Throughout the incredible journey of the telecom OSS/BSS sector over
the last 10 years, VanillaPlus has remained a reliable source of both key
news but also informative, objective and thought-provoking assessments of
the key trends which have shaped our industry. I am looking forward to
VanillaPlus and their more recent Stream journal continuing to play a key
role in providing valuable insights as we enter one of the most exciting
phases of the telecoms OSS/BSS market evolutions.
Kieran Moynihan
Vice President & CTO Telecoms
IBM Tivoli Division
CRM & Customer Care
EXCLUSIVE: Ericsson & LHS explain merger plans
In an exclusive interview with VanillaPlus magazine (Feb 2008 issue),
Jan Wäreby, head of Ericsson's Business Unit Multimedia and Wolfgang
Kroh, CEO of LHS have described the reasons behind the Swedish giant's
surprise acquisition of LHS, a leading billing and customer care
systems provider.
VanillaPlus asked: "Why did Ericsson need to acquire LHS and why now?"
"LHS' leading billing and customer care solutions, together with Ericsson's leadership in real-time charging and mediation, make us a leading player in revenue management and strengthen our overall multimedia offering," replied Wäreby. "We feel very strongly that convergent charging and billing solutions with real-time charging capabilities will become a standard requirement for operators to support the products and services that subscribers increasingly expect.
The interview went on to investigate what will now change and how the combination of LHS' billing and customer care solutions with Ericsson's real-time charging and mediation offering will benefit their operator customers?
What, we wondered, has been the response of LHS’ customers, operators and partners?
"The response from our customers has been extremely positive," said Kroh. "I believe most of our customers recognise the expertise and also the stability that a company of Ericsson’s size brings. For our partners that compete with Ericsson, such as the other major network equipment vendors, the news of the acquisition was understandably greeted with caution. However, we have given assurances that LHS and Ericsson are committed to an open approach and that all such partners will be treated fairly and with an even hand. While discussions are still ongoing with some of these partners, we are continuing to engage in new partner projects. By way of example, Alcatel-Lucent has won three new customers for LHS since the announcement of the Ericsson acquisition.
"The response from our integrator partners has also been very positive. They recognise the additional growth and number of projects that an organisation like Ericsson brings to the table, and wish to participate in the new opportunities and growth that the acquisition will generate," added Kroh.
The two men are well known in the telecoms industry. Jan Wäreby is SVP of Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson and head of Business Unit Multimedia. From 2002 to 2006, Wäreby was Corporate EVP, and head of Sales & Marketing, for Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications and played an integral role in establishing the joint venture.
From 2000 to 2001 Wolfgang Kroh held senior positions at Digiquant Deutschland, in Neu-Isenburg, and subsequently became managing director at EMC² Deutschland. In 2006, he returned to LHS having previously worked there from 1997 to 2000, and was named CEO in July of that year.
'One-stop-shop' optimises Orga Systems' billing and CRM
The launch of a long-term, one-stop-shop initiative to optimise telecom operators' entire
billing and CRM processes has been announced by Orga Systems, a leading provider of convergent real-time billing. This end-to-end solution includes Orga Systems' billing system and
pre-integrated products from worldwide leaders in software for the
IT/billing field.
Pre-integrated for Customer Relationship Management
(CRM) is Selligent's solution. All bill handling requirements are
covered by Group 1 Software. Business Objects takes care of the
reporting demands. WeDo technologies complements the concept in
regards to TAP roaming, and Basset Labs completes the solution package
with interconnect billing. Additional partners will follow soon.
Through the
pre-integration of individual benchmark products, telecom
service providers benefit from an end-to-end solution. Professional services
for consulting, solution design and software integration round off the
package.
Rainer Neumann, CEO of Orga Systems GmbH, said:"With our one-stop-shop solution we offer telecommunication
providers the possibility of covering all areas of the billing chain
with us as a central partner. With the flexibility of the Orga Systems
Convergence Program, we are able to provide end-to-end solutions, or
offer modular solution packages that allow a step-by-step system
integration. With this program, we are taking an innovative approach
that is ready to meet the needs and requirements of the network
operators,"
The program provides network operators with a
complete IT and billing system with what is said to be a unique modular approach. At the heart
of the program is the fully convergent billing system OPSC Gold that is
currently inter alia in successful operation for the Ukrainian provider
"life:)".
Through the program, Orga Systems manages the whole project and thus
becomes the one-stop-shop for telecom providers who are
searching for efficient integration strategies and trying to minimise
the efforts of vendor co-ordination. The core element of the Orga
Systems Convergence Program is an initial requirements analysis, in
which all the requirements for the solution are determined and defined.
This ensures that future requirements are taken into account, but also
that the intended architecture is not over-designed.
This modular pre-integration of third party products, is designed says Orga
Systems to supply solutions that transcend the "one size fits all"
approach offered by some other providers.
New CTO, Asia office and staff for Orga Systems
Ferdinand Herrmann, a telecom system integration specialist at Orga Systems, has been promoted to the post of chief technology officer (CTO). Herrmann takes over from Adnan Yaqub who has played an important role in shaping Orga Systems' direction since 1993. Yaqub will concentrate on research and development of new billing technologies as the Paderborn-based company's new technical director.
The company has also announced the establishment of a new subsidiary office in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Orga Systems now has sites at eight locations in 7 countries worldwide, to guarantee the availability of on-site customer support. This brings the total number of staff deployed worldwide by the company to 500 employees.
Billing Dictionary launched by Billing College and Althos
A 600-page dictionary covering all areas of billing, including business and operations support systems (BSS & OSS), and customer care, has been published by The Billing College. The Billing Dictionary is edited by Avi Ofrane, the college's president and CEO, along with Lawrence Harte, the president of Althos, a provider of research, training and publishing services.
The dictionary contains over 8,000 of the latest billing terms, more than 2,000 acronyms, and 200 diagrams and pictures to illustrate complex terms. It also lists world currencies and the magazines (including VanillaPlus) that cover this sector. (ISBN: 1-932813-38-1) For more details visit: www.BillingDictionary.com
Cambodians select Redknee billing platform
TORONTO March 19, 2008 -In a multi-million dollar deal, Redknee Solutions Inc
(AIM: RKN), a provider of infrastructure software that monetises and personalises
services and content for mobile operators, has been selected by Cambodia
Advance Communications (CADCOMMS) to provide Redknee's Turnkey
Converged Billing Solution.
As a new entrant in the competitive and high growth market in Cambodia,
CADCOMMS reportedly saw that its opportunity to carve out a majority share of
the market depended on an ability to differentiate itself with flexible, personalised
billing. CADCOMMS has selected Redknee's Turnkey Converged Billing Solution to
enable customer care operations with subscriber-centric, real-time rating,
segmentation and promotion services for both pre-paid and post-paid subscribers.
The flexible platform is also said to help the operator integrate new services and
accelerate their time-to-market. The system provides self-care features that allow
all subscribers to query and modify their attributes, reducing call centre costs.
"As we take our first steps into this market, we have a unique opportunity
to clearly differentiate ourselves from existing telcos and to deliver transparent
pricing models that provide more flexibility for our subscribers," said Don Maclean,
chief information officer at CADCOMMS. "After a thorough evaluation, we
determined that the Redknee Turnkey Converged Billing platform provides the
exceptional flexibility and scalability we require. The simple, open architecture of
their solution promises ease of integration, swift deployment and scalability.
Additionally, Redknee has established a strong Asian development and support
infrastructure, and continuously demonstrates its commitment to working with
CADCOMMS as a strategic, long-term partner."
Delivering a functionally-rich platform that extends beyond basic rating / charging /
billing models, the Redknee Turnkey Converged Billing solution for voice, data and
messaging integrates easily with existing core network elements and offers
out-of-the-box support for 3G+ services. The scalable solution grows with the
subscriber base, allowing operators to meet demands for new service offerings
and to stay ahead of increasing competition.
"In the fiercely competitive environment of high-growth emerging mobile markets,
the realisation of subscriber and service revenue growth hinges on the operators'
capability to offer highly-personalised services," said Lucas Skoczkowski, chief
executive officer of Redknee. "CADCOMMS has taken a significant step toward
establishing itself as a markedly-differentiated leader, uniquely positioned to
realise increasing revenues and subscriber retention enabled by Redknee's
market leading solutions."
TALKING HEADS: CEM duo tell of role in raising revenues
In an Exclusive interview in the April issue of VanillaPlus (out April 10), Arantech's CEO and founder, Brendan McDonagh and James Doyle, the company's vice president of Marketing & Product Management talk candidly about Arantech's evangelising role in CEM (customer experience management) for telcos.
The goal is not just raising customer satisfaction levels, but improving revenues too. And work for the likes of T-Mobile Austria, as well as leading Irish and German wireless network operators is paying dividends. Following a re-direction for the company in 2000, Arantech has been able to double its revenues (year-on-year) over the last three years.
Referring to the company's "nimble" reactions to changing customer demands, McDonagh told VanillaPlus: "It is those dynamics that give us an edge when comparing ourselves against the slower moving giants like IBM."
Full report in VanillaPlus April 2008 issue. To subscribe to future issues contact: subs@vanillaplus.com
VanillaPlus is available free to qualifying individuals within Europe.
Martin Dawes Systems speeds new services' time to market
Warrington, UK, 17 April 2008 - Martin Dawes Systems, an
international provider of billing, customer care and business assurance
solutions for the communications market, has announced the launch of its
Business Process Engine (BPE), a new SOA-based solution for service providers
who want to customise their customer service management systems.
The latest addition
to the Martin Dawes Systems product family, BPE is a fully customisable
system that dynamically and efficiently automates labour-intensive processes,
including fixed-line and broadband provisioning, sales order processing and
e-commerce order fulfilment. Using BPE will reportedly help service providers achieve
their goal of bringing complex offerings to market much faster, more
cost-effectively and successfully.
Based on a service-orientated architecture (SOA), BPE allows a service provider to encapsulate key business
processes, such as new subscriptions or contract upgrades, into individual
reusable modules. Customer service agents can activate and link these together
using a graphical interface, quickly and easily automating complex functions. This
delivers considerable operational benefits with the costs per transaction
significantly reduced because processes are much more streamlined and require
less manual intervention to complete routine tasks.
The modularity of
the BPE relieves the pressure on service providers who must customise their
subscriber management systems to keep pace with a succession of new product and
service roll-outs. BPE allows for the rapid adaptation of processes to take
account of changing business requirements and the strategic migration of
systems.
Designed to be
integrated with third party systems, BPE automatically performs a range of data
integration functions, such as creating new customer records or updating
inventory levels in real-time. Combined with how it tracks individual orders
using the administrative console view, customer service agents can use BPE to
simplify common and complex tasks such as identifying the status of an order
through to doing a credit check.
BPE is available as
a stand alone product or pre-integrated within diseMP, the end-to-end subscriber management solution from Martin Dawes Systems.
Gary Steen, technology director, Martin Dawes Systems said: “Operators have to bring new
services and products to market much faster than ever before. And with each
new service innovation, a positive customer experience must be delivered every
time or the marketing opportunity is lost. Achieving this presents a real
challenge and one that BPE is built to overcome by enabling operators to adapt
processes and systems without compromising on service quality and systems integration.”
Openet loyalty app allows Tier 1s to enhance customer experience
April
18, 2008 – Openet, a provider of transactional intelligence for the world’s largest and most diverse service providers, has launched its new Loyalty Programs application.
Through the Openet FusionWorks
Product Suite™, Openet is
enabling service providers to more effectively leverage their existing
transactional data to enhance and extend customer relationships.
According to Openet, telecom
operators are finally realising that service innovation and convergence
are not the only ways to increase revenue and ARPU (average revenue per
user). Instead, they are shifting their primary focus from customer
acquisition to customer loyalty — innovating creative loyalty and affinity
programmes to increase “stickiness” and improve customer satisfaction and
brand perception. Innovative loyalty programmes can stimulate service usage
and the deployment of new opportunities, however they must be timely,
targeted and relevant in order for customers to see and appreciate the
value.
“Service
provider marketers are racing to keep up with customer expectations for
personalised services and
enhancements, and well-designed loyalty programmes are a tremendous
opportunity to communicate directly with enticing offers that will keep
customers coming back,” said Openet CMO, Mike Manzo. “The key is accurate and
real-time data on usage, thresholds and style of account to ensure you’re
targeting the right offer to the right customer. Leveraging FusionWorks
together with our Loyalty Programs application gives marketers the
real-time visibility and actionable information to capture and retain
customer attention and revenue, now and in the
future.”
Some
of the enhancements more readily possible with
Openet’s Loyalty Programs
application include:
•
Awarding points based on usage, tenure or transaction thresholds
• Points
programmes that allow customers to take advantage of service provider and
third-party offerings
• Free initial usage of new or existing services,
such as SMS, video downloads and ringtones. For example, service providers
can offer long-time customers a free month of text messages to coincide
with a user’s birthday month.
Tier
1s are constantly faced with high churn rates for pre-paid, hybrid and contract
subscribers. The ability to segment customer data brings service providers
the chance to identify the right situations where loyalty programmes can
either enhance a relationship or counteract the timing when users might
consider another provider, such as when a pre-paid customer is about to
top off and extend minutes. As service providers focus on extending
customer relationships and revenue for next generation services, capturing
and keeping customer attention is paramount, and targeted loyalty
offerings — such as these enabled by Openet — are
a direct way to positively impact lifetime subscriber value, improve
satisfaction and brand perception, and stimulate new services usage.
Vodafone UK signs managed service agreement with Alcatel-Lucent
Vodafone UK has signed a managed
service agreement with Alcatel-Lucent to support, maintain and upgrade a range
of technical platforms delivering key services. The work is primarily designed to enhance customers’ mobile
experience.
The agreement is expected to deliver a
range of benefits to both Vodafone UK and its customers including greater cost
efficiency, faster time to market for new products such as innovative tariffs and offers, as well as Vodafone UK’s access to Alcatel-Lucent’s research
and development facilities to ensure a programme of continuing
improvement.
Under the five year agreement,
Alcatel-Lucent will carry out maintenance and operations for Vodafone UK’s
Intelligent Network & Core Applications (INCA)1 platforms, as
well as transition current systems to standardised Alcatel-Lucent platforms to
enhance levels of service delivery.
The
initiative is expected to help accelerate the introduction of new pre-pay and
enterprise offers to both consumers and businesses to give customers even more
convenience and value.
“We are confident that this agreement
with Alcatel-Lucent will help Vodafone UK to operate more efficiently as well as
enhance levels of service to customers,” said Jeni Mundy, CTO of Vodafone UK.
“By accessing Alcatel-Lucent’s standardised product range and strategic services
architecture, we also expect to lower the cost and accelerate the roll out of
new products by reducing the amount of system customisation required.”
1 The INCA platforms cover the Home
Location Register (HLR) which contains information on customers, the Prepayment
system and the Intelligent Nodes which control Virtual Private Network (VPN)
services. Together the INCA platforms manage the mobility, authentication and
incoming call activity of subscribers, they perform real time rating and control
of prepay calls, and they allow advanced call scenarios used extensively in VPN
and enterprise services.
Mike Betzer appointed SVP, Relationship Technology Management at Convergys
Convergys Corporation (NYSE: CVG), a global
specialist in relationship management, has appointed Mike Betzer
as senior vice president, Relationship Technology Management (RTM). He
will report to Dave Dougherty, president and CEO of Convergys.
In this leadership role, Betzer will be responsible for the overall success
and continued growth of RTM. He will oversee the creation of strategic
business plans, delivery of solutions and services to Convergys clients,
implementation of existing technologies into solutions for new industries
and markets, and the development of new Convergys relationship management
solutions such as Convergys' recently announced Multichannel Automation
Solutions portfolio. According to Betzer, this portfolio effectively
combines consulting services, best-of-breed technologies, professional
services, and flexible delivery models across live agent and self-service,
and exemplifies Convergys' unique ability to bring together a comprehensive
set of solutions and services to solve key business challenges for Convergys's
clients.
Betzer brings more than 20 years experience in the RTM space having most
recently held the role of vice president, Customer Relationship Management
Strategy at Oracle. Betzer had overall responsibility for Customer
Relationship Management product strategy for Siebel when it was acquired by
Oracle, and for Oracle E-Business Suite, PeopleSoft Enterprise, and Oracle
Fusion product lines.
Legacy systems pose major barrier for mobile operators, says Pontis survey
A new survey carried out among marketing managers at mobile operators
highlights the problems marketers face in accessing and leveraging customer
data, particularly real time usage data, to create and deliver compelling
marketing offers and promotions. The survey commissioned by Pontis, experts in
targeted marketing for communication service providers discovered that
47% of
respondents judged technological challenges in accessing data held on different
and non-interoperable platforms to be the biggest barrier to delivering
personalised communications, with organisational structure and processes in
second place with 29% and just 9% of respondents highlighting lack of resources
as the issue.
The survey
reveals that the majority of marketers believe personalisation and price are the
key ingredients for a successful marketing promotion. 34% of all respondents
consider personalisation to be the most important aspect of developing a
successful marketing offer or promotion with pricing in second place at 23%
followed by communication and then timing with 21% and 17%
respectively.
The survey
reveals the difficulty marketing staff are facing in creating such personalised
communications due to the problems in accessing subscriber’s usage history, real
time behaviour and response to previous offers -- just 18% consider this to be
easy while 82% find it problematic. This poses a particular difficulty in
marketing bundled services like triple- and quad-play offerings where 44% of
respondents consider it extremely difficult to get access to the relevant
customer data.
According to Guy
Talmi, marketing director at Pontis, “The survey graphically highlights what our
customers have been telling us for some time about the difficulties they
encounter in accessing customer data and usage history to help them deliver well
targeted marketing offers.”
He adds, “It’s hardly surprising that marketers
have struggled to market new mobile services effectively in the absence of such
vital data. The good news, of course, is that there are now solutions available
like our own, which automate this process and help marketers to determine the
optimal proposition, price, communication’s channel and timing to give the
maximum chance of success and help to overcome the technological and
organisational barriers that have traditionally hampered the marketing of mobile
services.”
AOL Broadband selects MDS to enhance customer management
AOL Broadband, one of the largest Internet Service Providers in the UK,
has selected Martin Dawes Systems' diseMP system to provide “end-to-end” customer care to its subscribers. This implementation represents a significant
part of AOL Broadband’s large-scale transition programme, separating
its entire IT infrastructure and associated managed services away from Time
Warner/AOL LLC UK
– in order to become a stand-alone trading entity following its acquisition by
The Carphone Warehouse group in late 2006.
As a result of the major contractual agreement, AOL Broadband will adopt
Martin Dawes Systems’ convergent billing and customer management system, diseMP, and subscribe to the
company’s award-winning managed service for what is said to be "a significant proportion" of its day-to-day operations.
“AOL Broadband is committed to ensuring our
customers continue to experience the highest quality of service throughout this
transition,” said Mark Hollister, CEO of AOL Broadband. “We
carefully evaluated a number of leading solution providers against rigorous
criteria before making our selection. We
chose Martin Dawes Systems because of its international track record of
providing both a reliable, robust solution and an excellent managed
service. Together, both elements will
significantly contribute to our goals of providing industry-leading levels of
customer care. We look forward to
exploiting the flexibility of both the diseMP product and the managed service
offered by Martin Dawes Systems as we continue to build our business.”
diseMP will be implemented in all AOL Broadband call-centres, servicing
both broadband and fixed-line subscribers.
Designed to enable an enhanced customer experience, diseMP will enable AOL Broadband to manage clients’ converged billing requirements and enquiries
at its call centres.
AOL Broadband will also be implementing the latest version of Martin
Dawes Systems’ Self-Care,
extending to its customers an innovative e-billing solution. Customers will benefit from bill management
features including usage information, payment facilities and online help
delivered through AOL Broadband’s website.
Gary Steen, Martin Dawes Systems’ technology director, commented; “We are
extremely pleased to be working with AOL Broadband, one of the largest
broadband providers in the UK. The company is exploiting our established
convergent capabilities in new and exciting ways. By employing a managed service, AOL Broadband
is also secure in the knowledge that its customers will receive a quality
service based on the highest industry standards, enabling it to concentrate on
business development.”
ariesoGEO aims for faster, more accurate subscriber data collection
Current subscriber data monitoring techniques often provide data
that is incomplete or imprecise, leading to unnecessary and ineffective
expenditure without solving the real network issues. Now, wireless
network optimisation provider, Arieso has launched a geo-location event
observer, ariesoGEO, for network performance monitoring and
optimisation.
Using the new software, which is compatible with
both UMTS and CDMA2000 networks, operators will be able to pinpoint
technical performance issues as and when they occur, based on the
subscribers’ experience.
Through the real-time, automated
collection and analysis of existing data, ariesoGEO enables operators
to solve potential network faults before subscribers are aware of them,
thus reducing churn and minimising operating costs.
ariesoGEO
collects data transmitted by mobiles in the normal course of conducting
a call and requires no additional hardware, such as GPS handsets. By
geo-locating tens of millions of calls per minute, ariesoGEO reportedly
creates a true-to-life picture of network performance as witnessed by
the networks’ subscribers, whether they are indoors or outdoors, or in
business or residential areas, and at any time of the day, any day of
the week.
ariesoGEO was recently used by a tier-1 US operator to
identify critical problem areas within its network, in order to gain
the maximum return from a limited budget. The outcome was said to be a
dramatic improvement in all of the operator's strategic KPIs, including
a 24% reduction in dropped calls.
Shirin Dehghan, CEO of Arieso, commented: “By providing access to more accurate
and timely data, ariesoGEO will enable operators to focus their resources and
drastically reduce their CapEx and OpEx for both current and future network
developments. ariesoGEO will, for the first time, enable operators to really
know how their network is functioning at any given time or
location.”
Dehghan added: “Access to information of this quality that
allows you to spot and correct the kinds of faults that lead to unhappy
customers and increased churn is unprecedented. Knowing what the subscriber is
experiencing, without the need to invest in expensive probes, will give
operators a huge competitive advantage.”
ariesoGEO estimates the
geographical location of mobile subscribers, and identifies the spatial
characteristics of the subscriber profile and network performance, enabling
operators to visualize a diverse set of metrics in the form of high-resolution
maps and detailed charts or reports. These metrics may range from explicitly
financial (e.g. revenue and ROI) to technical (e.g. interference and call drops)
Key Performance Indicators.
Claro Brasil turns to pre-paid Virtual Voucher from Orga Systems
Paderborn, Germany / Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. August 12, 2008: Orga Systems, a leading provider of convergent real-time billing,
is to deliver its award winning, pre-paid top-up system, Virtual
Voucher to Claro Brasil.
With Virtual Voucher any mobile handset can be used as the
vending device to sell pre-paid airtime and communication services in real time.
It provides the sales person with convenient means for direct recharge of a
subscribers’ account. The sales and distribution system is
designed to support a hierarchical network of distributors and retailers, and it
provides comprehensive functionality for all aspects of sales and channel
management in real time. The solution is based on fast and proven
technology.
Compared to recharge systems like scratch cards or POS payment terminals,
Virtual Voucher usually provides a Return On Investment in less then 6 months as well as superior
operational benefits to launch, monitor and control dedicated pre-paid recharge
strategies.
It is said to be ideally suited to target new and existing customer segments, in areas facing logistical challenges as well as in highly populated
metropolitan areas. Orga Systems’ Virtual Voucher won the TMForum Excellence
Award 2008 in the category “Most Innovative Application of Customer Care”.
Slovenia's Si.mobil launches OPSC billing system
Paderborn, Germany/Vienna, Austria. August 14, 2008: Orga
Systems, a leader in convergent real-time billing solutions, has
supplied Si.mobil with its OPSC real-time billing, making the Slovenian network the latest member of mobilkom austria group, to port to Orga Systems’
real-time billing.
Si.mobil can now meet
the rising demand for advanced customer oriented campaigns and promotions. The
advantages for Si.mobil and mobilkom austria group are, on the one hand the next
step in unifying the group systems environment, and on the other hand the chance to re-use modules for promotion and loyalty campaigns to lower
OPEX.
“Supplying real-time billing, loyalty and promotions management, Orga Systems
is a strategic partner of the mobilkom austria for more than 10 years, and an
ideal partner for Si.mobil. Taking advantage of the group-wide usage of Orga
Systems‘ billing system and loyalty solution, the re-use of campaign modules,
programmed for sister companies and vice versa, will enable Si.mobil to launch
marketing and loyalty campaigns very fast and efficiently”, says Milan Zaletel,
Management Board member at Si.mobil.
The new contract builds upon a long-standing relationship
between mobilkom austria group and Orga Systems in Europe. mobilkom austria has
been using Orga Systems‘ OPSC Billing System since 1997 to handle real-time
billing of its B-FREE and pre-paid Vodafone live! customers in Austria.
Pitney Bowes Group 1 Software simplifies customer communications
Windsor, UK. September 17, 2008 – Pitney Bowes Group
1 Software has unveiled EngageOne™ Interactive Communications, a system that expands the capabilities of the company’s Customer Communications
Management (CCM) suite. EngageOne Interactive reportedly enables business users to easily
create, deliver, and manage real-time personalised, interactive customer
communications, such as correspondence, new business applications and negotiated
documents, across the enterprise.
EngageOne Interactive
offers an efficient means to replace costly and hard to maintain
legacy correspondence applications. Business users gain complete control of
content and design of interactive documents, creating pre-defined templates.
Template management, version control and workflow approval, along with metrics
and analytics, ensure the quality of every document before it is delivered to
the customer. Front office users can quickly and easily find the right template
and tailor the communication to the specific needs of the customer interaction.
EngageOne Interactive
is the first offering from Pitney Bowes Group 1 Software’s new EngageOne
service-oriented architecture (SOA) framework. The ystem is engineered to
ease deployment and integration with a variety of business applications,
including Pitney Bowes Group 1 Software’s data capture, data cleansing, mail
efficiency, document composition, document archive and content management
services for a true end-to-end content solution.
“Today’s enterprises
require faster, more intelligent personal interaction that enables them to
differentiate the customer experience, improve customer loyalty and increase
market share,” said Lawrence O’Hagan, chief technology officer, Pitney Bowes Group 1
Software. “EngageOne Interactive ensures a highly
productive, accurate, personal interaction each and every time. With the ability
to more quickly respond to market, competitive or customer conditions,
organisations can ensure that customer communications help build the brand and
drive additional revenues.”
EngageOne Interactive
enables organisations to:
- Easily create communications in-context – Through its web-based WYSIWYG (what
you see is what you get) document editor, front-office users can easily create
and manipulate communications in-context of the document itself, and present the
document exactly as it will be printed.
- Improve business process automation
– With
built-in document management, workflow, web services and optional archive for
easy integration in existing systems, interactive documents can be shared and
accessed across the enterprise.
- Reduce costs – By relying on a
combination of functions that reduce preparation time, organisations can
accurately respond to more customer inquiries in a shorter time frame, and
reduce production printing and mailing costs.
EngageOne Interactive will be
available in mid-November 2008.
Tunisie Telecom selects BSCS iX 2 as its billing platform
Frankfurt/Main, Germany. October 27, 2008 - LHS, a leading provider of telecom billing
and customer care systems across the wireless, wireline, and IP telecom markets
worldwide, today announced that Tunisie Telecom has selected BSCS iX Release 2
as its new pre- & post-paid billing platform for all telecommunication services
offered to its customers (including fixed, mobile, and internet services).
The
new project will include the iX Collections module for the improvement of
revenue collection and for leakage prevention, as well as the LHS bill
presentment solution, which enables customer-oriented billing coupled with
flexible layout design and formatting.
"This project gives us the
opportunity to put all key internal stakeholders together, while the
company-wide business transformation enables us to deliver excellent services in
a more efficient way," said Ms Rula Ammuri, director of Information Technology
at parent company, EITL and CIO at Tunisie Telecom.
"Another key aspect of
this project is the unified customer care. Replacing and unifying several
existing applications will allow us to offer better and more services to Tunisie
Telecom customers. The positive implementation results at 'du' in the UAE,
another EITL company, convinced us that BSCS iX Release 2 is excellently suited
to the future offerings of Tunisie Telecom," she added.
The project has
already been launched and involves Tunisie Telecom staff, local companies, and
Capgemini as the main system integrator.
"We are delighted with this renewed trust
towards our company, technology and products by our long term partner Tunisie
Telecom, and we will offer all our support to the successful rollout of BSCS iX
Release 2," said Parvaiz Ahsan, managing director MEA-APAC at LHS. "Our powerful
solution based on BSCS is deployed across North Africa, and this new win will
reinforce our position as the number one customer care and billing solution
provider in the region," he added.
Amdocs to acquire ChangingWorlds for US$60m
November 6, 2008. Amdocs (NYSE: DOX), provider of customer experience systems, has announced that yesterday it signed a
definitive agreement to acquire Changing Worlds Ltd, a
privately-held provider of personalisation and intelligent portal solutions for
mobile service providers. Amdocs has also agreed
to acquire all of ChangingWorlds’ shares for US$60 million in cash, net of cash on
hand, subject to post-closing adjustments.
Additional consideration may be paid
later based on the achievement of certain performance metrics. The acquisition
is subject to conditions, and is expected to close by December 31, 2008.
ChangingWorlds’ technology,
combined with the Amdocs CES portfolio, will enable better customer experiences
by allowing end users to quickly get relevant information based on what they use
most, making it easier to navigate the internet on their phones and reducing the
time they spend looking for content. ChangingWorlds’ technology currently
addresses mobile devices, and Amdocs intends to expand the technology to three
screens (mobile, PC and television) to personalise the customer experience
across all touch points. ChangingWorlds and Amdocs share several customers
including Sprint, the Vodafone Group and Telefonica O2.
“Sprint is committed to
delivering the best possible customer experience across a wide range of data
services, including internet browsing,” said Kevin Packingham, senior vice
president of product and technology development for Sprint. “Sprint and Amdocs
have worked together for years on a number of important projects designed to
enhance the customer experience. ChangingWorlds has been integral to our Sprint
Web offering and provides the technology and expertise that will help us
continue to deliver enhanced and personalised internet services.”
“Personalisation is a
cornerstone of Amdocs’ strategy to offer customer experience systems, and
ChangingWorlds is a recognised global expert in this area,” said Dov
Baharav, chief executive officer of Amdocs Management Ltd. “ChangingWorlds’ dynamic portal offerings surpass the traditional ‘one-
size-fits- all’ approach, and no single vendor can match its range and
sophistication of personalisation services.”
ChangingWorlds’
patented technology automatically builds subscriber profiles based on user
behaviour and usage patterns that require no user input or action to make finding
relevant content faster and involving fewer clicks. For example, a sports
enthusiast will see the link to latest information about his or her favourite football
team on their home page, while a classical music fan will see the link to the
upcoming concerts in their area.
“Amdocs and
ChangingWorlds recognise the power of the customer experience and the potential
for service providers to further exploit their place in the digital value
chain,” said David Moran, chief executive officer of ChangingWorlds. “Both
Amdocs and ChangingWorlds will continue to aggressively execute on the shared
vision of enabling service providers to offer the most compelling customer
experience, to grow revenue from data services and retain customers.”
The impact of the
acquisition on Amdocs’ non-GAAP earnings per share is expected to be neutral in
fiscal 2009. The impact on GAAP results will be finalised after Amdocs
completes the purchase price accounting for the acquisition. Amdocs may incur a
one-time, acquisition-related expense in the quarter to December 31, 2008 to
account for certain costs related to the acquisition.
FireSky to improve relationships with gamers
Cincinnati and Phoenix, USA. 6 November, 2008
-- FireSky, a new video game publisher
dedicated to improving how gamers play together online, has signed a
contract for Convergys’ relationship management solutions.
Convergys Corporation (NYSE: CVG) will
provide online gaming consumers of the soon-to-be-released Stargate Worlds
massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) with state-of-the-art
inbound customer support services. Convergys’ dedicated contact centre
agents will initially provide customer support to English, French, and
German-speaking customers for general game playing questions as well as
technical, account management, or subscription-related questions.
Stargate Worlds is based on
a popular Stargate television series from MGM. Players who step through the
gate will:
* Feel the Heat – Master the battlefield using
modern tactics and firepower
* Travel Instantly – Dial up the
Stargate to explore dozens of worlds from ancient civilisations to high-tech
planets
* Team Up – Battle devious and powerful enemies
with your friends
* Find the New You – Pick from seven
archetypes with unique skills and styles
* Don’t Fight
It – Simulate translation, repair, and sabotage with minigames as your buddies
battle it out
* Advance With the Story – New
missions, weapons, and loot delivered regularly
“In the online game space, customer service is vital," said
Wendy Dickerman, director of Customer Care, FireSky. "As a new company, FireSky
has found that it makes sense to partner with experienced, proven firms to
provide solutions for distribution and other key business aspects. We intend to
raise the bar in the MMORPG space with a higher calibre of customer service.
Convergys is going to help us get there."
“The online gaming industry continues to grow at a rapid
pace, and a key goal for the industry is to provide consumers with a superior
online gaming experience. Convergys solutions will help FireSky drive more
value from their online customer interactions, giving FireSky a clear,
competitive differentiation in this growing marketplace,” said Jim Boyce,
Convergys president, North America. “Convergys understood FireSky’s business
model and performance challenges and partnered with them to develop a win-win
technology support program for the Stargate Worlds community.”
Convergys provides
comprehensive, outsourced, business and consumer support functions, as well as
services for in-house contact centre operations. Everyday, we handle millions
of customer service interactions such as account service, billing inquiries,
technical support, and service dispatch, enhancing the customer’s experience and
driving more value from the relationship our clients have with their customers.
Convergys’ global delivery model enables us to provide support - on-shore,
offshore, or near-shore, whether in a contact centre or through our home agent
model. We provide our clients with state-of-the-art infrastructure and
self-care automation technology to not only increase customer satisfaction but
also reduce costs.
Telefónica O2 Czech Republic launches personalised mobile internet
Prague, Czech Republic & Dublin, Ireland. 17 November, 2008: ChangingWorlds, specialists in mobile data personalisation and subscriber intelligence for mobile operators, today announced a new deal that will launch a personalised mobile internet service for Telefónica O2 Czech Republic. ChangingWorlds has worked with O2 UK and O2 Germany for many years but this is their first implementation with O2 Czech Republic.
Consisting of a new O2 internet-like portal and a browser bar that provides intuitive navigation support for users browsing off-portal, this O2 ‘True Internet’ proposition seamlessly integrates mobile internet content services with key services from O2 Active and its partner sites. ChangingWorlds’ ClixSmart system is employed to simplify mobile internet access, engage O2 users and optimise internet usability on the mobile handset.
O2 Czech Republic chose ChangingWorlds’ solution to improve the end user experience and personal value gained from using the mobile internet. ChangingWorld's Personalisation technology achieves this by reducing the information gap and increasing awareness of new relevant services for each O2 user.
The personalisation engine automatically selects new, fresh and relevant content for each user, based on learned user content preferences and behavioural patterns. In addition, the ClixSmart device management system optimises content presentation and screen flows to the specific capabilities of each O2 handset.
ChangingWorlds also provides in-depth reporting of both on- and off-portal activity which enables O2 to recognise, manage and leverage learned browsing trends, both established and emerging. Moreover, intuitive ClixSmart content management applications allow O2 portal managers to assume full control of the service.
Speaking today, Lorcan Jordan, program director for ChangingWorlds said: “O2 Czech Republic sees the delivery of a highly personalised mobile internet experience as an essential step in strengthening its competitive position in the now established mobile internet marketplace. The new personalised mobile internet service powered by ChangingWorlds’ technology improves the internet user experience by delivering relevant content to each individual. ChangingWorlds and O2 will continue to collaborate and extend the mobile internet data service with the ultimate aim of providing a ubiquitous, personalised internet channel for all O2 data users.”
Also speaking today, Jan Karas, marketing director of the residential segment from Telefónica O2 Czech Republic, said: “The launch of a personalised mobile internet service is an integral part of the O2 Czech Republic mobile data strategy to optimise the user experience and to ensure O2 can offer a convincing internet experience to our mobile users. This service will also enable us to monetise off-portal activity and to up-sell key value-add O2 data services. Vitally, it also ensures that we can assume control of the mobile internet browsing experience so that it enhances, rather than detracts from, our O2 Active portal.”
Econet Wireless Kenya set to go live with new pre-integrated, pre-configured CRM
London, UK. 17 November, 2008 – Start-up mobile communications provider, Econet
Wireless Kenya is set to go live with Cerillion Express, the new pre-integrated
and pre-configured CRM and billing
system. The news follows on from Econet’s recent decision
to install Cerillion Technologies ’s Interconnect Manager system.
Cerillion Express provides all the elements required to support a
communication provider’s business in one off-the-shelf package. Utilising core elements of Cerillion’s
bundled component product suite, the solution covers the entire customer
lifecycle from initial sales and order handling to billing and collections.
“We were attracted to Cerillion Express because it facilitates rapid
time to market,” says Jitendra Sharma, general manager, IT at Econet Wireless
Kenya. “Cerillion’s solution can be implemented quickly and cost-effectively
because it is pre-configured and pre-integrated. This has allowed us to accelerate
our service roll-out plans.”
Cerillion Express also supports the integration of pre-paid and post-paid functionality.
This has enabled Econet to achieve competitive edge by offering both types of service
to customers from the first day of their operation.
Michael Foley, CEO, Econet
Wireless Kenya comments: “The mobile-specific nature of Cerillion Express and
the ease of integration it supports have been critical in enabling us to meet
all of our tight project deadlines and we are confident that it will allow us
to provide all our customers with the best possible service from launch.”
Louis Hall, chief executive, Cerillion Technologies
says: “The ability of Cerillion Express to grow in breadth and sophistication
to keep pace with users’ expanding needs makes it ideally suited to a rapidly-growing
operator like Econet. We believe that Econet’s decision to implement Cerillion
Express is particularly significant not only in marking the first installation using
this pioneering new deployment model but also in signalling a further key step
in the growing business relationship between our two companies.”