Siebel, Portal team on CRM/billing solution

Portal Software and Siebel Systems have teamed to produce a joint billing/customer relationship management product.

The product, dubbed TelcoOne is an upgrade from an earlier Siebel/Portal joint offering. Like the previous version, it is based on Portal’s Infranet billing application and Siebel’s eCommunications CRM software suite.

Where TelcoOne differs, though, is in its use of an open platform--Siebel’s Universal Application Network. The standards-based, vendor-independent platform will allow for the integration of third-party operations support systems (OSS) software.

According to Bhaskar Gorti, vice president for global alliances at Portal, this will address one of the biggest problems carriers face today.

“A key business driver [for carriers] is integrating all these different applications…so that they have one view of the customer. It’s a huge problem right now in the carrier space, which leads to frustrated customers and customer churn,” he said.

And by providing a complete view of the customer, TelcoOne will enable carriers to up-sell and cross-sell more efficiently, Gorti said.

According to the companies, the product is suitable for all carrier types. It will be available early next year.--Toby Weber, staff writer