By Peter Lambert

Profitec Financial Services, inc. will debut customer service and billing support for enhanced services call processing platforms during the TRA 2000 Spring Conference and Exhibition in Philadelphia.

The new services are incorporated in Profitec’s latest version of OMNIBILL.

Enhanced-services platforms, sometimes known as personal assistants or virtual offices, are designed to make communications users more productive through sophisticated voice recognition, caller ID and other software features.

With personal assistant-enhanced services, callers no longer get a simple voice mail when parties are on the phone or unavailable. Instead, the caller is offered the choice of finding them or leaving a message.

As in other products supported through the OMNIBILL billing system, personal assistant offerings are integrated fully into related programs components. These include order entry, customer care, trouble management, service activation, collections and receivables management. Personal assistant offerings also are integrated with cross-product discounting, multi-product commissioning, and other marketing and promotions modules.

With billable personal assistant services, if the caller selects the “find” operation, system users are sought out at locations each user leaves with the system.

If the caller leaves a message or the search request is unsuccessful, the caller ID traps the caller’s number. The personal assistant also asks the caller whether the captured phone number or some other number should be left for the system user.

When the system user retrieves the voicemail, they are can return the call by requesting that the personal assistant do so without having to dial the phone or press any keys.

Enhanced service supported by OMNIBILL also extend to the creation of personal telephone books that can be stored by name and dialed by voice requests through the personal assistant. Personal assistants also can read email and faxes received, whether system users are at their desks or across the country.

With this latest upgrade, the OMNIBILL system supports 22 uniquely handled communications or utility-related products on a consolidated invoice while allowing for product-oriented financial reporting.

OMNIBILL is a scalable NT-based integrated billing system supporting a SQL Server 2000 database. The OSS system is located at the client site, and the billing operation is conducted on a service bureau basis at Profitec’s headquarters in Wallingford, CT. The system can be combined with on-site rating engines, which interact with customer service, collections and activations modules.

Profitec also provides complete outsourced, back-office services in the telephone, cable, data, Internet, wireless and utilities industries to complement the billing operations for clients.

The company recently completed its move into a 40,000+ square foot, high-tech headquarters in Wallingford.

The larger space contains a telecenter with more than 150 stations to support inbound and outbound customer service operations performed on behalf of billing and back office clients.

The building also provides expanded data processing capabilities, increased high-speed Internet bandwidth and an expandable communications system capable of supporting growth.

“As we pursue new service-oriented markets such as cable and utilities, and continue to expand in CLEC-based applications, we need to provide increasingly technology-oriented solutions”, says Randy Minervino, Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “The Internet and distributed processing opportunities allow new levels of service for our clients and their end-users.”

The technical resources available feature electronic pre- and postbilling data exchange, which support software features of the OMNIBILL system.

Reprinted with permission from Phone+ Magazine
ASCENT Show Daily magazine, November 15, 2000
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