Please comment on

1) the things you like about modernbill, specific features etc

2) stuff you don't like about mb, service/support etc

3) anything else that you've always wanted to say about modernbill but never found the right place to do it.

Thanks

Not a lot to say really.

I think it is an exceptionally good piece of software. It is very powerful and does everything anyone could ever want it to do.

The only criticism I have for it is a steep learning curve. It has so many functions all over the place that it is hard to keep track of things sometimes, and it is not intuitive - only with hindsight once you've figured out how it works.

I would recommend it though, but get it when you've got a week spare to learn how to use it properly.

What about the support? Even its most staunch supporters say their support is VERY slow ... I've also read many a thread of their own forums where a customer presented a serious issue and it was not resolved for weeks or months. I think that's a bit scary ...

Anyway, anyone else?

hmmm, with a customer base the size of modernbill's you are always going to get a few loud voices of discontent - that is true for any product with a large following.

What you also need to bear in mind is that it isnt everyone saying bad things, so there must be a lot of very happy customers. I am one of them. I've needed very little support, but I have needed it is has been fast and good.

I'm not trying to say there arent real issues, just that you shouldnt necessarily be put off just because it isnt 100% perfect in all areas.

Modernbill support has always been excellent.

Modernbill's support had been quicker lately, but they're going to GET IT from me the next time I ask a simple config question and am asked for login info.

It's just about their only response to any question you have... which really really... upsets me.

You would figure if I ask 'I want to do 'this'. Is option A or option B the CORRECT way to do it?' they would say 'Option A is right' but nooooooo... 'Please give us login info into your modernbill'... ugh. Told them to stuff it :)

Anyway, ModernBill is the best out there. I wouldn't want to go with any other billing solution, as we are capable of managing our entire operation from within it, which is wonderful :)

Modernbill has all the features i need and then some. My only concern is the amount of features. It takes quite a bit to learn it all though. Great once you get the hang of it though

Originally posted by Jimerson
Modernbill has all the features i need and then some. My only concern is the amount of features. It takes quite a bit to learn it all though. Great once you get the hang of it though

We keep asking for more features!

We're going to be using MB for our dedicated servers. I have to agree the learning curve is sometimes an uphill struggle but thats somply down to the power and flexibility of the software...

Originally posted by papi
Please comment on

1) the things you like about modernbill, specific features etc

2) stuff you don't like about mb, service/support etc

3) anything else that you've always wanted to say about modernbill but never found the right place to do it.

Thanks

1.) Its very powerful. I know I can rely on it to do what I want it to do. It is well built, and well established.

2.) Its very overwhelming at first, you just don't know what to config or play around with first.

3.) I like how I can lease it for roughly $12 a month, and once I figure out if I like it or not I can put out for the full license.

its a good peace of software

I've been getting decent responses/response times to sales questions so that's a good sign.

Now instead of trying to learn v4 and then have to le-learn v5 I think I'll wait for v5 to come out and start from there. Apparently v5 is coming between august and december this year.

v5 is going to be very different from what I've heard

I am planning to go for modernbill. When will they release their new version ?

There's no official date yet.

Im using MB everyday for over a month now.

The only thing that I like about MB is the ability to re-send welcome Emails.

Other than that, I prefer perlbill.

MB has alots of features that you don't need. and the worst part is you can't edit the source code.

My preferred billing solutions:

Perlbill > WHMAutoPilot > ClientExec > ModernBill > Lpanel > WhoisCart

Originally posted by SPLer
MB has alots of features that you don't need.


Like what?


Originally posted by SPLer

the worst part is you can't edit the source code.


You can access a reasonable amount of the code immediately and can request access to more if you need it.

I don't like the admin navigation. Its hard to locate a customer and change his domain and update his renewal date for example.

You have to click on 10 different links to find the right place for modification.

And when you place the transaction code which you get from virtual terminal into due invoice and click on paid, you can't get back to the main client information. You have to copy - paste the invoice number or client information and locate it again.

MB is definately not my choice.

Originally posted by SPLer
I don't like the admin navigation. Its hard to locate a customer and change his domain and update his renewal date for example.

You have to click on 10 different links to find the right place for modification.



I would disagree.
Almost everything is editable, so you can do pretty much whatever you want to do with an account.
You don't get that kind of functionality with something like whoiscart.

MB has alots of features that you don't need.

I'm sorry, but that's a daft thing to say. MB is massive, with a masive customer base. None of us are likely to need everything because we all have very different setups.

I know it is sometimes annoying to have to wade through stuff you dont want, but it is also comforting to know that in the one app you can do pretty much everything you'll ever want to, whichever way your business grows.

You can't criticise something for being too comprehensive - unless you have asked someone to create a bespoke piece of software just for you and your setup.

After using Modernbill for the last few years, I've come to have somewhat of a love/hate relationship with it.

As previously mentioned, it's massive, and encompasses a good portion of options that most will ever need right out of the box. If it doesn't, the source is more than editable as long as you're able to make sense of it. If you have a firm grasp of PHP, it shouldn't be much of a problem. You just have to get to know the software. You can't expect to just jump into something that large and be able to customize it without any sort of a learning curve. That's not realistic. It's great software though, and that's the reason they're as popular as they are, because it's definately not the support.

Support, ... that's where the hate part comes in. It's not terrible, and Michael & crew do their best to help everyone. Unfortunately sometimes it just isn't enough. IMHO, they've just gotten too big, too fast, and it's something that happens. It just needs to be dealt with. There are times when I've PM'ed Michael personally and gotten an answer in less than 24 hours, and others where I've waited days for a response. However, in his defense, the questions were not related at all to the production operation of Modernbill, and focused on development around it.

For those not familiar with their ticketing system, tickets are answered in the order they are received. BUT! They are sorted by the last activity date. Which means if you post a ticket at 9AM, and then go back later at 2PM to add more info to it.. you're going to the bottom of the pile. They do this to ensure that no ticket goes 24 hours without some type of activity, and that greatly increases the chance that tickets are closed within the 24 hour period.

Now, I KNOW this isn't always the case, but they are pretty good about it, and it's been better lately. Support could still be better, but I think that the quality of MB would shine through even if there were no support at all. If it were really bad, would there be so many people that used it? Probably not.

All in all, I'd give Modernbill a B+.