SAP Delivers Enhanced Interaction Center and Customer Financials Management Capabilities for the Telecommunications Industry
New Capabilities in mySAP™ CRM Help Telecommunications Companies Recapture Lost Revenue, Decrease Risk and Increase Customer Retention and Share of Wallet
WALLDORF, Germany - December 06, 2004 - SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) today introduced new industry extensions for mySAP™ Customer Relationship Management (mySAP CRM) designed to help telecommunications companies analyze, monitor and manage the entire customer financials cycle. The new industry enhancements offer functionality in the areas of financial customer care, interactive collections management and dispute management to deliver a complete view of the customer through tight integration between the customer interaction center and back-end financial processes.
The telecommunications industry extensions help telco companies recapture lost revenue that can result from billing and operational errors in the call center. Available now, these extensions complement existing capabilities in mySAP CRM that cover customer service processes such as the management of cases and complaints, sales order and contract management, and campaign management. Additional existing features of SAP's CRM solution for telcos include the telco dealer portal and enterprise-wide customer intelligence capabilities, designed to help telco companies more efficiently manage all aspects of the customer relationship life cycle.
Managing Financial Customer Transactions Through the Interaction Center
In the telecommunications industry, effective management of accounts receivable and collections is imperative for building revenue and driving bottom-line business success. A great deal of customer account management takes place in the interaction center. During inbound customer inquiries or disputes and outbound request-for-payment calls to delinquent customers, interaction center agents need quick access to comprehensive insight into the customer's contracts, invoices and payment status. mySAP CRM helps ensure that interaction center agents are empowered with pertinent information from across the enterprise to effectively manage individual customer interactions and foster long-term relationships.
Various agents working on the same account need to be able to update customer profiles and financial information with pertinent transaction data instantly. mySAP CRM supports such real- time processes, helping ensure that all customer data is up to date when the next agent views the account. This way, interaction center agents can make well-informed decisions and recommendations based on the latest customer insight when handling all customer inquiries.
Collections Management
Customers that are delinquent on their bills create a drain on revenues and also pose a risk to the company overall. The interaction center with mySAP CRM supports all the capabilities needed for effective outbound collections calls, such as call lists generated automatically in the back-end dunning processes, interactive scripts and payment tools. These capabilities enable agents to outline the current situation to the customer effectively, capture payment authorizations or promises-to-pay, create an installment plan, or open a dispute case when necessary. mySAP CRM thus helps significantly reduce revenue leakage and effectively record and analyze customer behavior so that companies can focus their profitable-customer growth initiatives on more viable candidates.
Dispute Management
Handling a disgruntled customer is never an enjoyable case, always requiring particular care and attention. SAP's dispute management application, now available through the industry extensions for telecommunications, connects interaction center agents with all back-end business functions necessary to record and resolve a customer dispute quickly and easily. This allows for more accurate handling of receivables, increased customer satisfaction and loyalty.
"In the face of the continuing challenge of delivering a solid bottom line in today's telecommunications industry, companies need to have more proactive strategies for handling new and existing customers and for controlling financial interactions every step of the way," said Harald Hinderer, head of the Telecommunications business unit, SAP AG. "This requires a 360-degree view of customer histories, preferences and transactions and end-to-end processes for managing financials and customer service. The industry-specific extensions to mySAP CRM deliver the integrated functionality telecommunications companies need to achieve full visibility and control over all aspects of customer financials management. Beyond the immediate benefit of reducing leaked revenue, this customer-oriented mode of operations will help telcos retain existing customers and achieve larger share of wallet."
About SAP for Telecommunications
SAP for Telecommunications is an industry solution that combines mySAP™ Business Suite solutions and tailored functionality to support the unique business processes within all types of communications companies, including wire line, wireless, Internet service providers and application service providers. With 546 customers worldwide, the SAP for Telecommunications portfolio is helping telecommunications companies turn the industry's daunting challenges such as deregulation, broadband and mobile communications into revenue-driving opportunities. Based on the open architecture of the SAP NetWeaver™ integration and application platform, the SAP for Telecommunications portfolio provides integrated solutions for customer relationship management, invoicing, collections, network operations, engineering and e-commerce to streamline existing operations and enable adaptable, future-proof business processes. (Additional information at http://www.sap.com/solutions/industry/telecom/)
About SAP
SAP is the world's leading provider of business software solutions*. Today, more than 24,450 customers in over 120 countries run more than 84,000 installations of SAP® software -- from distinct solutions addressing the needs of small and midsize businesses to enterprise-scale suite solutions for global organizations. Powered by the SAP NetWeaver™ platform to drive innovation and enable business change, mySAP™ Business Suite solutions are helping enterprises around the world improve customer relationships, enhance partner collaboration and create efficiencies across their supply chains and business operations. SAP industry solutions support the unique business processes of more than 25 industry segments, including high tech, retail, public sector and financial services. With subsidiaries in more than 50 countries, the company is listed on several exchanges, including the Frankfurt stock exchange and NYSE under the symbol "SAP." (Additional information at http://www.sap.com)
(*) SAP defines business software solutions as consisting of enterprise resource planning and related software solutions such as supply chain management, customer relationship management, product life-cycle management and supplier relationship management.
Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "intend," "may," "plan," "project," "predict," "should" and "will" and similar expressions as they relate to SAP are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. SAP undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. The factors that could affect SAP's future financial results are discussed more fully in SAP's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including SAP's Annual Report on Form 20-F for 2003 filed with the SEC on March 23, 2004. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.
Copyright 2004 SAP AG. All rights reserved.
SAP, R/3, mySAP, mySAP.com, xApps, xApp, SAP NetWeaver and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries all over the world. All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies. Data contained in this document serves informational purposes only. National product specifications may vary.
For customers interested in learning more about SAP products:
Global Customer Center: +49 180 534-34-24
United States Only: 1 (800) 872-1SAP (1-800-872-1727)
For more information, press only:
Jeff S. Chang, +1 (650) 320-3197, jeffrey.chang@sap.com, PST
Manuela Schnaubelt, +49 (6227) 7-62999, manuela.schnaubelt@sap.com, CET
SAP Press Office, +1 (610) 661-3200, press@sap.com, EST
Siobhan Lyons, Burson-Marsteller, +1 (202) 530-4721, siobhan_lyons@was.bm.com, EST
Uwe Schaad, Burson-Marsteller, +49 (69) 238 09-31, uwe_schaad@de.bm.com, CET
