BEDMINSTER, NJ, January 29, 2002 -- Utility Business Services (UBS) and United Water Resources (United Water) announced today that they have extended and widened their current relationship for customer information services (CIS).
In this new agreement, UBS, an application service provider (ASP) to the water, wastewater and energy markets, will provide both account management and bill mailing services for United Water in support of 695,000 customers.
UBS was looking to expand its relationship with one of the largest water companies in the United States and United Water selected the UBS Wins® CIS product because of its unmatched client support, flexibility, scalability and system-rich functionality. According to a industry consultant, the design of the Wins CIS data model is nothing short of visionary as it pertains to the new utility environment.
"UBS stood out from its competitors for a few other key factors, as well," said Robert L. Williams, UBS vice president. "United Water needs to convert their business organizations that are running on another CIS product as quickly as possible, while maintaining secure, reliable service and keeping customers satisfied."
Said Mel de Vogue, senior vice president and chief financial officer, United Water, "An accurate and reliable billing system is critical for both customer satisfaction and the success of our business. We know that UBS can deliver the service we need based upon our positive experiences with them at three of our major operations. When we combine their reputation for reliability with the capabilities of Wins CIS, we are confident this new agreement will provide us with the flexibility and functionality to meet the diverse needs of our growing company."
The long history UBS has in providing services to the utility industry stands in contrast to many companies trying to enter the market. Wins CIS, designed and maintained by a UBS staff having extensive experience in the utilities industry, is built and implemented to be responsive to utility needs, which differs from some systems that are designed for general business and only adapted to a utility application. The UBS philosophy is that the Wins CIS system should adapt to its clients' business processes and that its clients should have choices that make their operations more efficient.
"This is a win-win relationship for UBS and United Water," explained Williams. "UBS has an opportunity to prove we are a major contender in the ASP market by delivering more services at reasonable costs to a larger base."
UBS has been providing account management, reporting, bill mailing and payment processing services to investor-owned and municipal water and wastewater companies since 1969. UBS presently serves more than 35 clients in the United States and processes more than 8 million bills annually. This new agreement with United Water will increase that to more than 10.5 million bills annually.
UBS also offers a web-enabled version of Wins, providing a fresh look to a highly sophisticated system while expanding its information accessing options for its clients. In addition, UBS has a group dedicated to utility operations information systems and services, which encompass geospatial applications (such as digital mapping and network modeling) and field-based computing. UBS is a subsidiary of NUI Corporation, an energy, telecommunications, consulting and sales outsourcing company based in Bedminster, NJ.
United Water, one of the largest water services companies in the U.S., provides water and wastewater service to more than 7.5 million people. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ondeo Services, the world's leader in water and wastewater management services, serving more than 115 million people in over 130 countries. Ondeo is the water division of the Suez Group.
