Subscriptions and Payments – Support Center

NextCentury services are monthly subscriptions with clear pricing and no contracts or hidden fees, so you can turn any service on or off for a property at any time. You manage services, invoices, billing contacts, and payment methods in the NextCentury Web Portal.

Questions? Contact NextCentury Support, Monday to Friday, 6:00 am to 6:00 pm MT.

Services

	Data Hosting	Comes standard with NextCentury Cloud services, and is required for ongoing access to the read data your NextCentury equipment collects. $0.30 per unit, with a $25 monthly minimum What's included Securely store up to 6 months of read data Personalized Web Portal: analyze, retrieve, and view data remotely NCSS Mobile App: install, maintain, and test equipment Automatic reporting tools and API access Alert notifications Unlimited user accounts Initial company training: navigation, user setup, reports, alerts, and more
	Cellular	Connects cellular-capable Gateways to the NextCentury Cloud over a cellular connection: for properties without a dedicated internet connection, or as a backup during outages. $40 per property per month. Some customers qualify for a lower rate. What's included Restrict who can turn it on by user role Not affected by firewall issues Works without a local internet connection No contracts or set terms No data restrictions
	Manual Reads	Store and track reads collected by hand, with the Manual Read App, even where no NextCentury equipment is installed. $0.20 per meter, with a $10 monthly minimum What's included Display and track manual read trends Schedule manual read visits, due dates, and more Restrict user access and assign specific Readers Track meter information and locations Pair reads with photos, notes, and descriptions
	Leak Monitoring	A dashboard view of Leak Sensor connectivity, health, and alerts for every protected unit, with email, text, and phone alerts when a leak is detected. $2 per unit per month What's included Dashboard view of equipment connectivity, health, and alert status for all protected units Email, text, and phone alerts so leaks are caught quickly Requires NextCentury network equipment; stand-alone Leak Sensors only sound an audible alarm
	My Read App	Residents see their own water use on a display at the property, such as in the leasing office. $0.50 per unit per month What's included Meets remote meter read display requirements Helps residents understand and control their use Easy-to-read usage trends over time Works with your choice of display Helps spot leaks and other issues sooner Builds trust between residents and utility billing companies

Turn a service on or off

Before a service can be turned on, the company needs a payment method, and your user role needs permission to turn that service on. See Payment methods and Choose who can turn services on.

Open the property and select Details.

Scroll to Services at the bottom of the page, and turn the switch next to the service on or off. The service's start and renewal dates are set.

Choose who can turn services on

Only Admin and Accountant users can change these settings.

Open Billing in the Home menu and select the Settings tab.

For each service, turn on the user roles that can turn it on. Roles that aren't turned on can't enable that service.

Web portal Billing page, Settings tab (selected, at the upper right next to Summary, Info, and Contacts). Under Permission to Enable Cellular, every User role is checked: Admin, Property Operator, Developer, Accountant, Technician, Meter Reader, Endorsed Technician, and Billing Manager. Under Permission to Enable Data Hosting, only Admin is checked.

Invoices and payment

Invoices are generated on the 1st of each month for the previous month's services, and arrive on the 5th. Payment is processed automatically within two business days of the invoice arriving, and a receipt is emailed to your billing contacts. If a payment doesn't go through, they get a notice.

If no payment is received by the 15th, the invoice is past due and a late notice is emailed. While a payment is past due, no new services can be turned on. If past due charges are still unresolved after 90 days, active services are paused. Once the balance is paid, uninterrupted read data is restored.

To see how this works month by month, with a prorated first payment, see the cellular timeline in NextCentury Cellular Subscription.

View invoices

Open Billing in the Home menu and select the Summary tab. For the current billing period, an estimated amount shows until the invoice is generated.

Web portal Billing page, Summary tab. Under the billing period dropdown (July 2020 in this example) the total shows as an ESTIMATED AMOUNT. Below are rows for Previous Balance, Cellular, Data Hosting, and Manual Reads, each with an arrow to open it and its amount on the right. A Print button is at the upper right.

Choose a billing period from the menu at the top left.

Web portal Billing page, Summary tab, with the billing period dropdown open at the upper left. A month picker shows the year (2020 in this example) with arrows to change it, and the months in a grid: Jul is selected and Aug is outlined; the other months are grayed out. Behind it, the total now shows an INVOICE # instead of an estimate.

Select a service to see the properties using it, with service dates, charges, and credits.

Animation of the web portal Billing page, Summary tab, for July 2020 in this example (INVOICE # at the top). The pointer selects Data Hosting and its row opens to show the property (Windhelm in this example), the service dates (Jul 31st to Aug 31st), the charge ($25.00), Credits ($25.00) and a Subtotal of $0.00. Previous Balance, Cellular, and Manual Reads stay closed.

Each invoice is marked Paid once payment is received, or Past Due if no payment is received by the 15th.

An invoice total on the Billing page Summary tab: $0.00, the invoice number, and PAID in green with a check mark. — Paid

An invoice total on the Billing page Summary tab: $0.00, the invoice number, and PAST DUE in red with an exclamation mark. — Past Due

Billing contacts

Billing contacts get receipts, late notices, reminders, and other billing emails.

Open Billing in the Home menu and select the Contacts tab.

Web portal Billing page, Contacts tab (selected, at the upper right after Summary, Info, and Settings). Below the tabs is an empty ADD CONTACT INFO field running across the page.

Enter the person's email address and select the (Create New) option that appears.

Web portal Billing page, Contacts tab. An email address has been typed into the ADD CONTACT INFO field, and the option under it reads the same address followed by (Create New).

Enter their name and select Confirm.

The Billing Contact window, with a bell icon and an X to close it at the top. The NAME field has a name filled in (NextCentury Support in this example) and the EMAIL field shows the email address entered on the Contacts tab. A NOTIFICATION dropdown next to the email is set to Enabled. The blue Confirm button is at the lower right.

The contact is added to the list. To edit a contact, turn their emails off, or delete them, select their row.

Web portal Billing page, Contacts tab, after adding a Billing Contact. Under the empty ADD CONTACT INFO field, the contact is listed in a row with a bell icon, the contact's name on the left, and an envelope icon with the email address in the middle.

Web portal Billing page, Contacts tab, with a Billing Contact's row selected. A blue strip opens under the row with Edit and Disable Email on the left and Delete on the right.

Payment methods

You can pay by card or bank account; other payment types can't be processed. A new payment method is set to auto-pay, and you can remove it at any time.

Add a card

Open Billing in the Home menu and select the Info tab.

Web portal with Billing selected in the left menu, at the bottom of the list under Home. The Billing page is on the Info tab (at the upper right, between Summary and Settings). It has two sections: Credit Card, with a + Add Credit Card button, and Linked Bank Account, with a + Link Bank Account button.

Select + Add Credit Card.

Web portal Billing page, Info tab. Under Credit Card, the + Add Credit Card button is highlighted in blue. The + Link Bank Account button is below, under Linked Bank Account.

Enter your email and card details, then select Save card.

The card is listed under Credit Card.

Web portal Billing page, Info tab, with a saved card. Under Credit Card, a row shows the card brand and its last four digits (MasterCard in this example), with a check mark and Default on the right. The + Add Credit Card button is below it.

Add and verify a bank account

On the Info tab, select + Link Bank Account.

Web portal Billing page, Info tab. Under Linked Bank Account, the + Link Bank Account button is highlighted in blue. The + Add Credit Card button is above it, under Credit Card.

Enter the bank account details, then select Add.

Within three business days, two small deposits arrive in the account. Select the new bank account, select Verify, and enter the two amounts.

Web portal Billing page, Info tab. Under Linked Bank Account, the bank account's row (bank name and last four digits) shows Not Verified on the right. The row is selected, and a blue strip under it has a Verify button on the left and Delete on the right.

The Verify Account window. It says you will see 2 small deposits in your bank account, which can take up to 3 business days, with a magnified picture of two deposits (+$0.XX and +$0.YY). Below are two fields that start with $0. for entering the two amounts, Cancel at the lower left and the blue Verify button at the lower right.

Once it's verified, the account is listed under Linked Bank Account.

Web portal Billing page, Info tab, after the bank account is verified. Under Linked Bank Account, the account's row (bank name and last four digits) now shows a check mark and Default on the right.

If you don't finish verifying within 10 days, you'll need to start again.

Remove a payment method

On the Info tab, select the card or bank account, then select Delete.

Web portal Billing page, Info tab, with the bank account's row selected. A blue strip under the row has Verify on the left and Delete, with a trash can icon, on the right.

Select Delete again to confirm. The payment method is removed permanently.

A confirmation window: Are you sure? This will delete this payment source permanently. Click "Delete" to continue. Cancel is on the left and the red Delete button on the right.

Web portal Billing page, Info tab, after the payment method is removed. The Credit Card and Linked Bank Account sections are empty again, with only the + Add Credit Card and + Link Bank Account buttons.