Offering everything from a free 10-day demo version to full source code for developers, Imagen Technologies' NTPayMaster gives ISPs a broad range of billing options.

by Jeff Goldman [November 19, 2001]

Update: May be out of business. We do not have contact information for this company.

Located in Ganges, British Columbia, Imagen Technologies was founded back in 1991. Dwight Jones, the company's chief executive office, says Imagen began the same way many others in the industry did.

"It grew out of the back of a computer store," he said. "It used to be the biggest computer store in Western Canada in the late '80s, and we developed software as an in-house thing."

One of Imagen's early products, Fracterm, was the first program to use fractal compression to send images over phone lines in real time. In 1995, the company released its ISP billing software, NTPayMaster. Imagen is now in the process of releasing a follow-up product, WireBill, a billing solution for wireless service providers. WireBill will be offered both as traditionally packaged software and on an ASP basis.

NTPaymaster (800) 307-8940 info@invoy.com

NTPayMaster is used by over 500 companies in 30 countries, and Jones is enthusiastic about the company's progress. "We've been here a dozen years, and evolved from writing terminal programs, to document compression, to ISP billing, and now fixed wireless and VoIP management," he said. "It's a movable feast, and we're proud to have been here to serve our customers worldwide for that long."

Control factor
NTPayMaster uses SQL Server or MS Access as a database, and runs on Windows 95, 98, NT, 2000, or XP. It can also import logs from UNIX and Linux systems. Jones notes that the software is also one of the few to support Microsoft's RAS formats, a feature that permits AutoDesk, one of Imagen's customers, to charge back its employees for use of its in-house networks.

Jones suggests that NTPayMaster is more than just an ISP billing program: it's a solid application for network billing of any kind, and AutoDesk is a solid example of that. "Their IT division is responsible for the access servers for employees coming in and using the network, so they want to be able to charge other divisions for access to their network," he said. "They can treat one division as a group; one of the most powerful functions in NTPayMaster is its ability to group customers."

The software allows invoices (left) to be printed, faxed, or emailed in seven different languages. A new web-based TimeOnline feature allows customers to view their usage information and history on the web. And NTPayMaster uses Crystal Decisions' Crystal Reports software for its reporting functions, which Jones suggests is a solid asset for the solution. "That's usually a feature you see in the $10,000 programs," he said.

There's no per-user fee for NTPayMaster: the software costs $995 for unlimited servers, users, even multiple businesses. A fully functional 10-day demo version can be downloaded for free. If you want more control, complete C++ source code is also available for $9,500. New users receive free support and upgrades for the first 90 days; after that, upgrades cost $490 each. Alternatively, you can purchase an ongoing support contract, with upgrades included, at the following rates:

Support Option	6- Mo.	Annual	Single Incident
E-mail Only	$590	$890	$175/Hr
E-mail and Telephone	$790	$1,290	$250/Hr.
Maximum number of Incidents	20	Unlimited	1
Maximum time per Incident	Unlimited	Unlimited	1 Hour

The software is extremely cheap, and Jones notes that NTPayMaster's low fees are a key selling point. "People have found the price to be the best over the years," he said. "It's probably the least expensive of what I would call the mid-tier programs. We don't pretend to be as powerful as Extent, but we're not down there on the lower tier either, most of which have disappeared."

Making it yours
Shane Burnstun is the Chairman and CTO of a new Canadian startup, Fairview Broadband Wireless, Inc. He and his partner sold an earlier IP infrastructure business in 1997 to a collective which merged with AT&T Canada. "We spent our two years in 'jail,' and got out with the money to fund this new business operation," he said. "We're creating an IP service platform for the wireless broadband industry."

Part of Burnstun's business plan is to develop a "WISP in a box" for small communities and college campuses. Included in the solution will be a complete, integrated billing system, based on NTPayMaster. "We're building a complete, integrated platform, which we call WISP Manager," Burnstun said. "It's got full functionality: billing and provisioning software, network monitoring, radios, the whole thing."

Burnstun says he knew exactly what he was looking for in a billing solution to integrate into his offering. "I'm always looking for something with a lot of functionality already there," he said. "A lot of products out there will collect data off the standard stuff, but if you want call detail records off a voice over IP switch, a lot of them won't be able to do that. NTPayMaster already supported two or three of the voice over IP standards that were out there: to start off with that was a really good thing."

Being able to purchase NTPayMaster's complete source code was obviously crucial for Burnstun. He's developing it not only into a prepackaged solution to include with WISP Manager, but also into a web-enabled ASP offering for smaller clients. "We're migrating it from a single-user environment into much more web enablement," Burnstun said. "NTPayMaster was originally designed for small ISP operations: it's a workstation-based application, as opposed to a robust, multi-user billing system."

Still, Burnstun says, NTPayMaster's simplicity was its greatest selling point. "I'm trying to build something that's simple, and when you start to enhance billing with provisioning and that kind of stuff, there aren't a lot of simple solutions out there," he said. "I'm trying to build a product where you don't need twenty people doing billing. You want a back end engine that's driven by all the things that happen at the front end, and all the plug-ins are there in NTPayMaster to do that."

— End  

Online resources:
		ISP-Billing Directory

Related articles:
	[Dec. 11, 2000]	Sending Bills by E-mail
	[Mar. 16, 2001]	ISP Marketing During Tough Times
	[Apr. 24, 2001]	7th Biannual ISPCON ISP-CEO Roundtable Insights