jBilling Road Map

A wealth of features to discover

The purpose of this extensive list is to itemize, in a single table, the typical requirements for enterprise billing and telco billing in particular. It gives you an idea of the features already present in jBilling today, as well as those that we are already developing (or planning to), in the near future.

A date for the release of a feature can be estimated by looking at the 'jBilling release' column. As an average, there is a minor jBilling release every three or four months (the second digit of the version number). The next major release if jBilling 3, scheduled for the first quarter of 2011.

Please note that the given time frame is only an approximation. As an open source project, the feedback and requests from the community and customers will impact how we prioritize development.

To get notified about new jBilling releases and other announcements, join the jBilling users list.

Description	jBilling release
Technology
Database vendor independent. It runs on any RDBMS including Oracle, MySQL and PostgreSQL	1.0.0
Operating System independent. Based on Java Enterprise, it runs on Linux, Solaris, Windows and others	1.0.0
Runs on any Servlet container including Tomcat, JBoss, Weblogic and Websphere	2.0.0
Horizontally scalable. Increase throughput by adding new nodes to a cluster of jBilling servers.	2.0.0
Modular architecture. Plug-ins encapsulate business logic and integration with other systems.	1.0.0
Scheduled plug-ins, called on a configurable schedule.	2.1.0
High accuracy, using 10 decimals for all calculations	2.2.0
Integration
Full web services API	1.0.0
Plug-ins that subscribe to the billing core's internal events.	1.1.2
Flexible provisioning module	1.1.3
Client Java API to provide abstraction over communication protocol	1.0.8
Availability of the real-time account balance (net of payments and adjustments) as a web service.	1.0.0
Support for Number Portability	1.1.3
Availability of multiple remoting protocols: SOAP, RMI, Hessian, Burlap	2.0.0
API method to dynamically generate rules, enabling real-time implementation of new business logic.	2.2.0
General Ledger updates: Export billing data in a flexible format to be consumed by financial systems (PeopleSoft, Oracle Financials, Great Plains, etc).	2.2.0
Mediation
Extensible data flow processing	1.1.0
Supports processing data from multiple network sources	1.1.0
Re-processing of events with errors (recycling bin)	2.1.0
Modular mediation component deployable in the same JVM as the rating engine and billing system, or in a stand alone server	1.1.0
Multi-tenancy: supports for distribution to multiple downstream systems on behalf of different service providers (requires custom plug-in)	1.1.2
Support for mediation of content download services	1.1.0
Error handling through explicit flagging of records, and through automatic detection of errors	2.1.0
Able to handle duplicate records.	1.1.0
Supports correlation of multiple events into a single ratable event, or to split a single event into multiple ratable events.	2.1.0
Archiving and auditing capabilities.	1.1.0
All source code available of the mediation module	1.1.0
Designed to enable the addition of a new sources of events usage through extension, rather than modification, of the system.	1.1.0
Configurable account aliases (custom fields) for alternative ways of identifying a record	1.1.0
Easy to configure in-memory look-up tables to enhance speed of mediation process	2.3.0
High performance batch mediation processing, capable of hundreds of records per second	2.1.0
Fraud Management
Ability to configure rules for fraud detection	1.1.3
Multi-tenancy: ability to work in an environment where multiple service providers are supported. Each provider would have its own fraud management policies.	1.1.3
Fraud events available to the integration module, then submitted as messages to MQ / JMS systems	1.1.3
Product Catalog
Full integration of jBilling items with rating engine	1.1.0
Item management through web-based GUI	1.0.0
Item management through API	1.0.0
Internationalization item support: item descriptions in several languages and pricing in multiple currencies	1.0.0
Support for product packages, bundles and promotions	1.1.0
Ability to apply custom rules to items: ex: buy one, get another free, taxes based on customer residency, etc.	1.1.0
Product attributes: extend the the current items to include periods (for validation when included in an order and to reduce the item list when creating an order), pro-rating modifiers and tax exceptions.	3.3.0
Real-time postpaid rating
Rating for recurring and non-recurring charges	1.1.0
Support for event based rating	1.1.0
Ability to rate multiple types of services: wireline, wireless, broadband, VoIP, WiFi, WiMax.	1.1.0
New services support through extensions.	1.1.0
Support for the typical wireless scenario of rate plans that include a bucket of free minutes.	1.1.0
Support for split rating – for example when a single event crosses time boundaries or rate threshold boundaries	1.1.0
Support for rating an event multiple times – for example to support retail billing and third party billing, while updating the loyalty point balance for a single event.	2.1.0
Support for affinity and loyalty-based programs	2.1.0
Ability for a subscriber to designate x quantity of phone numbers for special rating (for example, free calls to ten user-defined phone numbers).	1.1.0
Ability for the system to support special rating to all phone numbers for the service provider (e.g., free “in-network” calling for all subscribers of the wholesale provider).	1.1.0
Supports for usage limits based on a specific subscriber profile or credit limit.	2.1.0
Alerting functionality – if a subscriber passes a usage limit an alert event is created	1.1.1
Support for the processing of roaming-in usage collection	1.1.1
Support for the processing of Roaming-out usage data and charges receipt from clearinghouse	2.1.0
Capability to re-rate events based on changes to rating rules (or corrections to errors in rating rules). during the bill cycle that impact previously-rated events.	2.1.0
Ability for non-technical staff to make changes to the rating catalog, using a rules editor GUI	1.1.0
Real-time prepaid rating
Built-in support for pre-paid business model	2.1.0
Validation of usage limits and account status before authorizing service.	2.1.0
Single API call to obtain maximum seconds available for a call	2.1.0
Support for multiple usage buckets (currency, minutes, calls, points) and time-of-day restrictions.	3.2.0
Support for complex logic and special events for bucket management. Assessment of bonuses based on usage or based on other subscriber / account statistics and data (example, $5 credit on your birthday).	2.1.0
Ability for prepaid charging of non-voice services, such as data usage.	2.1.0
Pre-paid support for other services: WiFi, VoIP, Wireless, etc.	2.1.0
Recharge / top-up support via API call.	2.1.0
Real-time credit card processing for recharges	2.1.0
Support for an account to have both prepaid and postpaid service under the same account.	2.1.0
Automatic recharge based on per-customer threshold.	2.1.0
Retail Billing
Support for aggregation of rated events with recurring charges to create a bill.	1.1.0
Ability to pro-rate recurring charges for any period (monthly, weekly, daily, etc). Examples are activation, change plan or cancellation of service.	1.1.1
Support for any time unit (day and above) for a billing cycle.	1.0.0
Support for multiple entities running in the same instance, each with its own billing cycle.	1.0.0
Full support for subscriber billing cycle changes through API calls.	1.0.0
Support for multiple-level account hierarchy – corporate accounts, family accounts and affinity accounts.	2.0.0
Integration support for addition, modification and termination of account hierarchy accounts from a third party system.	1.0.0
Flexible support for discounting functionality, based on aggregate usage (examples: number of calls, number of minutes, or total number of subscribers under an account,etc).	1.1.0
Support for backdating and future-dating of all charges	1.1.0
Ability to bill various services in one invoice (converged services). Examples wireline, wireless, data, VoIP, WiFi, WiMAX.	1.1.0
Ability for a third party to submit information as events to process, or direct charges. This information will be integrated into a single bill.	1.1.0
Security through user profiles	1.0.0
Ability to grant or revoke specific privileges to a user	1.0.0
Ability to assign a role, which includes multiple privileges, to a user.	1.0.0
Ability to create new roles, and modify the default ones.	1.0.0
Support for LDAP integration for security management	2.0.0
Support for manual overrides of charges	1.0.0
Audit for manual changes.	1.0.0
Billing quality control through pre-run reports ('review' billing run that generates mock invoices).	1.0.0
Review reports can be approved or rejected. Real billing process can depend on approved review report	1.0.0
Billing operation staff can review the totals and each of the invoices before they get generated.	1.0.0
Support of several methods to issue a new bill after corrections are made to an inaccurate invoice that was already sent to a subscriber.	1.0.0
Availability of historical billing data, to be able to track each charge, invoice and payment.	1.0.0
Generation of invoices is multiple formats, including HTML and PDF.	1.0.0
Flexible format for invoice designs, based on Jasper Reports.	1.0.0
Support for one-time billing and creation of an invoice outside of the bill cycle. The charges in the manual invoice will not be duplicated in a future, bill cycle generated invoice.	1.0.0
All source code available for all the billing system components, including core engine and GUI.	1.0.0
Support for local, county, state, provincial, federal and international taxation and surcharges through integration with 3rd party tax engines.	2.2.0
Ability for adjustments and credits to be calculated inclusive or exclusive of tax.	1.1.0
Taxation: Allow tax calculation at the time of purchase or when an invoice is created.	2.0.0
Wholesale Billing and Settlement
Support of wholesale billing model (“billing on behalf of”), whereby incoming events are used to create both invoices for end subscribers on retail tariffs, as well as invoices to the wholesale provider of services to those same subscribers, on a wholesale tariff.	3.6.0
Ability to perform settlement and reconciliation of the network operator invoice with the retail billing.	3.6.0
Ability to perform settlement and reconciliation of other third party invoices (e.g., data or content providers) with the retail billing.	3.6.0
Support for calculation and billing of third party commissions.	3.7.0
Customer Management
Delinquent subscribers are flagged for collections activity by automatic change of subscriber status.	1.0.0
Support for typical collection process (dunning), with configurable steps that the account is taken over, with optional number of notifications and events.	1.0.0
Ability to exclude a subscriber from the aging process (Example: do not issue collections notices to “VIP” subscribers).	1.0.0
Automated support for calculation of finance charges, late-payment penalties, returned check fees and other penalty charges.	1.1.0
Flexible support for credits and adjustments. These could be one-time events or active over a period of time (across multiple billing cycles).	1.0.0
Support for credits and adjustments for both parent and child accounts.	1.0.0
Support for refunds	1.0.0
Collections processes fully integrated with core system and distributable across cluster nodes.	1.1.0
Support of rules packages (contract management). The package is used to determine the rates for events, equipment and monthly recurring charges, as well as penalty charges for early termination of the contract.	1.1.0
Support for a subscription (contract) to automatically get renewed if not canceled within a grace period	1.0.0
Soft deletion of customers: flag customer accounts as 'deleted' but preserve all the billing history in the data base.	1.0.0
Customer defined billing date, as an option to invoicing on the schedule of each order.	3.1.0
Workflow for invoice disputes.	3.5.0
Invoicing
Invoice delivery as an email (text and html) printed PDF, or as an email with a PDF attachment.	1.0.0
Support for multiple entities running in the same instance, each with its invoice design and delivery methods	1.0.0
Ability to assign a particular invoice delivery method to a subscriber, as well as a default one.	1.0.0
Support for multiple invoices, for example, different languages. The syste will select the invoice depending on the customer's attributes (location, currency, etc)	1.1.3
Ability to regenerate a batch of PDF invoices for any past billing cycles.	1.0.0
Support for manual, one-time invoice generation and PDF download.	1.0.0
Support for an invoice to be re-created and re-sent to a subscriber.	1.0.0
Ability to create specific bill messages based on custom criteria such as geographic area, customer segment, or other custom criteria	1.1.3
On demand billing, by requesting an invoice from the GUI, or by a call to the API	2.0.0
Clear separation between billing (calculation of charges) and invoicing (invoice presentation)	1.0.0
Invoice generation with parallel processes (multi-threaded), driven by a message queue.	3.3.0
For invoice presentation, group items following categories, and provide subtotals for each group. Allow easy sorting of these groups. (prior to this version, this can be done with configuration of the XML file with the invoice design)	3.3.0
Electronic Bill Presentment
Subscriber access to their invoices through a web-browser.	1.0.0
Electronic bill presentment capabilities as HTML with option to download the invoice as a PDF for printing	1.0.0
Optional branding of customer billing portal, with the possibility to take the jBilling pages into your application.	1.0.0
Current and past invoices (historic billing) available to authenticated customers.	1.0.0
Support for subscribers to pay an invoice real-time on-line with credit card	1.0.0
Reporting
Customizable reports engine built-in with jBilling core, for real-time reporting	1.0.0
Ability to create new report types without code changes, but through meta-data.	1.0.0
All report results downloadble in CSV format	1.0.0
Standard reports on invoices, payments, customers and orders available out-of-the-box	1.0.0
Payments
Parallel batch payment processing of multiple payments (high scalability)	1.0.8
Partial payments	1.0.4
Advance payments, automatically paying new invoices.	1.0.4
Support for credit card, ACH, cheques and other payment methods	1.0.0
PCI compliance	2.1.0
Optional external storage of all the credit card information in the payment gateway.	2.1.0
Easy integration with new payment gateways with only the development on a new plug-in.	1.0.0
Configurable routing of payments to an arbitrary payment gateway depending on location, currency or other data.	1.0.7
Graphical User Interface - GUI
Complete web-based graphical user interface to review, update and create billing and subscriber data.	1.0.0
Users with roles and privileges for fine access control	1.0.0
New user friendly GUI, with Web 2.0 technologies	3.0.0
Manage bundles and discounts from the GUI (prior to this version, this is handled via the BRMS GUI)	3.0.0
Hierarchical Product Groupings: group products and allow groups to be included in a group. (prior to this version, this is handled via the BRMS GUI)	3.1.0
Create packages and complex pricing from GUI (prior to this version, this is handled via the BRMS GUI)	3.2.0
Easy to extend GUI, add new custom screens without changing the core	3.0.0
Show soft deleted accounts	3.0.0
Management of customer custom fields from GUI (prior to this version, custom fields require direct entries in the data base).	3.1.0
Expose all system and company preferences to the GUI (prior to this version, property management is done directly in the data base)	3.1.0
Product dependencies: validate that a product (service) is present before allowing other products to be bought by a customer. For example, it would be useless to offer a customer email if they have only a traditional ISDN telephone line. (prior to this version, this is handled via the BRMS GUI)	3.2.0

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jBilling Road Map