Online Billing System

Customer:  Billing Department of a Major Telecommunications Company

Critical Issue: Customer was having difficulties allowing customers to view their bills online.  Currently, the customer service department answers phone calls from customers with questions about their bill.  The information is stored in their billing system which is viewable internally but is not externally viewable.  The company is not offering online services which their customers are demanding and their competition is providing.  It is expensive for Customer as they have to maintain large numbers of customer service personnel to answer questions.

Reasons: The billing system is a legacy AS400 system running DB2 and it is only accessible via the internal network.  The data is only made available through customer statements, print reports and internal computers.

Vision: Customer needed to make the billing data available to their customers by replicating back office billing data to a data repository that could be securely accessed online.  The customer wanted to use Java technologies and Oracle databases to provide a secured web interface for customer billing inquiries, historical records and online payments.

AETEA Provided: AETEA provided the client with an experienced project manager and java architect experienced in developing online billing applications for the telecommunications industry to lead and manage the project.

Result: Customer reduced customer service inquiries by 30% and now receives 45% of payments through their web site.  Former mainframe only developers were brought up to speed on Java Technologies and the client was able to use the project to train key resources in newer technologies without the need for an extensive training program.