Oracle has announced the availability of Utilities Customer Care and Billing 2.2, which includes enhancements that help utilities boost employee productivity, improve ability to manage conservation programs and enhance customer service.
Oracle Utilities Customer Care and Billing helps customers manage all aspects of the utility customer lifecycle including service connection, management of meter reads (index and interval), complex billing, payment processing and debt collection. In addition, the product also supports associated functions like field service, meter management, sales and marketing and provides a very flexible rating engine and efficient contact center management application.
Oracle Utilities Customer Care and Billing 2.2 helps utilities:
- Improve Conservation Program Management -- Utilities today are focused on driving environmental initiatives by offering green products and services, developing demand response programs and improving grid efficiency. Many utilities encourage customers to participate in conservation and energy efficiency programs by issuing rebates upon proof of purchase. In order to efficiently run these programs, utilities require systems that help them to market to their customer base, automate processing and track/analyze campaign progress. Oracle Utilities Customer Care and Billing 2.2 enables utilities to manage conservation programs within the customer information system (CIS) itself, ensuring a single data repository and a single view of the customer. The new module provides management-level program oversight, increased automation and governance capabilities, as well as support of analytical requirements.
- Enhance Customer Service -- Oracle Utilities Customer Care and Billing 2.2 offers utilities new tools that empower employees to improve customer service. The new application version provides enhanced cashiering functionalities that help streamline processes and improve the efficiency of walk-in payment centers, which can lead to shorter customer lines. The application also enables utilities to track customer preferences, ensuring the utility contacts customers through the channel the customer requests, which may include e-mail, phone, fax or postal mail.
- Boost Productivity -- The application includes Task Optimization tools that allow utilities to reduce the number of steps and associated "clicks" in their most common processes -- improving efficiency and ensuring consistency in task execution. The Task Optimization tools allow utilities to model their business processes, including configuring their own user interfaces, to suit their unique work processes and needs, while ensuring all data entered is properly validated for accuracy. This enables the system to be even more intuitive and user friendly, helping to reduce required training and improve productivity and efficiency.
- Oracle Utilities Customer Care and Billing 2.2 leverages Oracle's application infrastructure -- including Oracle Database 11g , Oracle Fusion Middleware and Oracle Enterprise Linux, a feature of the Oracle Unbreakable Linux support program -- to provide a unified application and technology operating environment. The new release also operates with Oracle Real Application Clusters to provide even higher system- availability for the most critical utilities systems and integrates with Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher to meet utilities' unique reporting requirements.
