Agree a payment plan with a customer in minutes, then let the platform enforce it. The balance comes from your billing system, the customer gets the schedule by SMS, and a missed installment brings three warnings and then a disconnection task. It is part of Utility Revenue Protection.
The problem
A customer who can’t clear the debt at once is offered a plan at the counter. The plan is written on a form, typed into a spreadsheet, and from then on someone has to remember to check it every month.
Two things go wrong. A customer who is paying on time is disconnected anyway, because the crew’s list doesn’t know about the plan. Or a customer who stopped paying after the first month stays connected for half a year, because nobody compared the spreadsheet with the balance.
How it works
One screen to create the plan, and no manual checking after that.
Office staff enter the account number, phone number, ID number, advance paid, first due date and number of installments.
The outstanding amount is read from your billing system, and the advance is taken off.
The schedule is shown with a date and an amount for every installment, then approved.
The customer gets an SMS with a link to the agreement and the schedule, in Arabic and English.
On each due date the balance is read again and compared with the target for that date.
A plan that is kept runs to the end. A missed installment brings warnings, then a disconnection task.
Rules built in
The limits, the tolerance and the wording are set to your policy during the build.
The amount owed comes from your billing system when the plan is created, so no plan is built on an old figure.
Staff can offer up to a set number of installments, for example six. Longer plans and uneven amounts need special permission.
When installments are edited by hand, the plan can’t be saved until they total the amount owed.
A link by SMS opens the terms, the advance paid and every due date and amount, in Arabic and English.
A missed target sends a warning SMS on three days in a row. Only then is the plan cancelled and a disconnection task raised.
An account on an active plan is kept out of the normal disconnection lists, so no crew is sent by mistake.
What changes
The same agreement with the customer, without the monthly chase.
| Plan on a spreadsheet | Fieldmaster installment plans | |
|---|---|---|
| The amount owed | Plan on a spreadsheet Copied from a statement that may be days old. | Fieldmaster installment plans Read from the billing system when the plan is created. |
| The customer’s copy | Plan on a spreadsheet A paper form, if they keep it. | Fieldmaster installment plans An SMS link to the agreement and schedule in Arabic and English. |
| Checking payments | Plan on a spreadsheet Someone compares the spreadsheet with the balances each month. | Fieldmaster installment plans The balance is checked against the target on every due date. |
| A missed installment | Plan on a spreadsheet Noticed weeks later, or not at all. | Fieldmaster installment plans Three daily warning SMS, then a disconnection task for the field crew. |
| Disconnection crews | Plan on a spreadsheet Work from a list that doesn’t know about the plan. | Fieldmaster installment plans Never receive an account that is on an active plan. |
| History | Plan on a spreadsheet Old plans are overwritten or filed away. | Fieldmaster installment plans Every plan for the account is kept, with who created it and when. |
Part of Utility Revenue Protection
Installment plans run on the same platform as the rest of your credit control: notices, disconnections, reconnections with an SLA, collection calls and tampering inspections. When a plan fails, the disconnection task goes to the same crews, on the same map, by the same assignment rules.
Plans work for electricity and water, each with its own rules. Call centre agents see a customer’s plan history while they are on the call.
FAQ
An agreement that lets a customer clear an overdue electricity or water balance in monthly installments, usually after an advance payment, while continuing to pay the normal monthly bill. It is also called a payment plan or payment arrangement, and spelled instalment plan in British English. If the customer keeps to it, the supply stays on. If not, the utility can disconnect.
It creates the plan from the real balance, gives the customer the schedule, checks every due date without anyone opening a spreadsheet, and acts when an installment is missed. It also keeps accounts on a plan away from the disconnection crews for as long as the plan is kept.
Each due date has a target balance: what the account should owe if the plan is being kept. On that date the balance is read from your billing system and compared with the target, with a small tolerance you set. Nobody has to record payments in Fieldmaster.ai.
The customer gets a warning SMS on three days in a row, and the balance is checked each day. If the target is met, the plan carries on. If not, the remaining due dates are cancelled and a disconnection task is raised for the field crew.
Office staff you give the permission to. You set the longest plan they can offer, and a smaller group can be allowed to approve longer plans or uneven installments.
An SMS with a link. The page shows the terms of the agreement, the account, the advance paid and the amount due on each date, in Arabic and English. No app or login is needed.
Yes. A new plan for the same account replaces the old one, and staff can cancel a plan with a note. Earlier plans stay in the account’s history.
A typical app is live in 10 to 18 working days. The connection to your billing system is built by our team as part of the project.
