SEDC and the ONLINE Utility Exchange Launch Automated Real-Time Bad Debt Management Tool:

July 20, 2012 - PRLog -- Winterville, NC - ONLINE Information Services, Inc. and Southeastern Data Cooperative (SEDC) announced today the successful launch of a fully integrated Bad Debt Prevention and Management tool available through SEDC’s UPN platform via the ONLINE Utility Exchange.  Now, SEDC customers can automatically take a proactive approach to eliminating bad debt while enjoying bi-directional data flow between ONLINE and SEDC to simplify and streamline their pre-collection and collections processes. This will allow for faster and more efficient bad debt elimination throughout the entire account lifecycle.  

Through this integration, SEDC customers simply establish their collection criteria with ONLINE, and accounts automatically move on an agreed upon collection process.  The timeframe in which accounts are submitted to ONLINE and the level of collection efforts pursued (i.e. pre-collection letters to full collections) are determined by each individual client based on their needs, and are easily configured via the Control File.  After implementation, any payments or status changes are received and updated both by ONLINE and in UPN.  This allows SEDC customers to view precisely where a specific account is within the collections process. At the recent SEDC Users Conference in Atlanta, mutual customers of ONLINE and SEDC expressed excitement regarding this integration, noting that automating account submissions and adding the capability to view an account’s status in real-time should markedly improve results and increase efficiency.

ONLINE President JW Blair adds, “ONLINE and SEDC have been strategic partners for many years, and it was a pleasure to work closely with their development staff on this project. We are really excited by the promise this integration brings and believe that it’s the first of its type in the collections industry.  It will allow ONLINE as a collection agency to work from the most current data available, which obviously enhances results for clients.  More importantly, it’s a solution that makes the entire process extremely easy for our clients. There’s no button to push and clients don’t have to remember to generate a file and upload it in order to send us their accounts.  Once clients set their criteria, we automatically handle the rest and the data flow is transparent between the two systems, meaning a CSR who looks up an account in UPN views the same information that we have.”  

About ONLINE Utility Exchange:
Established in 1956 as a credit bureau and collections agency, ONLINE Information Services, Inc. is currently the nation's leading developer of risk management and debt recovery solutions for the Utility, Property Management, Healthcare, and Mortgage industries.  Servicing Utilities throughout the nation, the ONLINE Utility Exchange is a utility-specific credit bureau and collections agency with the single goal of providing the tools necessary to eliminate bad debt. For more information, visit www.ONLINEUtilityExchange.com or contact:

The ONLINE Utility Exchange
sales@onlineis.com  
(866) 630-6400

About SEDC:
SEDC is an information technology cooperative that provides a broad range of utility software and hardware solutions along with technical services to electric membership cooperatives and electric distribution utilities nationwide. SEDC’s core application, UPN, is a suite of intuitive CIS Billing, Bill Payment, Accounting, Engineering, and Operations applications that seamlessly integrate a utility’s software and hardware solutions with its business processes. UPN provides industry-leading performance and stability across a range of operations, while also offering unparalleled real-time integration with the industry’s leading engineering, operations, and financial services companies. Its comprehensive, intelligent, and flexible design, together with the experience and expertise of SEDC’s support staff, make UPN the perfect suite of applications for any utility. For more information, visit www.sedata.com or contact:

SEDC
info@sedata.com
(770) 414-8400