Verizon portal simplifies account management

In its latest effort to unify wireline and wireless services, Verizon Business now offers enterprise customers a single portal from which to manage both accounts.

The new Verizon Enteprise Center is a single sign-on system for placing orders, viewing and paying bills, creating trouble tickets, and generally monitoring and managing the full rang of wired and wireless voice, data and IP services.

“It allows customers to manage their products and services and accounts, wireline and wireless, anywhere anytime in the world,” said Mark Chodoronek, executive director of global customer enablement and billing assurance at Verizon Business. “The new VEC is a continuation of our ongoing business strategy to improve global customer service and support capabilities to allow customers to manage their services, and to do business with Verizon on the whole much more easily.”

The self-service portal represents and improvement over call centers, account teams and other traditional means of dealing with administrative tasks because of the speed of response, Chodoronek said. While Verizon Business will maintain those traditional support tools, giving enterprise customers the ability to do their own analytical reports and to review costs and expenses on-line gives them more direct control over their telecom expenses and efficiency, Chodoronek added.

“The portal gives them immediate access to critical account data and the tools they need to perform flexible self-management,” said Diane Koskey, marketing manger for business Internet sales and marketing for Verizon Wireless. “They have the tools and the empowerment to look at services, and make changes online versus calling in or submitting paper copies, which adds up to cost controls for them, and reduces the cost of manpower.”

That’s particularly true in the wireless arena where there are multiple ongoing changes including phone upgrades, Electronic Serial Number changes, lost phones, etc. that would require calling in or submitting paperwork but can now be done immediately online, Koskey said.

The VEC provides options for how information can be accessed, either by individuals or master users, Koskey said. There also are tools that enable enterprises to review costs by individual or department, and to make changes necessary to control costs. The enterprise can establish its own policies that govern things such as approved handsets and calling plans.

The VEC dashboard, with a near real-time view of the entire enterprise network topology, provides other new features, as well, including weather updates and alarms, a new method of creating, viewing and updating trouble tickets that features circuit testing and analysis, e-commerce tools that streamline the ordering process and establish manager approval hierarchies, and account management with advanced reporting options.