South East Water has hit problems with a new billing
system, which have led to delays in the setting up of direct debits
by customers.
The utility company implemented the "state-of-the-art" annual
billing system in February, aiming to bring clearer bills to the
company's 1.5 million customers.
However, the Windows-based system, Basis 2, supplied by Prophecy
International and implemented by iMass, is still facing teething
problems. As a result the company had to warn customers of
processing delays, particularly in setting up direct debits.
South East Water said it was continuing to work with iMass "to
review and upgrade the system to respond to the ever changing
environment of customer service management".
The billing system will give customers a modern-looking bill,
which contains more useful information and explanation of their
water charges, said the firm.
Customer services team leader, Marek Podsiadly, said, "Our
customers will receive a much more user-friendly bill and the staff
have a system that is easier to navigate and requires less
training. Overall the new system will help the company deliver a
better level of service to its customers."
South East Water launched Project Pandora in March last year to
find a replacement for its existing system, which was in need of
updating and streamlining.
It had planned to replace its customer information system in
November 2004 with a product from Saur Group, but this was dropped
for a largely off-the-shelf product in a bid to avoid the potential
problems of tailoring bespoke systems.