BELLSOUTH Reaches Out to Customers with Online Billing at BellSouth.com.Business Editors & Technology Writers ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 26, 2001 Company Encourages Customers to `Pay by Mouse, Not by Mail(SM)' BellSouth (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange : BLS See Bureau of Labor Statistics. ) announced the recent introduction of new capabilities at BellSouth.com, further extending its traditional operations online to increase customer satisfaction and contain operating costs operating costs npl → gastos mpl operacionales . Through the deployment of select ordering and billing functionality during the first quarter 2001, BellSouth is demonstrating its commitment to evolve BellSouth.com into an increasingly larger sales and customer service channel. At BellSouth.com, customers can conveniently view and pay their monthly BellSouth bill. BellSouth is also encouraging customers to turn off their paper bill, and instead receive an email informing them when their bills are ready to view and pay online. During February, BellSouth launched an electronic check payment capability whereby customers can use their personal checking account to make online payments directly to BellSouth. Initial customer acceptance of this form of payment has been overwhelmingly positive. While customers can pay their bills online, they can also make changes to their account and order services, like BellSouth(R) FastAccess(R) Internet service. This service offers a high-speed connection to the Internet, with download To receive a file transmitted over a network. In any communications session, "download" means receive, and "upload" means send. The download/upload often implies a big/little scenario, in which data is being downloaded from the "big" server into the "little" user's computer. speeds of up to 50 times faster than a 28.8k modem. BellSouth has a goal of having more than 600,000 high-speed Internet See broadband. customers by year-end, with online ordering and electronic bill payment serving as a part of reaching that goal. "Helping our customers realize the benefits of using the Internet when conducting business with BellSouth is a top priority for us," said Klaus Werner, General Manager of eCommerce. "Many of our customers are very comfortable with using the Internet everyday for needs ranging from news, research, to purchasing books, CDs and scheduling flights. Now, just as conveniently, they can use BellSouth.com to better manage their communications services, whether they have one BellSouth service, or have a complete package of services." BellSouth has provided online bill view, bill payment and ordering since 1998. By 2003, the company expects 3 million of its 22 million customers to take advantage of electronic bill presentment and payment See EBPP. . BellSouth's ultimate goal is for half of its customers to benefit from electronic billing Electronic billing is the electronic delivery and presentation of financial statements, bills, invoices, and related information sent by a company to its customers. Electronic billing is also referred to as the following:
Jupiter Communications predicts that 7.7 million households will be paying bills online during 2001, while 2.8 million households will be viewing and paying bills online. Further, Jupiter estimates households paying bills online will surge to 25.8 million by 2005, while 40.2 million households are expected to view and pay bills online. As a result, electronic bill payment will grow more rapidly in the next five years than either online banking or online shopping. (Note: July 13, 2000 Jupiter Communications report). BellSouth is implementing marketing and advertising campaigns to let its customers know about the benefits the BellSouth.com site offers. The company recently implemented its `Pay by Mouse, Not by Mail (SM)' ad campaign that encourages customers to learn more about and sign up for its online payment program. "We've come to an exciting point for the company as a whole," said Werner. "We are `click-starting' and e-mobilizing for e-business and have a firm grasp on what it will take to meet our goals and objectives. The Internet presents a myriad Myriad is a classical Greek name for the number 104 = 10 000. In modern English the word refers to an unspecified large quantity. The term myriad is a progression in the commonly used system of describing numbers using tens and hundreds. of business opportunities that previously would have never existed, and we intend to capture its full value." About BellSouth Corporation BellSouth Corporation is a Fortune 100 communications services company headquartered in Atlanta, GA, serving more than 45 million customers in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. and 16 other countries. Consistently recognized for customer satisfaction, BellSouth provides a full array of broadband broadband Term describing the radiation from a source that produces a broad, continuous spectrum of frequencies (contrasted with a laser, which produces a single frequency or very narrow range of frequencies). data and e-commerce solutions to business customers, including Web hosting Making a Web site available on the Internet. Many ISPs host a few personal Web pages for an individual at no additional cost above the monthly service fee, but the address is subordinate to the ISP; for example, www.friendlyisp.com/pat_smith. and other Internet services. In the residential market, BellSouth offers DSL DSL in full Digital Subscriber Line Broadband digital communications connection that operates over standard copper telephone wires. It requires a DSL modem, which splits transmissions into two frequency bands: the lower frequencies for voice (ordinary high-speed Internet access, advanced voice features and other services. BellSouth also provides online and directory advertising services, including BellSouth(R) RealPages(SM).com. BellSouth owns 40 percent of Cingular Wireless, the nation's second largest wireless company, which provides innovative wireless data and voice services. |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion