Up until recently, your business was able to charge its commercial customers a flat monthly rate for all of the data services you provided. Also until recently, this traditional monthly billing system, which was conducted with paper-based statements and collection envelopes, worked just fine.

Why was this system so efficient in the past? It’s because your customers were using far less data on a daily basis, as there were fewer data streams for them to manage. Now, however, we are in an ultra-connected era driven by the Internet of Things (IoT). Companies are using far more data on a daily basis than they used to in the past (thanks to greater VoIP, video and connected solutions). As a result, your network is becoming strained and you are leaking profits.

All signs indicate that the amount of data used by businesses will increase significantly in the future, too. According to ABI Research, for instance, by 2020, captured IoT data will reach an estimated 1.6 zettabytes. This is a sevenfold increase from 2014.

Now’s the time, therefore, to invest in a billing system that meshes with the needs of your corporate customers; for this purpose, a cloud-based solution is your best option. Using a cloud-based billing model, you can facilitate real-time billing for a more accurate and flexible system. Instead of sending out monthly account summaries, you can now charge customers for the data they are using in real time. With this type of system, you can increase communication with your customers and streamline the collection process as well.