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Revenue · BSS module

Collection & Dunning Module

The Collection & Dunning module manages the full lifecycle of overdue invoice recovery — from first reminder through structured escalation stages to service suspension and payment realisation.

Overdue Invoice Monitoring Dunning Escalation Dunning Scheduling Dunning Letter Generation Service Suspension Payment Initiation
On this pageAt a glanceDunning Escalation StagesCollection Pipeline — End-to-EndComponent ResponsibilitiesStorage & PersistenceDesign PrinciplesWhere AI helpsStandards

At a glance

Recovers overdue amounts through staged reminders, restrictions and payment arrangements.

Key data

Collection caseDunning stagePromise to payPayment plan

Receives from

  • Billing
  • Payments
Collection & Dunning

Sends to

  • Notification gateway
  • Provisioning (suspend / restore)
  • Reporting

Dunning Escalation Stages

Structured overdue account progression — each stage triggers a specific action at a configurable interval

0
Invoice Issued
From Billing Module
  • Invoice delivered to subscriber
  • Payment method linked
  • Payment due date set
  • Account: active — awaiting payment
→
Payment Received
On or before due date
  • Payment Gateway confirms success
  • Invoice status: paid
  • Dunning flow ends
  • Account: good standing
→
1
Dunning Stage 1
Configurable days post due date
  • First overdue notice sent
  • Reminder communication issued
  • Payment slip generated if applicable
  • Account: overdue — Stage 1
→
2
Dunning Stage 2
Configurable days after Stage 1
  • Second escalation notice sent
  • Dunning letter file generated
  • Outstanding amount highlighted
  • Account: overdue — Stage 2
→
3
Dunning Stage 3
Configurable days after Stage 2
  • Final notice issued
  • Service suspension triggered
  • Outstanding amount for recovery
  • Account: suspended — Stage 3

Collection Pipeline — End-to-End

From overdue invoice handoff through dunning escalation to payment and account resolution

Billing Module
Overdue invoice handed off at payment due date
Module Input
→
1
Bill Collection
Monitors due dates. Manages dunning stages. Requests payment.
Data StoreEvent Bus
2
Dunning Scheduler
Orchestrates timed dunning events. Triggers each stage at configured interval.
Data StoreEvent Bus
→
3
Letter Generation
Generates dunning letters and payment slips for each stage.
Data StoreEvent Bus
→
4
Payment Module
Collection requests payment via Payment module. Result fed back.
Separate Module
→
5
Resolution
Payment received → invoice closed. Failure → next dunning stage or service suspension.
Data Store
Input
Monitor
Schedule
Notify
Payment
Resolve

Component Responsibilities

Detailed function of each service in the Collection & Dunning module

Bill Collection

Core — Overdue Management
  • Receives overdue invoices from Billing module at payment due date
  • Monitors invoice payment status against due dates
  • Manages dunning stage progression for each overdue account
  • Requests payment from Payment module for each overdue invoice
  • Updates invoice status on payment success or failure
  • Requests service suspension at Dunning Stage 3
  • Supports manual payment posting from care portals
  • Supports payment slip reissue and cancellation
Data StoreEvent Bus

Dunning Scheduler

Core — Stage Timing
  • Orchestrates timed dunning events for all overdue accounts
  • Triggers Stage 1, 2 and 3 events at configurable intervals from due date
  • Publishes dunning stage events to event bus for Bill Collection
  • Receives next-stage schedule request from Collection after each stage action
  • Cancels outstanding schedule when payment is received
  • Handles schedule reset on payment method update
Data StoreEvent Bus

Dunning Letter Generation

Notification — Escalation
  • Generates dunning letters for each escalation stage
  • Includes outstanding amount, due date and account details
  • Generates payment slip files for convenience store payment channel
  • Applies localised templates per stage and communication channel
  • Stores letter and slip files in document store
  • Triggers notification service for subscriber delivery
  • Supports reissue of payment slips on subscriber request
Data StoreEvent Bus

Storage & Persistence

How and where the Collection & Dunning module stores its data

Document Data Store

Collection state
  • Overdue invoice collection records
  • Dunning stage state per account
  • Dunning schedule and next-trigger dates
  • Payment slip reissue counts
  • Account suspension status

Async Event Bus

Stage triggers
  • Dunning Stage 1/2/3 trigger channels
  • Payment request channel to Payment module
  • Payment result feedback channel
  • Service suspension request channel
  • Notification channels for letters/slips

Document Store

Letters & slips
  • Dunning letters per stage per subscriber
  • Payment slip files for each dunning cycle
  • Versioned for reissue

Design Principles

Key architectural decisions behind the Collection & Dunning module

Configurable Stage Intervals

All dunning timing — the number of days between due date and Stage 1, between Stage 1 and Stage 2, and between Stage 2 and Stage 3 — is driven by configuration. This allows collection policy to be adjusted by operations without code changes or a new release.

Suspend, Don't Delete

At Stage 3, the service is suspended rather than terminated. This preserves the account relationship and allows service restoration on payment. Suspension is triggered through the network control service and can be reversed automatically when payment is received.

Clean Payment Boundary

Collection & Dunning has no direct dependency on payment channel logic. It delegates all payment processing to the Payment module and receives a unified result. This allows payment methods and channels to evolve independently without affecting dunning logic.

AI opportunity
Where AI helps
Likelihood to pay

Choose reminder timing, channel and tone per customer by predicted risk.

Segmented strategies

Learn which collection paths recover most with least churn.

More in 30 AI & ML use cases and AIOps for BSS.

Key business processCollections Management→
Standards & references
TMF678Customer Bill Management API
TMF676Payment Management API