Browser-based billing: NCR builds on data warehouse know-how for on-line billing solution

Consumers looking for a new way to scrutinize and pay their telecommunications bills will soon be able to use the World Wide Web, thanks to a new billing solution that presents pages with personalized billing information by using carriers' data warehouse systems.

NCR's solution, SmartEC Billing Plus, allows users to access billing information 24 hours a day through their Web browsers. Customers do not need to install any additional software. Business users can employ the system to spot trends and forecast expenses.

For carriers, the system represents an opportunity for customer contact outside the usually sterile, once-a-month billing experience, according to Paul A. O'Brien, vice president of NCR's Communications Industry Business Unit.

"The Internet represents an opportunity for carriers to become more intimate with their customers," O'Brien said. "Instead of burying the customer in a blizzard of paper, this gives the carrier the ability to form a much more interactive relationship."

The solution, which will be available in November, uses an architecture based on an NCR data warehouse. The SmartEC Billing Plus datamart is loaded and updated with billing, customer and carrier service information extracted from the carriers' operational systems.

When a customer wants to view billing records, the Billing Plus application server accesses the warehouse and manipulates and presents the billing data to the user through the Internet.

Carrier customers may pay their bills over the Internet via a credit card. For more complicated billing problems, an automatic "call me back" function on the Web page will signal customer care representatives that an account needs personal attention.

The system will also enable carriers to target new services at the appropriate customers, based on the information drawn from the data warehouse when the page is brought up for the customer.

"This allows the carrier to take full advantage of that contact with the customer," said O'Brien.

The system also includes security features to prevent outside attacks on billing systems and to permit customers to examine only their own accounts.

These features could allow carriers-especially those that offer their own ISP services-to use on-line billing to differentiate their service.

"Churn rates are already problematic for certain carriers, especially in the wireless world," said Roger Tran, director of Internet business solutions at the Dayton, Ohio-based NCR. "These carriers are always looking for value-added features, and people who use wireless technology are also likely to be comfortable with using the Web."

While some argue that the service fees credit card companies charge can eat up the small margins carriers make on their services, O'Brien believes that providing this ability can preserve customer loyalty for some key customers.

"Data from our telco customers says that certain segments of their customers would prefer a credit option," said O'Brien. "Any loss in profits is likely to be offset by the benefits of reaching exactly the right customers with information about new products and services and the reduction in the costs of preparing and mailing a bill. Plus, this will help keep customer loyalty up, and retaining customers is a huge savings in itself."

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