities and advantages for providers, makes it a win-win scenario because it is less than “alternative solutions,” saves money, and gives the client competence. The best confirmation of these words is a case of our client AU Wireless, which reduced recurring costs by almost 50% by switching to Splynx from its previous system, Sonar.
Improvement of our ticketing system, it is much easier to track and more useful for both the customer and our external customer support staff. We have RADIUS authentication of all users and that functionality is built in rather than deploying add on services to our servers. Almost a 50% reduction in recurring costs.
Additionally, Splynx gives access to enhanced R&D capabilities and increases ROI, as clients can provide all kinds of value-added services, not just the Internet. For example, hotspots, cybersecurity, and IT support can all be managed by a centralized by one system.
TechCONNECT actively uses Splynx integration with Whalebone to protect its customers online. Since implementing Splynx, techCONNECT has seen a significant turnaround in key performance indicators: customer churn rate slashed from 7% to 3%, while MRR and ARPU boosted by over 30%.
Automation provides ISPs with significant savings on human resources, as fewer people are needed to serve a larger number of customers.
I actually think because of all the automation that Splynx does for us we’d probably be able to double our amount of customers and still kind of operate like we’re operating now.
Many WISPs are stuck with outdated systems and processes. The systems they use are not being updated and have almost no support. This means they are not flexible enough to offer customers all the services they want, thereby limiting their growth potential. As a result, they cannot compete with big ISPs in terms of service, pricing, and uptime.
We had an old system and didn’t want to re-develop it from the beginning. We needed a faster, more modern, fully supported platform. As in certain point we found that support and further development of own software is inefficient and decided to move to the commercial platform.
At Splynx, we are constantly working on improving the product. Our internal team of 30+ developers in 4 departments is responsible for product core features, new features, add-ons and mobile apps, and custom development. We also have a team of professional QA engineers who perform comprehensive testing and code reviews. They utilize automated tests (unit, integration, and acceptance testing) and manual tests based on predefined cases or scenarios to ensure software functions as expected.
In May, we released Splynx 4.3. The system received over 140 updates focused on boosting operations, billing with multi-tax support, reporting, customer management, and more. We are actively working on the next major release, 5.0, to optimize scheduling and task management fully.
One of Splynx’s core principles is to stay flexible and go hand-in-hand with new technologies that sprout up every time. We monitor the latest industry trends and attentively listen to feedback from our clients to ensure that our software remains cutting-edge and relevant in the ever-changing ISP landscape. Part of this effort is a particular Splynx Feedback page where you can post ideas on future features or improvements, vote on suggestions from other community members, and stay in the loop with our live roadmap and changelog to see all the latest updates in real-time.
Splynx is built by people that understand the ISP business. That makes it great software for the industry. As much as they (ISPs) use it, as much they benefit from it.
So, by choosing Splynx, you will access a solution that consistently meets market demand and can be confident that it won’t become stagnant or outdated over time. We always try to keep your eyes open and constantly reinvest in R&D to help you once and again stay in the competition and go far beyond it.
I distinctly recall saying to my newly recruited technician at that time that Splynx is not going to work for us. Then I opened the Splynx features and I think within 30 minutes my mind was made. The Splynx sales team contacted me thinking they’d probably still have to make the sale but I already bought. I just wanted to know where to pay. I probably spent a couple of hours or so just making sure that I would be able to transfer all of my customer data from the old system to Splynx but I think that wouldn’t have been a deal-breaker anyway. I just really wanted a system that could do my subscription invoicing and automate VoIP billing. Boy, I got that and so much more.
This motivated us to create a better experience for ISPs of all sizes.
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