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NewswireToday - /newswire/ -
Greenwood Village, CO, United States, 2013/11/14 - Some 425,000 Alagasco customers in Alabama can enjoy enhanced online customer service with a new SAP® software-based web interface launched by the natural gas utility company and its IT partner, Ciber - CIBER.com. NYSE: CBR
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After a seamless go-live, customer feedback has shown strong support of the new solution, which allows people to pay bills online, look up their billing history, set up billing programs and more. All the new or enhanced services offered by Alagasco are contained in one portal requiring one sign-in from users.
When Ciber started building the solution, Alagasco customers needed to visit different websites to see their billing history and make online payments, and these different sites required different logins. As the largest natural gas utility company in Alabama, Alagasco was eager to integrate its different customer service web interfaces to streamline processes and save time for itself and its customers. “We needed to add self-service functionality that our customers wanted, and though we had never worked with Ciber before, they showed a high aptitude for SAP solutions in our industry,” said Lynn Lovelady, vice president of information technology at Alagasco.
The solution uses the SAP Biller Direct application to pull customer information from the SAP ERP application at Alagasco and provides it to a secure website where customers can manage their billing. The website was built with the SAP Utility Customer E-Services application, along with some modifications by Ciber to fit Alagasco’s unique preferences. Today, Alagasco offers a single login self-service portal where customers can make online payments, view their billing history, reconnect their meters, set up billing programs and more. “We leveraged our expertise in SAP software to make this solution a dynamic and effective tool,” said James Mergenthaler, practice leader at Ciber for SAP solutions.
“Ciber consultants are experts at using SAP technology to support utility functions because we have worked with more than 100 energy companies and utilities around the world,” said David Hutchinson, Ciber VP of sales for SAP-based solutions.
The success of Alagasco’s solution was instant. Some 3,000 customers signed up for the service on its first day, and an average of 1,200-1,500 online payments were made daily in the first several weeks after the go-live. About 150 people each day were signing up for automatic payments. “Customers have provided positive feedback,” said Lovelady. “Ciber’s ability to understand our business needs allowed us to quickly provide a solution that enhanced our online customer service experience.”
Ciber is an SAP services partner, an SAP channel partner and an SAP-certified provider of hosting and application management services. Since Ciber started supporting SAP solutions in 1989, it has amassed more than 2,000 clients using SAP solutions, as well as the skills and experience to assist customers with all aspects of their implementations of SAP software.
About Ciber, Inc.
Ciber (ciber.com) is a global IT consulting company with 6,700 consultants in North America, Europe and Asia/Pacific, and approximately $1 billion in annual revenue. Client focused and results driven, Ciber partners with organizations to develop technology strategies and solutions that deliver tangible business value. Founded in 1974, the company trades on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: CBR).
SAP and all SAP logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries.
All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies.
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