New Billing System

[#1]

I’m sorry guys but does anyone here actually have the remotest idea as to how complicated writing software is? Considering what you are dealing with here I can imaging that the formal specification is as thick as a phone book and may well have taken many, many months to complete, only to be revised later when issues not previously considered appear on the horizon.

Writing a billing system of this nature is a seriously complex task, and must be done correctly and tested and tested and tested again as you the customer will be the first to point out any of its failings. Then add to this we don’t actually know how many people are working on this project, or how much of their time they allocate to it in any given day, as I assume they will have other things to do besides this.

In the software world hinting at a release date can be poison and chances are that this will bite you in the bum as is the case here.

[#2]

Mook Whilst i agree with your sentimets , writing code is someting very hard to get right the first time LOOK at this forum

What is most annoying is the fact the PN Keep insisting that they are going to improve but in fact all that happens is promises and sorry,s .

And if you look how well they have handled the present debarkle    the saga of capping uploads continues with no explanation from PN

[#3]

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@rongtw wrote:

LOOK at this forum

What is most annoying is the fact the PN Keep insisting that they are going to improve but in fact all that happens is promises and sorry,s .

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That's not really fair considering the amount of changes/fixes/improvements that went through last week, advised here.

[#4]

In the real world people are paid to do jobs/tasks. If they don't they are sacked and replaced. That's the harsh facts of life.

In the plusnet world people are paid to say sorry, make excuses, and make promises they don't keep.

Is that really what you are saying? That plusnet is exempt from reality.

[#5]

@rongtw - Exactly, this forum is a good example, and this is only HTML, JavaScript and CSS; so a billing system written in C++ or any other programming language makes this forum pale into insignificance. No it wasn’t right the first time, and maybe it won’t be on the second or third time, which is exactly why things take so much longer than is originally estimated. There are so many variables to consider: OSs and their various browsers, third party libraries that don’t actually work the way they say they do and of course users and how they interact with the site, and their expectations of what they think is right.

@billnotben - I’m not saying Plusnet are exempt from reality, far from it, it’s evident to me that this is their reality; in the IT world this is how things are. Yes, there are many, many examples of projects from other sources being done and delivered on time, but equally there are many that are not and whose budget and release date creep up almost daily.

[#6]

That's true enough with many of the big ones making the papers.

Where they are remorselessly panned and every failing step is closely examined.

And even the big ones eventually reach a cut off point where they either work or end up in there own virtual dustbins.

[#7]

Yes

HarryB  a lot of improvements have been made here , which took a while and some fixes were shown to be required before it went live ,   BUT PN is not just the forum !

PN have constantly failed to deliver promises , How long ago did we hear the new office in Leeds would reduce call wait Times ?? and i believe its only now starting to fall

As ITworks pointed out 3 years waiting for a promised new billing system and counting

New network ?  8 months still under progress which wouldn't had been bad if PN had stated it may take several years to complete ,, Or we have problems and cannot complete in a reasonable time .

Things would be a lot better if PN were more Customer focused and gave us information rather than just let us fester in the dark

There are a LOT of good people on the forum with a font of knowledge who help PN , BUT Could help a lot more if they had more information .

if you look at the forum Updates and announcements from Plusnet.  there are NO posts from PN with any announcements  WHY ?

[#8]

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@rongtw wrote:

New network ?  8 months still under progress which wouldn't had been bad if PN had stated it may take several years to complete ,, Or we have problems and cannot complete in a reasonable time .

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Although I don't really want to continue going off topic, RE the new network:

@bobpullen wrote:
Yeah, I believe that's the intention. There's a *lot* of circuits to move though so it will take some time.

@bobpullen wrote:

Quote from: elfish

Are customers still being moved on to the new network?

Yes, couple of thousand done last week I believe. Not everybody is in a position whereby they can be moved yet and it's going to take months before everybody is across.

@tijara33 wrote:

Quote

Yes, couple of thousand done last week I believe

Thanks Bob. So that roughly equates to 100,000 per annum, 700,000 members?........................roughly 7 years to complete. Be patient happy readers!! 

@bobpullen wrote:
Assuming the same rate of transition then yes
Needless to say, it's not going to take that long.

We never advised it would be done within a set time, just that it will take quite some time considering there is a lot of circuits to move.

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@rongtw wrote:

There are a LOT of good people on the forum with a font of knowledge who help PN , BUT Could help a lot more if they had more information .

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I completely agree that there are lots of great people on the community forums who help out massively. However I'm afraid set time scales for a network migration or set dates for a change of internal system aren't necessary.

[#9]

HarryB , sorry if you think i have hijacked this thread .

The point i am trying to make is that Apart from the New Billing system , there are several things that have been promised from PN which have failed to materialise

[#10]

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@rongtw wrote:

HarryB , sorry if you think i have hijacked this thread .

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For what it's worth, I don't think that, I think a few people (Myself included) managed to sway it off topic to back up various points.

I appreciate the point you're making.

[#11]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I’m sorry guys but does anyone here actually have the remotest idea as to how complicated writing software is?

Sadly yes I do.  Served my time in developing Network and Telecomms products.

Writing a billing system of this nature is a seriously complex task, and must be done correctly and tested and tested and tested again as you the customer will be the first to point out any of its failings.

Very true, but few large businesses start from scratch these days for just those reasons?   There are numerous packages available in the market to base the solution on.  OK so there will be some bespoke work to integrate the legacy system but there are products assisting with that too.  Even BT take this approach to integrate and harmonise their OSS / BSS services.

It's still not simple, but it costs ££££ to achieve a solid service in a reasonable timescale