Hosting Automation / Billing Sofware

[chrisp]

I am curious to hear is to what the other members of this forum have to say about automation and billing software for web hosting.

Currently I am using Billing Orchard for my billing, the only downfall on this is that it will not integrate with any automation system, as of yet.

Has anyone seen any software that will handle the entire process?

I have worked with PerlBill, but have defiantly found some problems with it.

Thanks,
Chrisp

[spsmcc]

i user modernbill and like it alot, i also used whmautopilot for the duration of the trial period, it was ok, but i would wait until the version to be released.

[kit]

I like modernbill which is what I'm using right now. I only had it less than one month. However, I had some problems with it. It is slow mostly because it stores basically every damn setting in the database, so there's lots of database queries. Ran into a few problems. Work with Mozilla, but I get weird errors with Safari (MacOS X) browser. Also, the modernbill "config" table got screwed up and I had to drop the table and re-enter all the settings again.

I'm just hoping I don't run into any other problems.

[OOagent137]

I'm interested in this as well. Basically, I have an existing customer database. I just want to have a field for every customer that contains a date of the month they are supposed to pay, and once payment has been received, mark it and check it when payment is due again. Payments come in the form of a credit card, so I'm sure it would invove getting some merchant account solution as well (Paypal for now). If payment hasn't been received, e-mail me. It would also be nice to e-mail customers and tell them we have received their payment.

Can ModernBill do this?

[spsmcc]

modernbill has an invoicing system.

[chrisp]

Can modern bill also bill for other products sold?

[spsmcc]

if you set up a package i do believe so :o

[chrisp]

Very cool! I think I will check it out now.

[spsmcc]

cool they have a 30day 10user trial version i believe

[chrisp]

Well it seems that http://www.modernbill.com/ is not up!

Anyone else having problems getting in?

[spsmcc]

loads just fine for me, maybe you should eat a waffle and try again.

[QT]

Works here as well.

Waffles! (with strawberry syrup because our mascot is allergic to blueberries) ;)

[knightfoo]

You might want to check out osCommerce (http://www.oscommerce.com/). It's open source, free, and easy to customize.

-knightfoo

[chrisp]

Originally posted by QT_
Works here as well.

Waffles! (with strawberry syrup because our mascot is allergic to blueberries) ;)

**sighs** still nothing here

I do think I am out of strawberry syrup, Have some extra QT?

[spsmcc]

ipconfig /flushdns

[chrisp]

Had to reboot my internal router. Gotta love Comcast Broadband!

I am in now.

Also, Knightfoo, checking it out now.

Thank you!

[chrisp]

Modernbill only works on Linux? I am not familiar with Linux, only windows! That is a bummer. Come on QT, let me hear it ;-)

[QT]

Originally posted by chrisp
Modernbill only works on Linux? I am not familiar with Linux, only windows! That is a bummer. Come on QT, let me hear it ;-)

I'll refrain....this time, but ph33r me on ICQ :p

[spsmcc]

you have windows! good luck finding billing software.

[chrisp]

Originally posted by spsmcc
you have windows! good luck finding billing software.

Maybe I should have asked for "Windows Billing Software"


Time to learn linux! umm, wonder where I should get me a box hosted at?! :D :D :D

[spsmcc]

ill host it for you, but my 9.6k modem might not be fast enough.

[chrisp]

Unlimited Bandwidth?! ;)

[spsmcc]

yep and disk space!

[chrisp]

WOW! Thats a deal!

[spsmcc]

oops forgot to mention that its $25/month + an inital fee of $750 for the server and configuration.

[chrisp]

Originally posted by spsmcc
oops forgot to mention that its $25/month + an inital fee of $750 for the server and configuration.


That is a little steep. I think I will contact Server Beach, heard they have good pricing.

[spsmcc]

ok ok $25/month for a dedicated 56k line including the server

[chrisp]

Ok, you got a deal as long as it is a V.92 ;-)

[spsmcc]

[pink poo] nvm

[chrisp]

Originally posted by spsmcc
[pink poo] nvm

Waffle time! With Strawberry topping, and blueberry for QT (it's her favorite! Shhh!)

[spsmcc]

i dunno :( it was nice knowing you guys though.

[chrisp]

Hey, you cant get booted, you help others and don't complain!

[spsmcc]

:cool:

[kit]

Back to topic.

Download the ModernBill Demo and give it a try. It's better than me explaining it.

[OOagent137]

I can't seem to connect to the modernbill website.

[chrisp]

Originally posted by kit
Back to topic.

Download the ModernBill Demo and give it a try. It's better than me explaining it.

I will have to get a linux box before I can do so, I am on windows servers. Think I will order one today.

[Tim]

Actually, I have talked with Modernbill sales and support since I was looking into them previously. They assured me that Modernbill DOES indeed work on Windows.

I have yet to get around to downloading the trial version.

[QT]

Originally posted by OOagent137
I can't seem to connect to the modernbill website.

I don't think anyone can at the moment or will be able to in the near future. :confused:

[chrisp]

Originally posted by QT_
I don't think anyone can at the moment or will be able to in the near future. :confused:


Whats the problem with it?!

[spsmcc]

Originally posted by chrisp
Whats the problem with it?!

I sat on it! :eek:

-call me mr. bunny

[OOagent137]

The site is up for me now.

[chrisp]

Originally posted by OOagent137
The site is up for me now.

Up here as well

[kit]

Hmm... I'm beginning to hate ModernBill. Yes, it's pretty. Yes, it has some cool features. However, it's a litte confusing and boy is it slowwwww. It slowed down my whole damn website.

[dhigbee]

I downloaded and installed the ModernBill demo. What a dog. The program is very slow and very memory intensive. At one point it completely froze up the server. My guess is it is not the actual program but the encryption which is causing the slowness.

I took a look at some programs in development at freshmeat.net. There is some promising stuff in the works. A couple are functional and getting close to release. I am keeping an eye on them.

Has anyone looked at phpManager (http://www.phpmanager.com/)? Any thoughts about this program?

Don

[Einewton]

I want to run osCommerce, But i am wondering what you guys use for your Gateway? I want to find a verry low % and per Transaction, I see that PayPal is on osCommerce Site and another that takes out like 5% of every transaction and like .40 that's crazy!

i'm planning on selling stuff that's like $1, That would be just to much.

Any suggestions?

[Tim]

I use both Paypal and Authorize.net.

[Einewton]

What are Authorize.net 's Rates? i've looked all over thier site and could find the rates anywhere.

[dhigbee]

Authorize net sells their services through resellers exclusively. They do not work directly with the end user. Here is the link to thier resellers (http://www.authorizenet.com/reseller/directory.php) .

Don

[chrisp]

Personally I do not think that you will find anything cheaper than paypal. Authorize.net is much more expensive, plus you have the gateway costs as well. I cant stand to see the charges I am stuck with each month for reoccurring billing.

I would love to know if anyone else has a cheaper way.

Chris

[OOagent137]

Our biggest problem with Paypal is that we don't have any of the information customers input on the website and there is no way to make sure customers come back to our page. Thus, people could pay for our services, but we can't have anything get automatically setup or added to a database b/c we can't get them to our site after they have paid with a credit card. This is frustrating b/c we would like to automatically add them to a database after they pay.

[chrisp]

Originally posted by OOagent137
Our biggest problem with Paypal is that we don't have any of the information customers input on the website and there is no way to make sure customers come back to our page.

What type of services is it that you are selling?

[Einewton]

You should gather that info before they go to PayPal.

[OOagent137]

We are selling web hosting.

We do gather that info before, however, it presents these problems:

1) We have info but have no way to automatically determine if they've paid, thus we store in a temporary database and then manually run a script to transfer them over once we've confirmed payment.

2) They have to enter their information twice, an annoyance at best.3

3) They go to Paypal and get confused and think "Why on earth did the website suddenly change?? Maybe I should leave b/c I'm confused...". We want to avoid that.

4) We'd like to tell them "Thank you for your business, you should receive an e-mail from us soon." That's not as big of a deal. People can click a link that takes them back to our site after they've paid, but that's optional, I'd rather Paypal had a way to force em back to our site.

[chrisp]

To save the problem of having your customer enter their information 2 or 3 times I would recommend you look at using billingorchard.com. I currently use them and they do link to Paypal. Not only will it invoice each month it will also allow you to invoice other services as well. The cost is very inexpensive.

You can sign up for a demo online as well.

Thanks,
Chris

[Ron]

Paypal has API that will allow you to interact with the transaction.
You can instantly know if they've paid or not and send the info to
your own site for processing the sale/no-sale:

PayPal API:
http://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=p/xcl/rec/ipn-intro-outside

[rushman]

My biggest problem with paypal is that

1) There is no way to keep the transaction isolated to your site. You have to at some point send the customer to a paypal branded site. This reduces the professional look of your site. People know how easy it is to sign up with paypal.

2) People are forced to sign up with paypal to make a payment. Its another set of info they have to give to another site, and they know they are doing it. convenience-- .

We use Authorize.net, resold through modernbill (modernauthorize.com) . And offer paypal as a payment option.

[OOagent137]

Ron, I don't know Perl, do you know of anything Paypal has with PHP?

Rushman, I looked at modernbill and they looked like a good company. I'm curious, how do you keep track of your billing? I mean, how can you tell whether a customer has paid for this month or not?

[Ron]

Originally posted by OOagent137
Ron, I don't know Perl, do you know of anything Paypal has with PHP?
I have not tested anything fully yet, but I am in the process of...
http://www.zend.com/zend/tut/tutorial-paypal.php

Plus, right from the link I posted before...
http://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=p/xcl/rec/ipn-code-outside

[OOagent137]

Thanks for the links Ron. I read the overview part of the link you gave me, I probably just missed it.

One thing I do have a question about. All the tutorials mention this:

"This tutorial offers some solutions to issues common when using Paypal for website instant payments. "

Now, what are "instant payments"? I mean, we have it setup so that it takes you to a page where it asks for your credit card info. Is that an instant payment? I just wasn't sure about the terminology.

Regardless, I'm reading through those tutorials to see what I can glean from them. Thanks for the info.

[Ron]

I believe the 'instant payments' they refer to mean that the transaction
is in real time and not queued for a 24-hour period.

[rushman]

Modernbill keeps track and can automate all invoicing and charge batching. If you are considering using it, they have a 30 day free demo that allows full use with a license for up to 10 clients. It also has plugins for a ton of different api's .

They are not perfect however, for instance, they don't contact customer's via email when there are security updates, and being that it gives you the option to store credit card numbers, security is a pretty big deal. They get the updates out quiclky, you just need to check their forums regularly to know when you need one.

I don't want to sound like I am plugging them, I have no loyalty to them, its just what we use.

edit: I hate starting a new page

[OOagent137]

Looking at their prices, they seem like the rates are pretty good. However, you mentioned accepting Paypal with modernauthorize.com, I didn't see any prices about using Paypal as well. What sort of fees do they charge for this?

[rushman]

Paypal has its own module. You'll need a paypal merchant accont, which is free to open. Once you have that you just plug in your information.

It will all be much clearer if you fire up the demo.

[Tim]

It'd be alot easier to fire up the demo if the demo was available for download. :(

[rushman]

Oh well ;-)

[kit]

I'm writing a modernbill replacement. Anyone interested?

[OOagent137]

For sure. I mean, I don't know what sort of time frame you would have on development, because I need something sooner rather than later.

Personally, I have been turned off by modernbill. I can't figure out who in the heck they are. I go to a site like www.modernauthorize.net and they seem to sell a product, yet I can't find an e-mail address to e-mail for support and then apparently they have some parent company called ModernGigabyte.

Who can figure out what in the heck they are talking about??!!

I'm completely lost.

[kit]

Maybe in 2 months. :D

Long wait, I know.


I believe moderbill and modernauthorize are both under the company called ModernGigabyte.

[OOagent137]

Please be sure to post back when you have it written! I'd be interested.

[chrisp]

What all features will be included? Any pricing yet?

Do you have any screenshots yet?


Thanks,

Chris

[kit]

Instead of a screenshot, how about a demo? :D
It's going to based off of something I'm writing right now. You can check it out at:

http://www.iaffiliatemanager.com

You can assume that my modernbill replacement will function and look very similar to that.

Features will resemble closely to modernbill. Invoicing system, billing system, order form creator, admin controls, member controls, user management, and integration with cpanel (maybe ensim and others).

Pricing will probably be less than modernbill.

[saq]

I use 2checkout www.2checkout.com