EHTP announces IP telephony customer

EHPT announces IP telephony customer EHPT has announced that the Irish telecom operator, Stentor Communications, has successfully installed EHPT's billing and customer care solution to offer its customers IP telephony solutions. Stentor uses EHPT's billing mediation platform (EHPT BMP) to record and collect its IP traffic. The system allows Stentor to identify the user, to see the duration of the call and calculate the volume of information sent or received. This information is processed and rated by EHPT's billing and customer care solution, which then presents the customer with a single bill. This has helped Stentor to gain a competitive advantage for IP services in the rapidly deregulated Irish telecoms market. "The system allows us to bill users with complete accuracy and charge them for their precise usage. Having just one bill per customer means we can retain customer loyalty and reduce customer churn," said Gerard O'Keeffe, CEO of Stentor Communications. "IP billing-enabled technology means that we have the ability to rapidly design our product to meet our customer's precise specifications. We are able to rapidly introduce new services in the future and thus keep ahead of our competitors." Stentor provides its corporate customers with global telecommunication solutions as well as delivering global traffic for carriers. Stentor's ability to provide customer led platforms has made it Ireland's leading provider to the call centre industry. EHPT is an independent, world-class provider of application software and services to telecom operators and has installed 510 operations support and business support systems in 75 countries. Its success is based on a thorough understanding of the convergence of telecom and computer networks. Founded in 1993 as a joint venture owned 60% by Ericsson and 40% by Hewlett-Packard, it combines and enhances the strengths of these world-leaders to provide leading edge solutions. EHPT is based in Sweden, and employs 1,000 staff world wide. Please visit EHPT on www.ehpt.com FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT Ann-Louise Öhrn, Public relations manager, EHPT Phone: +46 31 746 2907 E-mail: ann-louise.ohrn@ehpt.com Notes to editor EHPT's IP billing and customer care solution, together with EHPT BMP provides operators with the flexibility required to rapidly introduce new IP services combined with the ability to modify tariffs. Through IP billing, the EHPT billing and customer care solution enables operators to provide added value, multi-services, including voice, Internet, multimedia and TV. Customers can then be billed for these services according to exactly how much information is transferred using the IP protocol. This means that operators are able to modify their tariffs according to subscriber type - rather than having to charge either a flat rental fee or according to duration. By charging on a 'per item usage basis,' operators have complete flexibility in allocating charges for product bundling. For example, an operator can charge Internet users for the amount of data up or downloaded or for connection time, depending on the type of subscriber. Customers can then be presented with a single itemized bill for all the services used. "There is a tidal wave of demand for IP services. Operators are realizing that to remain ahead in such a competitive market, they must be in a position to be able to offer this highly flexible service," comments Lars Wahlström, General Manager for Business Support Systems at EHPT. "With the demand for IP services, comes the need for accurate billing. All the new start-up operators are using IP billing and equally, larger well-established operators are now realizing that they need IP billing in order to be able to successfully implement new services and quickly modify tariffs. However, they need this capability to be easy to change if they are to keep up. Our IP billing capability, in addition to the functionality offered in EHPT's billing mediation and customer care solution, ensures that this flexibility is built- in. Ericsson Hewlett-Packard Telecommunications has now changed name to EHPT and has a new logotype reflecting its position as an independent software company. ------------------------------------------------------------ Please visit http://www.bit.se for further information The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/03/02/19990302BIT00520/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/03/02/19990302BIT00520/bit0002.pdf