NetForge/.planning/research/FEATURES.md

Feature Landscape

Domain: ISP Management / Billing SaaS (Small-to-Medium ISPs, 50–2000 subscribers) Researched: 2026-03-04 Confidence note: Web research tools were unavailable during this session. All findings are drawn from training knowledge of Splynx, UISP (Ubiquiti), ISPApp, Wise-ISP, Sonar Software, HostBill, and WHMCS-ISP setups. Confidence is MEDIUM overall; findings should be spot-checked against live product feature pages before roadmap is locked.

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Table Stakes

Features users expect. Missing = product feels incomplete or ISP won't migrate to it.

Feature	Why Expected	Complexity	Notes
Client/subscriber database	Core of all ISP ops; every other module depends on it	Low	Name, address, plan, contact info, status
Plan/service tier management	ISPs sell multiple speed tiers; plans must map to billing amounts	Low	Monthly price, speed profile, data cap
Invoice auto-generation	Manual invoicing at scale is impossible; recurring billing is baseline	Medium	Date-based or cycle-based triggers
Payment logging (cash/bank)	Small ISPs in PH/developing markets are majority cash/bank-transfer	Low	Manual entry by staff or collector
Client status lifecycle	Active → Suspended → Cancelled is the daily operational loop	Low	Status drives network enforcement
MikroTik auto-suspend/activate	MikroTik dominates small ISP networks; auto-cut on overdue is expected	High	RouterOS API, PPPoE/hotspot profiles
Overdue/outstanding reports	Managers need to know who hasn't paid every single day	Low	Filter by due date, status, collector zone
SMS/notification reminders	Pre-due and overdue reminders reduce churn and collection effort	Medium	Gateway integration (Semaphore, Vonage, Twilio)
Basic ticketing / support log	Even basic ISPs track "client X reported outage" in some form	Medium	Create, assign, resolve, note
Multi-user roles with permissions	Staff, collectors, and techs need scoped access	Medium	At minimum: admin, office, field roles
Dashboard with key metrics	Owners demand daily revenue vs target, active vs suspended counts	Medium	Not vanity — operational necessity
Client payment history view	Collectors and clients need to verify "did I pay last month?"	Low	Ledger per client

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Differentiators

Features that set a product apart. Users don't always expect them, but they drive retention and referrals.

Feature	Value Proposition	Complexity	Notes
Facebook Messenger / chatbot self-service	Clients in PH markets heavily use FB Messenger; zero-app friction for balance checks and ticket filing	High	Requires API-first design + n8n or equivalent automation layer
Technician mobile dispatch app	Field staff use phones, not laptops; native or PWA dispatch list with job status update	High	Offline-capable is ideal; GPS is a plus
Full double-entry accounting	Most ISP tools do "billing" not accounting; real P&L and balance sheet is rare at this price point	High	COA, journal entries, trial balance, income statement
Inventory / asset tracking per subscriber	Knowing "ONT #1234 is at Client X" prevents equipment theft and loss	Medium	Asset → status: In Stock / Deployed / With Technician
Collector zone management	ISPs with field collectors need geographic grouping and daily collection targets	Medium	Assign clients to collector, track daily collection totals
Payment collection receipting by collector	Collectors log cash collected in the field; system auto-credits client and tracks collector accountability	Medium	Differs from office payment logging; collector-specific audit trail
Expense and vendor tracking	Upstream bandwidth costs, tower rent, vehicle fuel — mapped to real P&L	Medium	Vendor ledger, bill entry, expense categories
Live MikroTik connection status query	See if a client is actively online right now, without logging into RouterOS	High	RouterOS API polling per subscriber
Multi-router / multi-zone router management	ISPs grow to 3–10 towers; each tower has its own router	Medium	Router registry, zone assignment, per-router client mapping
SaaS super-admin panel	Platform operator manages ISP tenants, monitors usage, controls subscriptions	High	Tenant CRUD, usage metering, billing ISPs
White-label client portal	ISP can brand the portal with their logo; premium tier feature	Medium	Per-tenant theme/logo/custom domain
Prepaid load / data voucher management	Some ISPs sell prepaid load cards or hotspot vouchers	Medium	Voucher code generation, redemption, expiry
Network map / topology view	Visual representation of which clients are on which tower/sector	High	Useful for troubleshooting but complex to build well
Automated PPPoE/hotspot profile sync	When plan is changed, speed profile on router updates automatically	High	MikroTik RouterOS API, profile name mapping
API-first with webhook support	Allows ISPs to integrate with their own tools or extend via n8n/Zapier	High	Full RESTful API, documented, versioned

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Anti-Features

Features to explicitly NOT build in early phases. Common mistakes in this domain.

Anti-Feature	Why Avoid	What to Do Instead
Full RADIUS server	WISP RADIUS is a solved problem; building one is a multi-month distraction	Integrate with existing RADIUS (FreeRADIUS) via API or use MikroTik RouterOS directly
Network monitoring / SNMP polling (phase 1)	NMS is its own product category; premature complexity kills delivery	Defer; point users to UISP or LibreNMS for NOC needs
Built-in VoIP billing	VoIP ISPs are a separate niche with CDR complexity; out of scope	Not applicable to target (broadband ISPs)
Complex provisioning workflows (ZTP)	Zero-touch provisioning is enterprise-tier complexity	Manual install workflow + job order is sufficient for sub-2000 subscriber ISPs
Customer-facing mobile app (phase 1)	Native app development doubles scope; web portal serves the same need initially	Build responsive web client portal first; native app is phase 3
Full ERP (HR, payroll, procurement)	Scope creep kills ISP billing products; non-core modules confuse users	Stick to ISP-specific accounting; integrate with external payroll tools if needed
Credit card processing as a primary flow	Small PH ISPs are cash/bank-transfer dominant; card processing adds compliance overhead for low ROI	Support it as optional later; GCash/PayMaya integrations are higher value for PH market
Automatic CAPEX depreciation schedules	Accounting purists want this; ISP operators don't use it	Log purchase cost; let accountant handle depreciation externally
Integrated email marketing / newsletter	Irrelevant to ISP ops; adds bloat	Use external tools (Mailchimp) if needed
Network usage graphs / bandwidth accounting per client	Useful but requires data source (RADIUS, router polling); high infra complexity	Scope to phase 2 or 3 if MikroTik traffic accounting is available

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Feature Dependencies

Features that cannot be built without prerequisite features being in place first.

Client Database
  └─> Plan/Service Tier Registry
        └─> Invoice Auto-Generation
              └─> Payment Logging
                    └─> Client Status Lifecycle (Active / Suspended / Cancelled)
                          └─> MikroTik Auto-Suspend / Auto-Activate
                                └─> Live Connection Status Query

Client Database
  └─> Collector Zone Assignment
        └─> Collector Payment Logging (field receipting)
              └─> Collector Daily Summary / Accountability Report

Client Database
  └─> Ticketing / Support Log
        └─> Ticket → Job Order conversion
              └─> Technician Dispatch List
                    └─> Technician Mobile View (PWA/app)

Invoice Auto-Generation + Payment Logging
  └─> Double-Entry Journal Entries (automated)
        └─> Chart of Accounts
              └─> Ledger / Trial Balance
                    └─> Income Statement (P&L)
                    └─> Balance Sheet

Inventory Registry
  └─> Asset Status Tracking (In Stock / Deployed / With Technician)
        └─> Asset Assignment to Client or Technician

SMS Notifications
  └─> SMS Gateway Integration (Semaphore / Twilio)
        └─> Pre-due reminder
        └─> Overdue alert
        └─> Payment confirmation receipt

API-First Architecture
  └─> n8n / Facebook Messenger integration
        └─> Balance check chatbot
        └─> Ticket creation via chat

SaaS Multi-Tenancy (tenant_id isolation)
  └─> Super-Admin Panel
        └─> ISP tenant management
        └─> Usage metering / subscription billing of ISPs

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MVP Recommendation

For an MVP targeting small ISPs (50–500 subscribers), prioritize these features first:

Must-have (MVP blockers — without these no ISP will run on NetForge):

1. Client database with status lifecycle
2. Service plan registry
3. Invoice auto-generation (monthly recurring)
4. Payment logging by office staff
5. Overdue / outstanding reports
6. MikroTik auto-suspend and auto-activate
7. Multi-user roles (Admin, Staff, Collector, Technician)
8. Basic ticketing → job order workflow
9. SMS reminders (pre-due + overdue + confirmation)
10. Executive dashboard (revenue collected, overdue count, active clients)

High-value post-MVP (Phase 2):

• Double-entry accounting with automated journal entries
• Inventory / asset tracking
• Collector zone management + field payment receipting
• Facebook Messenger chatbot via n8n API
• API documentation and webhook support

Defer until Phase 3 or later:

• Technician native mobile app
• White-label client portal
• Prepaid voucher / load management
• Live MikroTik connection status polling
• Automated PPPoE profile sync on plan change
• Super-admin / SaaS subscription management (platform meta-layer)
• Network usage graphs

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Competitor Feature Coverage (Training Data — MEDIUM confidence)

Reference table showing which products cover which feature areas. Confidence is MEDIUM as this is based on training data from products' public documentation up to mid-2025.

Feature Area	Splynx	UISP CRM	ISPApp	Sonar	NetForge Target
Recurring billing / invoicing	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
MikroTik integration	Deep	Deep (Ubiquiti-first)	Yes	Yes	Deep
Double-entry accounting	No (billing only)	No	Partial	Partial	Yes (differentiator)
Inventory management	Basic	Yes	Basic	Yes	Yes
Ticketing	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Field collector workflow	No	No	Partial	No	Yes (differentiator)
SMS automation	Yes	Partial	Yes	Yes	Yes
Facebook Messenger chatbot	No	No	No	No	Yes (differentiator)
API / webhook	Yes	Yes	Partial	Yes	Yes
Prepaid vouchers	Partial	No	Yes	No	Phase 3
Mobile technician app	No (web only)	Yes	Partial	Yes	Phase 3
Multi-tenant SaaS platform	No (self-hosted)	No	No	No	Yes (architecture)
PH market-specific (GCash, local SMS)	No	No	Yes	No	Yes (differentiator)

Key insight: No current product combines deep MikroTik integration + full double-entry accounting + field collector workflow + Facebook Messenger self-service in a single multi-tenant SaaS. That is NetForge's differentiated position.

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Sources

• Training knowledge of Splynx (splynx.com), UISP (ui.com/uisp), ISPApp, Sonar Software (sonar.software), Wise-ISP, HostBill ISP modules — confidence MEDIUM (training data up to ~mid-2025, not verified against live product pages due to tool restrictions during this session)
• NetForge PRD (isp_system_prd.md) — the project's own requirements document, reviewed directly
• Domain knowledge of Philippine ISP market context: cash/bank-transfer dominance, GCash/PayMaya prevalence, Facebook Messenger as primary customer communication channel — confidence MEDIUM (pattern from multiple sources in training data, not validated with live market data in this session)

Validation recommended before roadmap lock:

• Verify Splynx feature list at splynx.com/features/
• Verify UISP CRM feature list at ui.com/uisp
• Verify Sonar feature list at sonar.software/features/
• Check ISPApp (ispapp.co) feature list
• Check Wise-ISP feature coverage