Development Update - June 2022

We're especially excited about our June Dev Update. You'll see below that this month definitely falls into the 'less is more' category as we bring news of four particularly powerful additions.

The flagship of which has to be (drumroll please), Meter lookup for electric! With it, users of our software can now directly query crucial information from the MPAS database. It's been a long-term goal with an application process that took many many months and has taken considerable resources; so we're very proud to be able to offer it as a vital customer management tool.

Read on to hear more about this and three other fantastic releases in our June dev update...

Meter Lookup For Electric

You can now use this new service to search for information about every commercial electricity meter in the UK. In particular, it can offer three vital pieces of information. The Meter Point Administration Number (MPAN), the meter credentials (profile etc.) and the current supplier information.

Please contact your account manager for pricing details and to have the service switched on within your account.

Built for: PRO CRMBILL VALPORTAL (UK ONLY)

API Endpoints For All Exports

Have you ever needed your data to be automatically exported into a third-party service or even a custom-built application? With this latest feature release, you can.

This could be game-changing if you use your own custom reporting system or if you want to have data fed directly into a third-party management service like Salesforce. No cumbersome spreadsheet download/upload, just your data where you need it.

We'll be rolling this out upon request over the coming weeks. Don't yet have the API product enabled? Talk to your account manager about adding it to your subscription.

Built for: API

There's more...

We've also added the following two great features...

Individual User Settings

We've made some helpful modifications that will allow every user to change the way their account looks and functions (unless disabled by a Super Admin user). With it, users will be able to personalise settings such as pagination and optional features via the profile section. We'll be adding more options in the coming months!

Amend Quote Duration

Previously when pricing, our software only allowed the quote duration to be set whilst creating a brand new pricing request. We've now adapted the process so that within each matrix tender the user can select "Tender Tools > Update Tender Durations". Once the revised dates have been selected and saved, the resulting prices will reflect the newly-selected durations.

Built for: PRO CRMPRICED

Recycle Dead Leads By Campaign

We've added an option to our very useful 'Recycle Dead Leads' tool that will allow you to recycle any dead leads that are associated with a specific campaign.

Built for: PRO CRM

That’s it for this month.

Our software evolves at such an exciting rate so please feel free to get in touch to discuss any of the functionality we’ve added since you last saw it. We’ll be more than happy to arrange a demo to show you around!


Development Update - May 2022

You'll have seen that over the last 6 years, here at UtilityClick we have added many and varied types of useful features to our software. However, this last month has seen what promises to be the most important from a social and ecological standpoint.

We're all very proud and energised to be focusing on a new Carbon Reporting module that we hope will allow you to offer your customers a service that's above and beyond anything they've experienced before. Whatever your thoughts on climate change, it's clear that being more focussed on our environmental footprint has to be good for everyone, so developing a tool that has the potential to make such a difference is a real privilege.

Read on to hear more about this and the other bits and bobs as we look at the dev releases from May...

Carbon Reporting Module

This new module will allow you to record all carbon emissions generated by your customers and their staff. Using a variety of different emissions criteria you can report on elements such as energy usage, travel and accommodation. You can then present the results using our beautiful reporting suite.

This is a stage one release and we have many improvements planned over the coming months (including releasing it into the customer portal so your customers can add and track results themselves). For now, we'd like to invite volunteers to try this new module and feedback on their progress. Please contact your account manager if you'd like further information.

Other bits and bobs...

We've also added the following other bits and bobs...

Restrict Access to Cloud Documents

When uploading associated documents to a customer within the PRO CRM you can now select which user level has access to view. Useful if the contents of the document are confidential.

Built for: PRO CRM

Inactive Date For A Site

Within a customer site, you can now elect to set it as "Inactive" and record a corresponding date. This is solely for administration purposes and will not affect any associated meters or contracts.

Built for: PRO CRM

Recycle Dead Leads By Campaign

We've added an option to our very useful 'Recycle Dead Leads' tool that will allow you to recycle any dead leads that are associated with a specific campaign.

Built for: PRO CRM

Commissions Export Optimisation

Requesting exports of a considerable size can take time and in some extreme instances could cause the request to time out completely. We've optimised the SQL code so that exports from our Commissions module are now completed up to 5 times quicker.

Built for: PRO CRM

Additional Value Types for Bespoke Water Charges

When managing a bespoke water charge within the Procurement module you can now select from an additional two value types - 'Per day' and 'Percentage of annual spend'.

Built for: PRO CRM

LOA Reporting Functionality Added to Dashboards

Using the Customer Rankings dashboard, you can now view and filter customers by any LOA expiry date (and within any given date range). Useful when reporting against any upcoming expiries.

Built for: PRO CRM

Restrict Access to Activities

We've amended restrictions around the Activities module so that a non-super admin user can only see activities for which they are either the owner or had the activity assigned to them. E.g. They cannot see activities just because they are the Account Manager of the Customer.

Built for: PRO CRM

Days At Deal Status

We've added a new piece of information to the "Deal Status / Last Deal Status Change" column within the Pipeline module. You can now see how many days a deal has been sitting in its current stage. What's more, you can check the 'History' of any deal to review deal status changes, the date it was changed and who changed it.

Built for: PRO CRM

New "PAY ON RECEIPT - SPLITS" Payment Profile Added

We've developed a new payment profile for when you need to show forecast and actual commission information based on team splits. This is useful when you need the commission applied to the split amount, not the total contract amount.

Built for: PRO CRM

That’s it for this month.

Our software evolves at such an exciting rate so please feel free to get in touch to discuss any of the functionality we’ve added since you last saw it. We’ll be more than happy to arrange a demo to show you around!


Learning From Napster & Metallica

Further reading...

Development Update – November 2023

You'll know that we make improvements to our software every single week and with even…

Read More

Development Update – October 2023

In our latest development update, we bring news of more user experience improvements.…

Read More


Development Update - April 2022

Easter came and went for the dev team and despite the on/off/on again nature of work over this period, the team still managed to maintain the rapid development pace that seems to be a theme for 2022.

Over the coming months and throughout this year, you'll see we'll be making many changes to the customer portal, both in terms of looks and functionality. We're already well into the design phase that will see a better UX experience for your customers and this month we've embarked on improving how your customers submit meter reads.

Elsewhere and on a more general level across all our systems, we've been continuing our focus on ensuring absolute security for you and your colleagues. To find out more about these and other bits and bobs, read on below:

Meter Reads Improvement

We've enhanced the Meters section of both the Customer Portal and PRO CRM. This recent update allows customers to add their own meter reads. This data is then visible within PRO CRM and can be validated through the BILL VAL product.

Built for: PRO CRMBILL VAL

Security Improvement: Restrict User Sessions

At UtilityClick we take your security extremely seriously and we're constantly pursuing areas where any potential improvements can be made to protect your data. We're adding yet another layer of security that restricts an account to one location at a time, so you can be certain that if you are logged in to UtilityClick, then no one else can be.

Other bits and bobs...

We've also added the following other bits and bobs...

Ability to manage supplier matrix pricing at user level

Previously it was possible to enable or disable a particular supplier's products to control which matrix pricing was returned when quoting. We've enhanced this feature so you can now enable/disable on a per-user basis. E.g. You could allow sub-broker access to your pricing and enable alternate products to which you use internally.

Built for: PRO CRM

Improved Search Functionality Within Activities

A few months back we made significant improvements to the search feature found within the Leads module. We've now developed a similar improvement within the Activities module. You can now search Activities by Meter Number, Site Address, Site Postcode as well as Customer Name.

Built for: PRO CRM

Support for Multiple Commission Rates

This is an optional feature that allows for different commission levels to be set for different meter rates. E.g. If you require a different commission set for meters with a varying day and night rate. This optional feature is only available when adding manual bespoke quotes and is available upon request.

Built for: PRO CRM

Re-assign tasks when changing lead generator or account manager

When amending a Customer/Lead's "Account Manager" or "Lead Generator" the system now displays a checkbox asking if you'd like to also transfer all open tasks to the new lead generator/account manager.

Built for: PRO CRM

Add Customer References to Vendor Agreements Export

When exporting Vendor Agreements to Excel, the Customer Reference is now included as an additional column.

Built for: PRO CRM

USA System Language Update For Dashboards

We've adapted our new dashboard suite so that it better reflects the region it's being accessed from. Specifically, when accessing from the USA, all general terminology has been updated so as to use a more familiar vernacular.

Built for: PRO CRM

That’s it for this month.

Our software evolves at such an exciting rate so please feel free to get in touch to discuss any of the functionality we’ve added since you last saw it. We’ll be more than happy to arrange a demo to show you around!


Shhhh. We won't tell if you don't

Further reading...

Development Update – November 2023

You'll know that we make improvements to our software every single week and with even…

Read More

Development Update – October 2023

In our latest development update, we bring news of more user experience improvements.…

Read More


Development Update - March 2022

It's funny how certain themes seem to develop around a particular month. The theme for March has most certainly been one of security. It helps that one of our founding directors has been compulsively security-obsessed since day dot and it's something that is heavily ingrained into everyone within the team.

We've made great strides this month with our progress in offering 2-factor authentication on all accounts. Separate from this, we've continued our integration with Microsoft authentication services. Not only can you now force your users to ONLY use Microsoft credentials to access UtilityClick, but you'll also be able to use any associated Microsoft email account to send official system notifications.

Read on to hear more about this and the other bits and bobs as we look at the dev releases from March...

Multi-Factor Authentication

You'll soon be able to add an additional layer of security to your UtilityClick account (together with all user accounts) by switching on 2-Factor-Authentication. When applied, you will be sent a code to a preregistered mobile device that you will need to use along with your normal password. This feature will be rolled out over the coming weeks and we strongly recommend deploying it for added peace of mind.

Send System Emails With Your Microsoft Account

Email notifications sent from within the system can now be sent from a user's email address, instead of from your central company email address. When switched on, this feature will allow you to log in using your Microsoft credentials and then have notifications (such as tenders or LOAs) come directly from your email. Please contact your account manager to have this activated within your account.

Built for: PRO CRMPORTAL

Other bits and bobs...

We've also added the following other bits and bobs...

Force Microsoft Authentication On Your Account

We've been integrated with Microsoft authentication services for some time (allowing users to use their Microsoft 365 credentials as well as their UtilityClick one) but this recent update allows admin users to force ALL account users to only use their Microsoft credentials.

Built for: PRO CRMBILL VAL

The Ability To Edit Or Delete Activity Notes

We've overhauled the notes section within the Activities component. You can now edit or delete notes as you see fit. Note that only Super Admin users have the ability to edit or delete notes that were not created by them.

Built for: PRO CRM

Support for Multiple Commission Rates

This is an optional feature that allows for different commission levels to be set for different meter rates. E.g. If you require a different commission set for meters with a varying day and night rate. This optional feature is only available when adding manual bespoke quotes and is available upon request.

Built for: PRO CRM

Vendor Agreements Linked to Customer References

It was already possible for vendor agreements to be linked to Sites/Locations, Meters/Accounts, Contacts, and Contracts. This latest update now makes it possible to also link vendor agreements to Customer References.

Built for: PRO CRM

Quick Access to Supplier Products When Reviewing Quotes

We've added a handy link to quickly view supplier product details when reviewing quotes within the Procurement component. From the quote results screen, simply click "Go" and "View Product".

Built for: PRO CRM

Parent Company Added To Portfolio Export

Within the Analytics component, when exporting Portfolio data, we've added a new column where you can now see 'Parent Company' information.

Built for: PRO CRM

Multi-Select for Export Data

Previously, when exporting data through the Analytics module, you've been able to select precise singular criteria of which data to include. For example, you could export Accounts that were managed by one particular account manager but you were unable to select multiple managers (without exporting all the data at once). We've added multi-select fields to many of our data export screens, so you can now quickly select multiple configurations within each export.

Built for: PRO CRM

Total Cost and Total Annual Cost Added At Meter Level For Tender Export

When exporting tender information (via the Tenders - Export Data screen), the Total Cost and Total Annual Cost is now included within the export on a per meter basis.

Built for: PRO CRM

Checkbox Added To Skip Redirect After A Data Import

When importing data into the system, you're helpfully redirected to the upload results screen after each successful import. There are instances where it's preferable to stay within the data import screen post upload. As such, we've added a checkbox so you can choose whether to remain on the data import page or move on to review the results.

Built for: PRO CRM

That’s it for this month.

Our software evolves at such an exciting rate so please feel free to get in touch to discuss any of the functionality we’ve added since you last saw it. We’ll be more than happy to arrange a demo to show you around!


Bill Val 2.0 With Advanced Validation

William & Valerie (or Bill & Val for those just catching on) is the nickname for our latest fantastic product – BILL VAL. With it, you can upload batch data files directly from suppliers straight into our system.

Once uploaded our system systematically examines each entry to ensure it’s correct. Upon completion, results are broken down and summarised, enabling succinct reporting back to your customers.

Instant Imports

Raw format imports for EDI/XLS/CSV.

Beautiful Presentation

Analyse pass/fails in a clear, understandable format.

Custom Thresholds

Set your own pass tolerances at customer or global level.

The Best Reporting

Stop sending emails to your clients. Present all types of reports within your very own white-labelled customer portals.

Instant Usage Analysis

Import day Day+1 HH / AMR data straight from the Data Collector.

Customer Portal

Present data to your clients with ease. Allow them to submit meter reads for instant validation.

As an energy broker, you know that the world is changing and you need to offer your customers more than just ‘the best price’. You’ve seen the evolution in our sector; your customers now demand more than procurement only services.

For all of this functionality it’s not as much as you would think. And no other system offers more ‘value’ than our Bill Val product. Unlike other systems, we do not price per meter/invoice validation, which can become incredibly expensive. With BILL VAL by UtilityClick you pay one set monthly fee, no matter if you validate one thousand bills or one million.

Possibly! But we’re confident we’ve built a bill validation product that is better than anything that’s come before it. If there is a useful feature that doesn’t exist and is integral to your workflow, there’s a very good chance we’ll build it… And the good news is we build fast, really fast (take a look at our monthly updates from the development team to see how much we add, every single month).


Development Update - February 2022

There's been an undeniable air of excitement in the dev team this month. I can't recall a time when we've had so much R&D work in progress with so much potential to make a huge impact.

One project in particular will give you the option to 'boost' your dashboards. With it, you'll be able to create your very own graphs, tables and reports. For instance: Need to create a dashboard specific to Dan in Sales so he can see what's important in his pipeline? No problem.

The boost will also provide a new dashboard that monitors matrix pricing trends over a period of time. With it, you'll be able to see which suppliers are pricing competitively on various types of meters and when. We'll be in touch again about Dashboard Boosts but if you'd like to get in front of the queue, please contact us or your account manager to signify your interest.

Read on to hear what else we've been up to in the month of February...

Bill Val Thresholds

When validating bills for customers, it's quite often the case that a few pence difference between the 'expected' and 'actual' isn't of vital importance. We've added the ability to set a tolerance threshold of just how far out you'll allow the difference to be, before receiving an alert.

This tolerance can be set individually over almost any aspect of the bill. What's more, you can alter this tolerance on a per-customer basis, should you have certain customers that require more stringent validation than others.

Built for: BILL VAL

Other bits and bobs...

We've also added the following other bits and bobs...

Improved Customer & Lead Snapshot

You can get a quick overview of all the important bits by visiting the Snapshot section within Leads or Customers. We've now added the company number (EIN for the USA) to the Leads and Customers Snapshot screens.

Built for: PRO CRM

Search and Filter Cloud Documents

Within our PRO CRM you can upload any documents that would be useful to store against a lead or customer. We've now added the ability to search through these documents either through their description or by date.

Built for: PRO CRM

New Lost Contract Reasons

When marking a contract as "Lost" you can select from a handful of useful reasons why that contract was lost. We've added more selectable options here to give you a more detailed analysis when reporting.

Built for: PRO CRM

Speedier Detailed Export

Our PRO CRM allows you to export procurement data in varying degrees of complexity. We've made speed improvements to the most "Detailed Export" so it completes much faster.

Built for: PRO CRM

Bill Val UI

As an addition to the threshold work described above, we've improved the user interface of Bill Val reporting so you can now clearly see the actual vs expected difference as a percentage.

Built for: BILL VAL

Approx Commission with Opportunity Exports

Previously when performing a tender export, an "Approx Commission" value would only appear if one had been set manually by the user. However, when viewing a new tender directly within the system, a user is helpfully shown the "Approx Commission" value, even if one has not been set (by using the partner's default broker fee). The process has now been updated so that exports now marry the information provided when viewing an opportunity within the system.

Built for: PRO CRM

That’s it for this month.

Our software evolves at such an exciting rate so please feel free to get in touch to discuss any of the functionality we’ve added since you last saw it. We’ll be more than happy to arrange a demo to show you around!


Development Update - January 2022

And we're off! Despite the Christmas cobwebs, January in the dev team was just as busy as the months that preceded it. I think we were all thankful for the rest but also just as happy to be back with the team, planning the next 12 months of new features.

The new system redesign that we announced last month has taken much of our focus. We had many users requesting early access and we're happy to say that feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. As such, we're pleased to mark February 18th as the official date when all of our software will switch to the new design.

Read on to discover more about the new look as well as other bits and bobs.

Custom Branding With The New UI

As previously mentioned, the new design will be going live on all accounts very shortly (February 18th). Our final push has been to adapt the new look so that it works for any system that has custom branding set. If you utilise your own logo and colours within any of UtilityClick's software, then you'll also be able to experience a better UI come February 18th.

Other bits and bobs...

We've also added the following other bits and bobs...

Improvements to The Sales (Tables) Dashboard Reporting

Within the 'Booked Breakdown', 'Won Breakdown' and 'Lost Breakdown' Sales report, you can now drill down to which deals were bespoke and which were matrix.

Built for: PRO CRM

LOA Start/End Date Validation

Customers have reported that they occasionally forget to enter a correct start/end date on a system populated LOA. If turned on, this new feature will prompt users that both a start and end dates must be present before the upload can proceed.

Built for: PRO CRM

Speed improvements for Customer Imports

As part of our ongoing mission to speed up system-wide imports/exports - we've made improvements to ensure importing customer data is now more robust and completes much faster.

Built for: PRO CRM

New bespoke charge units added to Bill Val

We've made Bill Val even more comprehensive and added support to check for additional bespoke charge unit types (including £/meter/month).

Built for: BILL VAL

Activity Sub Types Are now filterable

We've extended the search facility within the Activities component, it's now possible to filter by Task, Type AND Sub Type.

Built for: PRO CRM

Bespoke Charges Summary

Multiple bespoke charges are commonplace in water procurement, because of this we've adapted all quoting results screens (including exports) to include a summary of all bespoke charges per quote.

Built for: PRO CRM

Bespoke Charges On Excel Imports

Users have been able to add bespoke charges to quotes and contracts for some time but now you can now add them when importing in bulk via an Excel file.

Built for: PRO CRM

That’s it for this month.

Our software evolves at such an exciting rate so please feel free to get in touch to discuss any of the functionality we’ve added since you last saw it. We’ll be more than happy to arrange a demo to show you around!


Development Update - December 2021

As the team return from a restful Christmas break, we look back at everything we completed in the final month of 2021. It's fitting that we start the New Year with a clean slate and a new look to our flagship products. Over the last few months, the team have been creating a completely new design for our PRO CRM, BILL VAL and PORTAL products. We're extremely excited to show you the results.

We've also received positive feedback on our integration with Tickd. Up until very recently, we've encouraged our customers to forge their own direct supplier relationships but it's been clear that having an alternative offering, straight out the box, is also proving useful.

Read on to hear how you can utilise the new design, the Tickd integration, as well as other bits & bobs.

System Redesign

You may have seen back in October that we teased a ghostly glimpse of the new design and we've already rolled it out to a few willing participants. We'll be contacting all our customers shortly to see if you'd like to trial the new look within your system.

Tickd Expansion

When managing quotes within the PRO CRM, you can now choose to employ the (green) "Get Tickd Quotes" button and utilise the connections that Tickd have assembled (currently British Gas Lite, Scottish Power and TotalEnergies). If you'd like to utilise this optional feature and would like further guidance, please contact your account manager.

Built for: PRO CRM (UK ONLY)

Other bits and bobs...

We've also added the following other bits and bobs...

NEW Reporting On Activities

We've added a brand new dashboard focussed solely on Activities. You can now drill down to Activities completed by team members and specific customers as well as gain insight in to activities completed within a certain timeframe.

Built for: PRO CRM

Alert before marking an activity as done

We've added an optional feature that when enabled will offer the user a 'Yes' or 'No' alert when marking an activity as 'Done'. This can help avoid those costly accidents where a team member clears an activity before it has been actioned.

Built for: PRO CRM

EDF Energy Contract Submission

We've been working with EDF to give UtilityClick TPIs the ability to submit contracts directly to EDF, once a quote has been marked as accepted. If you have a relationship with EDF, please contact your account manager for more information.

Built for: PRO CRMPORTAL

Water commission percentage

When creating a bespoke tender for water supply, we've added the ability to set a commission percentage of the contract. Previously you could only select a £/m3.

Built for: PRO CRM (UK Only)

Auto-upload Unsigned LOA to Customer Section

When generating an LOA within the system, you can now choose 'Generate & Save' to automatically add the LOA to the Customer Details section.

Built for: PRO CRM

Oh Duck Screen Improvements

Everyone hates an error screen so we've tried to soften the blow of ours by giving you the chance to play a version of the 1984 hit Duck Hunt each time it appears.

Built for: PRO CRM

Bulk Uplift for Bespoke Tenders

Previously our system has allowed for a bulk uplift to be added for matrix tenders. We've now added this feature so that it's also available on bespoke tenders too.

Built for: PRO CRM

Quicker Reporting

We've introduced further speed enhancements to make our new reporting that little bit quicker.

Built for: PRO CRM

System Export Enhancements

Over the last 12 months, we've been rewriting the way our system exports data. This month we've adapted the commission module. Now your commission exports will be generated much faster.

Built for: PRO CRM

Customer Name Added To Detailed Quote Export

We've updated our 'Detailed Quote' export (found under Partner > Procurement > Input Prices > Quotes), so that it now includes parent and child customer information.

Built for: PRO CRM (UK Only)

Supplier Insights Dashboard

We've revolutionised the dashboards of our Supplier Insights product to include the same cutting-edge technology found within our PRO CRM product.

Built for: INSIGHTS

New Dashboard Improvements

We told you last month about the monumental upgrade we've been making to our reporting. We continue to refine these reports and have begun the process of switching these on for an initial select group of customers.

That’s it for this month.

Our software evolves at such an exciting rate so please feel free to get in touch to discuss any of the functionality we’ve added since you last saw it. We’ll be more than happy to arrange a demo to show you around!