Echo Logo
Echo Logo

Water utilities don't need more integration. They need control.

From the Knowledge Centre

Published June 13th 2025 in Billing & Customer Information Software by Matt Bowd

Matt Bowd, General Manager for Echo in the Asia-Pacific region, discusses the impact of integration of billing platforms with Salesforce

Water utilities don’t need more integration. They need control.

Other billing platforms 'connect' to Salesforce—but from the outside.

They market themselves as pre-integrated, offering plug-and-play connectors or middleware APIs. But integration is a fragile promise—it breaks under pressure, scales with delay, and multiplies risk. What looks seamless on a slide deck becomes a tangled web in real operations.

That’s where native matters.

Aptumo isn’t simply integrated—it’s built on Salesforce. It uses the same data architecture, the same user interface, the same security and compliance standards. Every customer record, meter reading, payment schedule and service ticket lives inside a unified ecosystem.

The result? Simplicity that scales.

No more syncing data between external databases. No more bouncing between disconnected screens for billing and service. No more waiting for vendor updates just to adopt a new Salesforce feature.

Instead, you get clarity across your entire operation.

Frontline agents can view and resolve billing issues without escalating. Back-office staff operate within the same environment as customer service and field teams. Leadership has real-time visibility into billing trends, collections performance and customer experience metrics—all in one place.

That level of alignment doesn’t just improve efficiency.

It changes what’s possible.

Water utilities can now create end-to-end workflows that connect customer actions to billing triggers. Smart metering alerts can generate proactive billing adjustments.

Usage patterns can inform tailored communications or flexible payment plans—all automated from within Salesforce.

Native means agile.

With Aptumo, every new Salesforce capability—AI, automation, reporting—applies directly to billing. There’s no waiting for a connector to be updated. There’s no hidden lag between intention and implementation.

Native also means security and governance are inherited, not duplicated.
No extra compliance reviews for third-party infrastructure.
No extra vulnerability surfaces to manage.
Your data remains where it belongs—inside your platform, under your control.

This is more than technical alignment. It’s operational sovereignty.

When you control the core systems of record, you move faster, adapt sooner, and serve better. That’s not possible with pre-integrated solutions held together by APIs and hope. For water utilities, where reliability, trust and responsiveness matter most, native is no longer optional.

It’s essential.

Aptumo doesn’t ask you to compromise. It gives you a billing platform that grows as your needs evolve. It ensures that customer experience and revenue operations are two sides of the same coin—not two siloed departments held back by disconnected tools.

Water utilities face complex challenges—from decarbonisation to customer hardship to evolving regulation.

Aptumo meets those challenges head-on—because it’s not for Salesforce. It is Salesforce.

And that makes all the difference.

Share this article

More in the Knowledge centre

More Blog

Blog

Beyond billing: Why innovation starts where customers feel it

Innovation doesn’t start in the lab. It starts when a customer opens their water bill and finally understands it.

22 July 2025 by Matt Bowd

Read
Blog

Financing the Future: Why agile platforms are key to solving Utilities' #1 challenge

Matt Bowd, General Manager for Echo in the Asia-Pacific region, discusses how modern billing platforms can strategically support financing for…

18 July 2025 by Matt Bowd

Read
Blog

How you can avoid burning time and energy - and ultimately, burning out your team

Matt Bowd, General Manager for Echo in the Asia-Pacific region, discusses how pre-integrated billing platforms make it harder than necessary…

4 July 2025 by Matt Bowd

Read
Blog

How AI-driven omni-channel communication can drive both efficiency and customer satisfaction in the water sector

Aptumo’s Product Manager Gareth Welch looks at how embracing technology can redefine the landscape of water utilities.

Read

More Billing & Customer Information Software

Blog

Beyond billing: Why innovation starts where customers feel it

Innovation doesn’t start in the lab. It starts when a customer opens their water bill and finally understands it.

22 July 2025 by Matt Bowd

Read
Blog

Financing the Future: Why agile platforms are key to solving Utilities' #1 challenge

Matt Bowd, General Manager for Echo in the Asia-Pacific region, discusses how modern billing platforms can strategically support financing for…

18 July 2025 by Matt Bowd

Read
News

Echo Managed Services sponsors VicWater 2025 Annual Conference

Echo Managed Services is delighted to announce it is returning as Principal Sponsor of Vic Water's 2025 Annual Conference

Read
Blog

How you can avoid burning time and energy - and ultimately, burning out your team

Matt Bowd, General Manager for Echo in the Asia-Pacific region, discusses how pre-integrated billing platforms make it harder than necessary…

4 July 2025 by Matt Bowd

Read

Choose how you want to get in touch with us

Pick up the phone and call us...

0845 12 12 122

Call

...or simply email us for a quick response.

ask@echo-ms.com

Send email