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Hafslund Selects Infosys To Transform Its Customer Service And Billing Processes

Norwegian utility will save up to five per cent of its billing cost per annum and future proof itself for Smart Meter infrastructure roll-out.

Key Facts | Key Quote | Media Contact

Oslo, Norway, December 15, 2011

Infosys Limited (NASDAQ: INFY) today announced that it has been engaged by HafslundOpens in a new window, one of the largest listed utility companies in the Nordics, to transform their billing, collections and customer services business processes delivering measurable value back to their business and significantly improving the customer experience for its 550,000 customers.

The resulting business benefits will enable Hafslund to make up to five per cent annual savings on its billing operations. This will set the stage for Hafslund's future Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) rollout which will require robust systems and services capable of analysing and managing increased data volumes.

Hafslund was looking to improve their understanding of its customers and associated billing information. Currently, a significant number of customer queries were being directed to call centers, which adversely impacted the collection operations, which led to potential revenue leakage and reduced customer satisfaction.

The Infosys consulting and system integrations team worked alongside Hafslund's management and operational executives from business development, marketing and customer servicing functions in Norway to analyse and assess the complex process and operational layers that underpin their customer operations. Using the Infosys Business Value Articulation (BVA) methodology, which leverages a unique set of business tools, Infosys was able to identify changes in these processes. An example of this was Hafslund's invoicing process whereby Infosys' recommendations enabled substantial improvements in serviceability and helped rationalize the cost of billing.

Key facts

  • Billing is a key touch point in communications for utility customers and a poor experience is heavily linked to increased customer attrition. Therefore, it was vital for Hafslund to optimise its billing and customer service operations.
  • Infosys identified and recommended a series of billing and customer service process change initiatives to create business value for Hafslund, based on its deep domain expertise in the Utilities sector and also of its know-how of their operations through its previous engagements spanning five years. Hafslund has adopted many of the recommendations and was very impressed with Infosys' capability to rapidly carry out a transformational consulting exercise which would translate into operational technology solutions.
  • The use of Infosys' Business Value Articulation (BVA) methodology provides a framework to analyse the key value levers within a problem area, how these can be measured and the key enablers that facilitate the necessary change(s). Through this approach, the value benefit of particular initiatives can then be articulated.
  • The focus was on process changes which when combined with IT solutions, will streamline Hafslund's billing & collection operations, increase coherence in the customer services processes and improve overall operational efficiencies. These process improvements will also support future AMI and Smart Meter service innovations for Hafslund that will require modern billing, charging and customer care systems capable of processing large volumes of transactions in near real time.

Key Quotes

Thore Sveen, Managing Director, Hafslund Fakturaservice, commented on the new initiative, "Infosys conducted a detailed analysis of our processes and systems. We appreciated the speed and the depth of the analysis which clearly demonstrated their extensive knowledge of the Industry.

They discovered a number of areas for improvement and have provided solutions which are creative as well as practical. We have found that the Infosys' methodology identifies and outlines value of the recommendations to our organization. We clearly see that we can achieve significant savings from the recommendations. We also believe that Infosys' recommendations will help us achieve improved customer satisfaction."

Mukul Gupta, Head of Energy, Utilities and Services, Europe at Infosys said: "In an increasingly competitive industry such as Utilities, accurate billing and excellent customer service is vital to maintaining a happy and loyal customer base. This new consulting engagement with Hafslund has helped identify key process areas for improvement and created innovative ways to improve billing and customer services functionalities. We have also prepared Hafslund for its future AMI rollout which will require robust systems and services capable of analyzing and managing increased data volumes."

 

About Hafslund ASA

Hafslund is a leading supplier of electricity and district heating, with the majority of its customers in Oslo and Akershus. Hafslund owns Norway's largest power grid, has been producing renewable energy from hydroelectric power for more than 100 years, and has a strong focus on energy utilisation of bioenergy and waste. Innovative thinking, expertise and possibilities make Hafslund an exciting employer. Hafslund Fakturaservice is the invoice company within the Hafslund group.

 

About Infosys

Many of the world's most successful organizations rely on the 142,000 people of Infosys to deliver measurable business value. Infosys provides business consulting, technology, engineering and outsourcing services to help clients in over 30 countries build tomorrow's enterprise.

For more information about Infosys (NASDAQ: INFY), visit www.infosys.com

 

Safe Harbor

Certain statements in this release concerning our future growth prospects are forward-looking statements, which involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties relating to these statements include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding fluctuations in earnings, fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, our ability to manage growth, intense competition in IT services including those factors which may affect our cost advantage, wage increases in India, our ability to attract and retain highly skilled professionals, time and cost overruns on fixed-price, fixed-time frame contracts, client concentration, restrictions on immigration, industry segment concentration, our ability to manage our international operations, reduced demand for technology in our key focus areas, disruptions in telecommunication networks or system failures, our ability to successfully complete and integrate potential acquisitions, liability for damages on our service contracts, the success of the companies in which Infosys has made strategic investments, withdrawal or expiration of governmental fiscal incentives, political instability and regional conflicts, legal restrictions on raising capital or acquiring companies outside India, and unauthorized use of our intellectual property and general economic conditions affecting our industry. Additional risks that could affect our future operating results are more fully described in our United States Securities and Exchange Commission filings including our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2011 and on Form 6-K for the quarters ended December 31, 2010, June 30, 2011 and September 30, 2011.These filings are available at www.sec.gov. Infosys may, from time to time, make additional written and oral forward-looking statements, including statements contained in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and our reports to shareholders. The company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that may be made from time to time by or on behalf of the company.

 

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