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.

---

## 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 |

---

## 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 |

---

## 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 |

---

## 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
```

---

## 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

---

## 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.

---

## 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