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EBPP Expertise Note
EBPP Expertise Notes
Table of Contents
1 Introduction............................................................................................................................................ 1
2 Wipro CRM Focus................................................................................................................................. 2
2.1 Customer Care..............................................................................................................................................2
2.2 Electronic Bill Presentation and Payment......................................................................................................3
2.2.1 Introduction....................................................................................................................................3
2.2.2 EBPP Features...............................................................................................................................4
2.2.3 Wipro EBPP Framework................................................................................................................4
2.2.4 Wipro EBPP Solution.....................................................................................................................6
2.2.5 Package Implementation................................................................................................................6
2.2.6 EBilling Components......................................................................................................................7
2.2.7 eBilling Advantages and Benefits...................................................................................................7
2.2.8 EBPP Models.................................................................................................................................8
2.2.9 EBPP Partners.............................................................................................................................11
2.2.10 Wipro’s EBPP Advantages...........................................................................................................13
2.2.11 Case Studies................................................................................................................................14
2.2.12 EBPP Benefits..............................................................................................................................17
2.2.13 Conclusions..................................................................................................................................18
Wipro Confidential Page i
1 Introduction
Wipro Technologies is the global IT services arm of Wipro Ltd (NYSE: WIT), with revenues of USD 700 million during last fiscal year. Wipro is the first IT consulting company in the world to be assessed at SEI-CMM Level 5. Wipro delivers Consulting & IT services across a range of industries covering the Enterprise, Technology and Service Provider markets. Over 40 % of our revenues accrue from the Telecom/Datacom sector where we are present across the telecom value chain - right from Design & Development of Embedded Systems, Product Realization Services for leading Telecom Vendors, to providing End-to-End Solutions & Services to Global Telecom Service Providers.
As a professional services partner for several product vendors and service providers we have developed unique engagement models for COTS product implementation, application development and maintenance.
With over 13,000 people in the organization of which over 4000 people works in the telecom practice, Wipro provides one of the best talent pools available. Our people, in addition to our state of the art infrastructure, coupled with internal quality processes and methodologies lay the basis for our customer’s satisfaction.
Wipro is the only Indian vendor with skill sets across the entire spectrum of telecom domain. Wipro has long-standing alliances with leading technology vendors and to provide end to end technology consulting, implementation and sustenance in the areas of the CRM, Operation Support System/ Business Support System (OSS/BSS), E-Commerce, M-Commerce, Network management, Billing, EAI and Infrastructure support.
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2 Wipro CRM Focus
Wipro with over 300 man-years of Enterprise Application deployment experience has expertise in all aspects of design and implementation, from Business Analysis, Configuration, Integration, Testing and Server Administration of CRM applications and packages. Customer Care is a concept embedded in CRM.
CRM Solutions
Sales Force Automation, Marketing Automation, Customer Service, Hosted CRM
CRM Intelligence
Pre-Implementation Implementation Post-Implementation
Product Evaluation
Business Process Study
Requirements gathering
Prototyping solutions
Gap Analysis
Effort estimation
CRM strategy
Solution Architecture
IT Architecture
Project Management
Installation
Design
Configuration
Enterprise Application Integration
Wireless/Web deployment
Reports
Testing of the configured solution
Production Support & Maintenance
Rollouts (Multi-lingual)
Upgrades
Application tuning
Enhancements
Implementation Audits
CRM Infrastructure Services
OS, Database, Network and Security Administration Services, Help Desk Services
2.1 Customer Care
Wipro provides a range of Customer Care solutions including Product Configuration and Administration, Customer Service, Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment (EBPP) and Call Centers around various leading e-business products. Wipro offers a range of services to both incumbents and new age Telco’s using innovative delivery models and leveraging on Quality Processes to deliver cost-effective solutions. Wipro has End-to-End CRM Implementation Expertise for Telecom Service Providers including the network and data-center infrastructure services for the deployment. Wipro’s partnership with Oracle Education gives an early advantage to Wipro consultants to gain expertise in Oracle CRM 11i and also for continuous skill availability across the CRM program life cycle.
Wipro offers consulting, implementation and integration expertise in web enabling Customer Care features through web as follows:
Function FeaturesProspect handling Automated and intelligent Email responses
Self Account registration
Feasibility check
Credit validation and checking
Order processing Place an order over the web
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To track the status of the placed order.
Add new options to their existing service
Modify Account information or order information
Status of the Order
Service Assurance Network Inventory view
Network failures/faults
End-to-end QOS
Performance report
Impact of QoS over SLA etc.
Trouble Ticketing Create a Trouble Ticket
Search for solution
View the status of Trouble ticket
View the solution / Add Comments to solution
Close the Trouble ticket
Re-open the trouble ticket
View history of trouble tickets
Communication Email
Web chat
Voice chat
2.2 Electronic Bill Presentation and Payment
2.2.1 Introduction
Electronic bill presentment and payment (EBPP) offers corporations the ability to send bills or statements to consumers on a monthly basis via the Internet and process an electronic payment. It represents a powerful new opportunity for a business to strategically use its billing processes to sharpen its competitive edge in the new electronic economy. Many corporations are currently evaluating or implementing EBPP solutions, especially firms in the financial services, telecommunications, and utilities sectors where bills number in the hundreds of thousands to millions each month. These companies are leveraging the electronic billing process to enhance customer care, to target marketing programs more accurately, and cross-sell products and services, while simultaneously reducing paper and postage costs.
With an electronic bill presentment and payment system, customers can view, store and pay bills using a Web browser or personal financial management software. With PC Banking, the paper bill is presented through the US Postal Service and the consumer initiates an electronic check. In Contrast, Electronic Bill Presentment replaces the paper bill with an electronic bill, and then facilitates the payment process by enabling the consumer to initiate a payment online. The question for billers today is not whether to present bills over the Internet, but how to do it. EBPP solution models are still evolving, but most observers agree that bill presentment must be integrated with bill payment for it to successfully attract customers. The service must be convenient and save time over existing billing and payment methods. A bill can be presented directly from a biller's Web site, or consolidated with other companies' bills and presented via an Internet bill payment Web site, bank Web site or Web portal.
The challenge is to ensure a sufficient volume of customers to justify the system's cost and to leverage its dynamic marketing and customer care opportunities. EBPP solutions enable companies to provide customer convenience and retention, build customer loyalty, and generate new revenue opportunities.
Based on Wipro’s expertise in Telecom and service provider solutions, Wipro CRM-COE offers the following two EBPP solutions to Telco’s:
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Wipro’s EBPP framework Package Implementation
2.2.2 EBPP Features
Bill Presentation Multi-Channel Delivery of Bills
Account Management (Large Numbers)
High Volume Distribution
Message Tracking
Targeted Marketing
Security
Enhanced User Experience
Bill Payment Interface with presentment component
Implement and interface with multiple payment mechanisms
Bill Administration Bill Consolidation
Bill Summary
Bill Generation
Integration Integration with legacy systems for bill generation
Invoice imports / exports
Batch Database/files imports/exports
Security Secure Sites for bill hosting
Secure email delivery (email contains bills)
2.2.3 Wipro EBPP Framework
Wipro offers end-to-end EBPP solution based on its EBPP framework to cater the need of smaller players with low volume of customer transactions. The following diagram represents Wipro’s EBPP Framework.
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CUSTOMER CUSTOMER GATEWAY/ACH
FIREWALL
WEB SERVER - PORTAL
COMMUNICATION LAYER
PERSONALIZATION PRESENTATION AGGREGATION BILL/PAYMENT
WIRELESS WEB MAIL API
FIREWALL
APPLICATION AND INTEGRATION LAYER
DATABASE LAYER
APPLICATION SERVER EBPP API LEGACY SYSTEM
ORACLE SYBASE SQL SERVER
Brief description about each of the components in the above EBPP Framework:
Customer: Customer is the External User of the EBPP System. Bill is presented to this customer and payments are accepted online against those bills. Any interaction that customer need to do can be done via EBPP Systems with respect to his/her Bills.
Gateway/ACH: This is a vital module in the Framework as it fetches Revenue to the company implementing EBPP System. This is the last phase of any Bill Presentment System where Customer of the EBPP systems is satisfied with the Bill presented and agrees to pay the same immediately via Online Payment Gateway. Payment made could be via a Credit/Debit Cards Payments or Check Payments or Electronically Transferring of Funds.
Web Server Portal: Customers of EBPP System interact with the system with the help of this Server. This could typically be Apache, IIS or iPlanet Web server.
Personalization: Personalization is a process of gathering and storing information about site visitors, analyzing the information and based on the analysis, delivering the right information to each visitor at the right time
Presentation & Aggregation: This Module in EBPP System takes care of the way to present bill to each customers based on their priorities set in the system during registration or over the period of time. This module will take care of these priorities before presenting the bill to the customer over web.
Bill/Payment: This Module is tightly integrated with the EBPP System in the backend for Bill Presentment and Payment. Detail of this has been explained in Section 3.2.1 and 3.2.2.
Communication Channel: Communication Channel is used for sending Alert messages to the Users subscribed to the EBPP System whenever a new invoice get online for them to view and pay. This communication channel was only Web earlier but now as Mobile Commerce getting penetrated into the market, sending Alert Message over Mobile is also a part of EBPP Framework.
Application and Integration Layer: This layer in the Framework tightly integrates the Front-end components of Personalization, Presentation and Bill/Payment with the EBPP System, Application Server and Legacy Systems.
Legacy System: This could be an accounting system of the customers, which is main source of Invoices. This Legacy System usually generates Invoices in proprietary formats, which EBPP Systems takes care of converting the same and store it in the EBPP Database.
Application Server: All Business logic of client gets deployed in this server. EBPP System will then be using the same. Application Server plays a major role in deploying J2EE Architecture. Wipro recommends iPlanet, BEA or IBM Application servers.
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Database Layer: This Layer talks to EBPP Database with the help of the adapters for different types of databases available. Wipro recommends Oracle, Sybase or SQL Server.
2.2.4 Wipro EBPP Solution
Customer
Customer
Customer
BROWSER
FAX
BillDetail/ Dispute
WorkFlow
Payment Status
Payment History
Payment Scheduling
Payment dispute
Payment Type
Credit CardE-CheckOthers Billing
BillGeneration
BillConsolidation
BillNotification
Payment
Business
Rules
Account Validation
Reversal
Exception Handling
PaymentStatus
Notification
Third PartyPayment Processor
AutomatedClearing
House
MultipleInputs
E-SystemLegacySystem
AccountsReceivable
BillSummary
PERSONALISED
DELIVERY
Acceptance & Routing
2.2.5 Package Implementation
EDocs
Wipro expertise in system integration and package solution deployment helps in deploying EBPP packages to large Telco’s. Wipro recommends Package based EBPP solution for large Telco’s, which involves huge customer base and large amount of customer transactions. Wipro partners with eDocs for delivering EBPP solution to large and mid-size Telco’s. EDocs product suite includes
eaDirect – An Online Account management and billing platform from eDocs which performs Content Management – Personalization, view composition, Reporting, Customer Self service – Profile management, Dispute management eaMarket – Extends eaDirect with Marketing campaign, publishing promotions eaPay – Flexible electronic payment platform eaPost – Data publishing platform
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2.2.6 EBilling Components
2.2.7 eBilling Advantages and Benefits
EBPP provides advantages to Billers, Business customers and Consumers. There are both tangible and intangible benefits, some of which are listed below:
To Service provider
Differentiate the service by making bills the easiest to receive, the easiest to understand and the easiest to pay.
Attract a steady flow of new and existing customers to the website to view their bills. Increase scope for personalized marketing and cross selling through closer customer dialogue. Slash the printing and mailing costs and reduce the load on the call centre. Reduce bill processing costs with automated online payment
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Improve credit control and cash flow by enabling your bills to be delivered and paid faster. Faster Response to customer
To Corporate Customers
Faster, easier access to billing information throughout the enterprise. A more manageable payment process that cuts out the paper chase. Improved management information using customized bill analysis facilities. Easier bill authorization via electronic sign-off. Reduced administrative overheads through electronic filing and distribution. Elimination of manual data entry by exporting billing data to other systems electronically. Improved financial planning based on a complete view of all billing history.
To Consumers
Convenient self-service access to bills and statements, 24 hours a day. Time saving payment facilities - no more cheques, stamps or trips to the mailbox. Faster resolution of many bill queries, without needing to contact the call centre. Instant reprints on demand - no waiting for copy bills to arrive by post.
2.2.8 EBPP Models
Biller Direct Third Party Consolidation (Aggregate Model) Push or Invited Pull Technology
Biller Direct
In this model the biller approach is to provide bill presentation and payment to their customers. The billing organization makes bill available on its web site and invites customers to view and pay the bill directly from the web site. One step ahead, the biller sends a message to the customer about the new bill (alert). This reduces unnecessary customer login to check for the bills. The message can be made more informative by providing a summary of the bill, which eliminates one more login to check for amounts, due date’s etc. In this case the customer directly logs only once to see the bill detail and make the payment.
CISDataCIS AppWeb I/fWeb Svr
Biller
CISDataCIS AppWeb I/fWeb Svr
Biller
Each biller operates its own website, allowing customers to visit individually to view and pay bills. The Biller Direct model is attractive to billers, since they retain full control over the design and presentation of their bills. This model has both advantages and disadvantages.
Advantages
One more channel to interact with the customer To know the customer better for more personalized delivery Have complete control with no third party involved – data security, data backup and archive Can provide specific offerings like special discounts, bonus points for early payment etc, leading
to more delighted and loyal customers
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Works well with TP systems or native web systems
Disadvantages
The customer will get notification from many billers – Need to visit many site for viewing the bill and for payment
Customers will get irritated to look at multiple site – The whole purpose of the new initiative is lost
The only way to overcome the disadvantage is to provide a wonderful experience to customers in terms of value added services. Many large corporate have the brand image and market share and the command over customers which makes this model very attractive. However without value added services the customers will switch to competitors at the first opportunity-Corporate complacent attitude leading to customer defection.
Third Party Consolidated Approach
In this model there are one or more parties who facilitate the consolidation of bills. The customer receives their entire bill from one single user interface. The consolidator facilitates the payments back to the billers. In this approach there are thin and thick consolidation. In thin consolidation the consolidator gets only bill summary, for bill details by clicking on the link, customer can flow to the firms billing site. The thin consolidation allows firms to take dual advantage – outsourced EBPP but still get customer profiles for personalized delivery. Also payment can be initiated either at biller or at the consolidator site. In thick consolidation the consolidator provides both bill summary and details to the customer. The bill channel to know the customer is blocked.
Here, customers visit a single website where they are able to view and pay all their bills, from multiple billers at a single site.
Consolidator
Web Svr
CISData
CIS App
CISData
CISDataCIS App
CIS App
Consolidator
Web Svr
CISData
CIS App
CISData
CISDataCIS App
CIS App
Consolidator
Web Svr
CISData
CIS App
CISData
CISDataCIS App
CIS App
Push or Invited Pull Technology
Push or Invited Pull Technology requires billers to use proprietary software to present bills to their customers. Consumers usually load software onto their PC that communicates with the biller. They then run the software to consolidate bills to their desktop, and schedule electronic payments. Push Technology gives consumers the convenience of one-stop viewing and payment of their bills. This method, however, is not widely used. As a result, more popular models are being deployed.
Customers have the convenience of one-stop bill presentment and payment but are required to install software to receive bills.
Challenges Ahead
Even though EBPP is more popular many fail to understand the same in totality. Like traditionally people talk about invoice complexity, invoice reconciliation, inefficient dispute communication and resolution, query options etc. A closer analysis reveals that these issues becomes secondary issues and more
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internal to the organization and the ability of the organization to manage the same. The primary challenges of EBPP are
Flexible Integration Delighted customer experience Security Reduced cost of bill generation and payment processing
Flexible Integration
In many organizations there is more than one system, which generates billing data. These include legacy system, UNIX servers, Web application etc. The challenge is to integrate data from multiple systems and present the bill to the customer. Although most EBPP systems are implemented as standalone systems, the future EBPP solutions must function as a part of larger E-business architecture. For ex - Cataloging, vendor management, electronic billing etc. In order for these components to work together they need seamless integration, load balancing, session management etc. Also company should be responsive to real time changing scenarios and should be prepared for next generation of networked home, M-commerce etc.
Reduced Cost of Bill Generation and Payment processing
All new initiatives is aimed to provide benefits to the firm in terms of market share, brand image, increased revenue, reduced expenditure etc. In EBPP it is a combination of retaining customer, differentiated services at a low cost. Most customers are well aware of EBPP benefits in terms of cost reductions without scarifying service quality. The key benefit is the operational savings, which translates into a positive impact on the bottom line.
Delighted Customer experience
The heart of EBPP is the combination of powerful technologies and unique features to provide personalized billing experience. The question, which needs to be answered, is the way EBPP will make customers a new delighted experience. Success in any industry today is getting closer to consumer or business customers and retaining them.
Personalized billing and service delivery
Customer Care –Home pages, wallet, scheduling,
Multiple Delivery Channel –Web, mail, Mobile etc
Performance & Availability
Convenient options to pay –Direct debit, Credit card etc
Self fulfilling experience-Archived access, reports
Delighted Experience
Resolving disputes in reduced time frame
Personalized billing and service delivery
Customer Care –Home pages, wallet, scheduling,
Multiple Delivery Channel –Web, mail, Mobile etc
Performance & Availability
Convenient options to pay –Direct debit, Credit card etc
Self fulfilling experience-Archived access, reports
Delighted Experience
Resolving disputes in reduced time frame
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2.2.9 Wipro EBPP Partners
Group 1Software: Group1 Software Inc. (NASDAQ: GSOF) is the leading provider of software for data quality, marketing automation, customer relationship communications, and direct marketing applications. DOC1’s unique NT-based development and drag-and-drop user interface allows telecommunications companies to create attractive, easy-to understand bills, statements, and letters quickly and easily. Leading telecommunication companies using DOC1 include PSINet, Qwest, Aerial Communications, Qualcomm and Cellular South.
eDocs, Inc: eDocs, Inc. located in Natick, MA provides enterprise-class online account management and e-billing software to Global 2000 companies. EDocs, eaSuite(tm) maximizes customer relationships by enabling web-based billing, customer self-service and targeted marketing. The company's technology web-enables more than 60 million households and 20 million businesses for online account management and e-billing through its installed base.
EDocs, Inc., founded in 1997, is a leader in the EBPP software market. EDocs’ Bill Direct is a thorough, end-to-end bill presentment and payment solution that has been enhanced in its latest version. The system now supports both Windows NT and UNIX platforms. For data extraction, Bill Direct supports major input formats, including Metacode, AFP, and ASCII text. Bill Direct provides a graphical utility for defining data extraction rules for specific bill types, simplifying the process of configuring extraction for complex bills. The intuitive interface allowed us to quickly add fields and set up the extraction with little assistance. Good debugging tools help developers verify the setup in real time.
For personalization and targeted marketing, Bill Direct is among the stronger solutions we evaluated. BillDirect’s Composer tool simplifies the process of tailoring a bill’s appearance and including conditional inserts dynamically presented at run-time. The tool is designed to be simple enough for less technically oriented individuals to participate in the design. In the 2.0 version, edocs is adding the ability to instantly simulate what the consumer will see. From a consumer standpoint, Bill Direct provides many of the standard features that users expect from an on-line billing application. These capabilities will be further enhanced in version 2.0, with the addition of more robust analysis tools and the ability for consumers to define their own categories for individual line items (such as personal expenses, work expenses, office supplies, etc.). This feature is especially helpful and powerful for those who want flexibility in organizing and classifying their bills and expenses.
For system administration and configuration, Bill Direct provides a thick client for Windows NT and a browser-based administration interface for UNIX. Of the two, the thick client was easier to use and more intuitive. EDocs is moving all administration interfaces to a browser-based utility, with the understanding that usability enhancements are needed. EDocs has also developed a companion product called BillPost. This component simplifies the publishing of summary billing data to multiple consolidators. BillPost “cartridges” will be available to format summary data for different consolidators, including CheckFree and TransPoint, and to support multiple enrollment points. By using BillPost, billers can give their customers the ability to enroll and pay bills wherever they want.
Just in Time Solutions (BillCast 2.0): Just in Time Solutions is a privately held company focusing on business applications for EBPP and interactive customer care. The software and services company has been in business since 1995, and currently targets large periodic billers in the telecommunications and financial services industries, as well as bill publishers.
The BillCast 2.0 solution consists of four major components that provide the majority of the services required for EBPP applications. The Presentation Server dynamically renders bills into HTML pages; the Notification Server handles customer communications via e-mail; the Integration Server handles data access from business legacy systems, and the Rules Engine drives consumer-facing functionality for personalization. The system relies on the integration of third-party extraction utilities for data extraction. BillCast 2.0 supports an out-of-the-box enrollment process. Billers can automatically enroll consumers, or consumers can enroll themselves and set up their own payment methods and preferences. Enrollment through consolidators is handled by OFX. The enrollment module is flexible, allowing billers to capture specific data fields that may be needed for personalization or future marketing initiatives.
Bill presentment is driven by templates and business rules. To set up presentation, BillCast provides standard templates that can be modified using HTML programming or third-party editors. The Rules
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Engine sets up rules and conditions for each bill type. Personalized content can be pulled in from outside systems using the Integration Server. For payment and distribution, Just in Time provides separate add-on modules that can be integrated into the base BillCast system. The Payment module is particularly impressive, allowing flexible payment setup options for users and supporting multiple payment methods including ACH payments. The Distribution module is an OFX-compliant server that allows billers to integrate with multiple distribution channels and consolidators to present summary data and accept payments.
Overall, BillCast provides good functionality and a modular architecture that allows high-volume billers to add functionality as needed. The system does lack a few components, notably a data parsing and extraction component. In addition, platform support is limited to Sun Solaris, and the system lacks wizards to simplify development and configuration.
Sun-Netscape Alliance (BillerXpert 1.0) : In March 1999, America Online and Sun Microsystems formed the Sun-Netscape Alliance, a partnership in which the companies are collaborating and co-marketing their technologies and services under the “iPlanet” brand name. For EBPP, the Alliance offers BillerXpert, part of the Netscape CommerceXpert suite of packaged applications for e-commerce. The system is built on the Netscape Application Server to provide scalability and reliability, with CommerceXpert providing a common framework for all of an organization’s e-commerce applications.
BillerXpert provides the capabilities for an end-to-end electronic bill presentment and payment solution, through the combination of the native product and integrated third-party software. For data parsing and extraction, BillerXpert uses ECXpert or software from BlueGill, which is useful for high volumes of complex bills. BillerXpert provides tools that allow billers to customize their bills and their EBPP applications. For example, the appearance of the bill can be customized using the Netscape Application Builder development environment. Designers can also customize the application logic flow, including the business rules logic, the presentation logic, event handling, and activity logging. This level of customization will require Java-level programming.
BillerXpert comes with a number of packaged templates that can help make the design process easier. These “stencils” are packaged source code for industry-specific applications. However, any significant customization requires Java programming. We were able to make simple modifications to the presentation and business logic layers of our application, but had to defer to the Netscape personnel to make more advanced customizations.
For marketing functions, BillerXpert includes the Real Media Ad Server. Banner ads can be individually targeted to customers based on profile information entered in the initial registration process. Alternatively, marketing can be targeted based on information extracted from actual customer usage. For even more granular targeting, a combination of user-entered profile data and usage information can be used.
For payment processing, BillerXpert integrates with CyberCash out of the box, and can support other mechanisms or service providers through an API. Custom development and integration is required to support payment processing. For system administration, BillerXpert is integrated with Netscape’s Mission Console; all aspects of the system can be administered from a central point, either locally or remotely. The Console provides access to the Netscape Application Server, the Netscape Directory Server, and BillerXpert administration functions.
2.2.10 Wipro’s EBPP Advantages
User Experience
Wipro’s solution delivers personalized presentation by combining Customer preferences, Billing information and account Details. It will also have Customer Self Care Options to better serve customers.
Integration Expertise
Wipro’s expertise in Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) domain and its partnership and association with leading vendors such as TIBCO, Vitria, SeeBeyond will help to integrate the billing systems with back-end applications and databases.
Flexibility for today’s business
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Wipro’s EBPP Solution will provide workflow, where it will have ability to assign roles and rights to individuals & define business rules for processing, bill routing and payments. It will implement specialized workflow to handle disputed line items.
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2.2.11 Case Studies
2.2.11.1 Case Study 1 – Clarify eFront Office Application
Project:
Medical Systems Company, USA - a leading manufacturer and service provider of medical equipment with operations all across the globe. The Solution required a Call Management System & Multi-site Delivery Model.
Business Requirement / Project Initiative:
The customer was in the process of developing a Call Management System (CMS) to handle and track Field Engineer (FE) related issues. Online Center (OLC) Engineers take up these FE issues all over the Globe.
Project Details
The objective was to provide online center with an efficient tool that will allow: A better follow-up and tracking of an incident (alert management). Automation of event driven actions such as active alerts, e-mail messages. Interface to EAW (Expert Assistant Workstation) Tools. FE to consult the status of his/her request and search for solution through the web based
interface Capitalization of the knowledge with the solution database To search for the right solution using search engines like Diagnostic Engine (DE) and Full Text
Search (FTS) In order to manage problems of Field Engineers (internal customers) and to build up the
knowledge base, ClearSupport module of Clarify Application was used.
Project Scope
Wipro was the lead implementation partner responsible for end-to-end implementation. The scope included the following activities:
Business Study, Scope and Feasibility Study Functional and Technical Design Specifications Preparation of Demos and Presentation to Business users Installation and administration of the Clarify application Server administration for generating databases, database extracts and other server tasks Configuration and Customization using Clarify tools and CB language. Developing interfaces with MS-Exchange Unit Testing and System Testing Acceptance Testing and Pilot production Production Roll-out Maintenance and Support 24x7 production support
Technical Solution
CRM - Clarify eFrontOffice 6.0/8.0 Clear Support Clear Logistics Clear Contracts Fulcrum FTS Clear Express
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Operating System - Solaris 2.6 server and Sun /Windows 95 / NT clients & Database – Oracle 8.0
2.2.11.2 Case Study 2 – EBPP Implementation
Project
French provider of EBPP services – Design and develop E-bill presentment application
Business Requirement / Project Initiative
Online supplier bills presentment. Buyers can find all their bills at one place, validate them, and initiate payments online. Organization modeling: Capture approval hierarchy, roles, bank details etc., Ability to insert direct marketing messages and provide leverage for seller organization CRM.
Project Benefits
The objective was to provide customers with: Cost reduction for buyers (traditional checks and transfer charges, postage, accounting
integration, recon) and suppliers (printing, shipping, receiving, receivables allocation). Online access and management without setup costs.
Project Details
Wipro was the lead implementation partner responsible for end-to-end implementation. The scope included the following activities:
Invoices imported through FTP and transformed into XML format and uploaded into the consolidator database.
The buyer-user (designated owner) can accept /reject the invoice or forward another for final validation and the invoice is prepared for payment.
A payment case is initiated along with the authorization. Batch debit file created of authorized payments. Payment can be set up for multiple installments and /or activation on a future date
Batch file sent to the ETABACS payment gateway that debits buyer bank account and credits that of the supplier.
Technical Solution
3- tier architecture based on J2EE platform Application server used – Weblogic 5.1. At this level, Weblogic runs as a cluster. Web sever used - Weblogic 5.1 Database used – Oracle 8i EJBs Front end provided using JSPs and HTMLs Design done using Rational Rose 2000- Enterprise Edition Load testing done using Webload Configuration Management using VSS
Technical Architecture
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RMI/ IIOP
DBMS
HTTP/HTTPS
Web container cluster (Servlets, J SPs)
Inte
rnet
Fir
ewal
lFir
ewal
l
Web
Ser
ver
Messages InvoicesCompany
• J SP• Servlets (Invoice, Message, Company Admin)• Static Lists• Error and message Handler• Logger• b-process system parameters
HTTP/ HTTPS
User
Company Admin Message Logic
Subject holder
Response holder
Invoice Logic
Message holder Invoice holder
User/ Organisation/Supplier relation holder
Data Access Layer
RMI/ IIOP
DBMS
HTTP/HTTPS
Web container cluster (Servlets, J SPs)
Inte
rnet
Fir
ewal
lFir
ewal
l
Web
Ser
ver
Messages InvoicesCompany
• J SP• Servlets (Invoice, Message, Company Admin)• Static Lists• Error and message Handler• Logger• b-process system parameters
HTTP/ HTTPS
User
Company Admin Message Logic
Subject holder
Response holder
Invoice Logic
Message holder Invoice holder
User/ Organisation/Supplier relation holder
Data Access Layer
2.2.11.3 Case Study 3 – Call Centre Application with Remote Clients
Project
The customer, Farmers Insurance Group is a leading Insurance Company in the USA; its parent company is the Zurich Group. Farmers are renowned for its strength in the areas of Auto, Home, Life, Business, Retirement & Boat Insurance.
Automated Call Center and connectivity for a team of remote field representatives
Business Challenge
Our client envisaged a Claims Management system (Customer Restoration Network), to fulfill their goal of rapidly servicing the claims of policyholders, thus restoring their lives to order. But with disparate systems for most of their processes, all of which were glued up to a central Mainframe-based system, the task was of integration of the key data points like Policy Details, Coverage, Claims, Loss Reports followed by the automation of the Insurance Claims Processing System.
The Solution
The entire Claims Management System was divided into 5 builds, progressively building it up, with structured processes for capturing business requirements and identifying and designing technology solutions for the same at each build. The system was visualized with some key features:
User Friendly & Uniform Interface – The first level of integration was to allow access and updating of data in all systems, through a common graphical user interface, with easy to use features like search, navigation, ease of adding, modifying or deleting records.
Computer Telephony Integration: Modernization of the Call Center operation using a CTI solution to perform automatic call routing and answering, based on the availability of the customer service representative (CSR).
Automatic Paging to field reps.: Automatic paging of the queries (including call center queries) using an outbound paging system that would trigger a message to the appropriate field customer representative (FCR). The system has in-built business rules to achieve this, while also ensuring escalation of queries that haven’t been actioned.
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Document Management – Inbound & Outbound: This was the step towards a paperless office with an automated document management system that covers the process right from scanning of the document to uploading in the database and indexing for ease of retrieval.
Web enablement of key processes: The automation of the transactions with the large number of independent agents and adjusters with the company was to achieved with the web-enablement of the key systems where they could access and upload the claims data.
Remote connectivity: The system was designed to provide remote connectivity, helping the client’s Field Customer Representatives (FCRs) synchronize their mobile devices with the central databases at a fast speeds, several times in a single workday.
Flexibility in Claims Processing – A certain amount of flexibility was also planned. For example, smaller claims and first-timer claims were classified in a fast-track approval category and processed instantly.
Single view of customer data – The user interface was also meant to ensure that once the data has been entered at one office, other locations immediately get to view this update, as a result of processing of claims information between multiple locations would get considerably eased up.
Wipro was responsible for the complete technical consulting role involving Siebel Configuration, Application Administration, Assignment Manager, Workflow Manager, VB, Smart Script, Online Help facility and Testing.
Benefits
Integration of all customer data providing features like advanced search, navigation, ease of adding, modifying or deleting records.
CTI for modernizing call center operations with faster processing of queries End-to-end technical consulting with one partner
Technical Solution
Siebel Insurance Application Siebel Call Center Siebel CTI FileNet Document Management Application ClientSoft's ClientBuilder Application
2.2.12 EBPP Benefits
Market-leading companies use bills as strategic points of contact, to strengthen relationships with consumers. With EBPP, a biller can offer significant new services based upon dynamic, real-time information exchange. By providing routine information electronically, customer service personnel can focus on more strategic issues. In addition, billers can offer highly personalized marketing campaigns that target new goods and services to the customers most likely to use them. As consumers adopt EBPP systems, billers will enjoy cost savings from reduced bill generation costs. Creative billing companies will actually find revenue generation opportunities in EBPP systems.
Customer Care and Relationship Management
EBPP, coupled with high quality and integrated customer care, brings greater efficiency to the billing process and generates stronger customer loyalty by providing a more convenient and timely service. EBPP solutions can be designed to answer routine billing questions and provide payment history and billing detail on demand. Paired with multiple customer care services, EBPP can offer customers a vehicle for submitting bill disputes and specific questions, helping free the customer service staff from time-consuming, telephone-based support of non-strategic issues. Customers can engage in function-rich self-
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care or simply receive e-mail responses to their questions, while the customer care staff deploys its time more efficiently by handling more urgent and complex issues.
Targeted Marketing
While serving customers more efficiently, EBPP and integrated customer care functions also offer a biller the opportunity to gather market intelligence about customers in real time. Based on customer profiles, companies can deliver graphics and customized electronic "enclosures" and other dynamically generated promotional content for their customers. Marketing programs can be tailored to an individual's preference - commonly referred to as one-to-one marketing. Innovative companies are initiating or extending their e-commerce offerings by using EBPP to enable customers to establish new services and order products online. A tremendous advantage of EBPP is the demographics of the audience that it will attract. In the consumer market, early adopters of EBPP are likely to be well educated and have high disposable incomes. These ideal prospects also have a high probability of becoming early adopters of other new products and services the biller might offer.
Cost Savings
Besides delivering customer care and marketing opportunities, efficiencies from electronic billing and payment processing will reduce costs. In "The Emerging Electronic Bill Presentment Industry", a technology research report (8/12/97), BankAmerica Robertson Stephens & Company notes that the "most measurable savings likely will come through enhanced cash flow," due to the reduction of the billing-cycle float which involves not just mailing time, but also processing time and funds availability. The company estimates that in the United States, a one-day reduction in float would enhance interest income by over $200 million a year.
For example, replacing a paper-based system with an electronic one can generate significant cost savings. The paper, printing, labor, and postage to send a bill costs from $.65 to $1.50, most of which can be saved with online presentment. Large billers with millions of customers could realize considerable savings if only a small percentage of customers paid online.
Revenue Generation
In addition to marketing opportunities and cost savings, EBPP offers new business opportunities. Banks that maintain their own online banking services and payment processing systems are in a particularly strong position to offer electronic bill consolidation and presentment services to other companies. As bill payment sites' popularity increases, they will likely generate revenues through the sales of advertising space. Business models for consolidation based on presentment fees and transaction fees promise a significant source of new revenue.
2.2.13 Conclusions
Companies must decide whether to offer EBPP solutions from their corporate Web sites or send bills through a third party. Only large billers and banks with strong brands can support a Direct EBPP Model in-house and draw a sufficient audience to their Web sites. All other billers are better-served leveraging third party service providers for their solutions. Consolidators establish and maintain channel relationships with customers and add the value of convenience by replicating existing billing presentment and back-end payment processes.
For EBPP to be adopted, billers must offer customers - who demand convenient access - one-stop bill paying, a choice of bill paying Web sites, security, privacy, and reliability. As EBPP evolves, all sizes of companies will outsource at least a portion of their EBPP solutions to thin consolidators for the broadest possible distribution of their bills. Likewise, large billers will further expand their direct EBPP solutions to provide more service options.
Ultimately, EBPP will transform the bill presentment and payment process even further. Features such as bill reporting, bill history, and search and analysis capabilities all promise to simplify the billing process. As EBPP evolves, today's batch-mode process will be replaced with real-time billing that is truly customer-driven. Customers will see their account status at any time, and control how and when they receive and pay their bills.
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