To: Big Idea who wrote (826 ) 6/10/1999 6:05:00 PM From: rocki Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 1341
Ultramar's Commercial Customers Thursday June 10, 3:53 pm Eastern Time Company Press Release BCE Emergis to Provide E-Commerce Services to Ultramar's Commercial Customers MONTREAL--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 10, 1999--BCE Emergis (TSE:IFM. - news; ME:IFM. - news) announced today that it has signed an important contract with Montreal-based Ultramar Ltd. to provide e-commerce services to Ultramar's Canadian ''cardlock'' customers. The BCE Emergis e-commerce infrastructure will securely link Ultramar with these commercial clients. Cardlock's transactions, a credit-card and fleet-management system, will now be securely transmitted electronically on the BCE Emergis Electronic Business Network. The application will enable Ultramar clients to monitor and control on-line the costs associated with their fleet of trucks. It will also incorporate clients with fleets of cars, as well as trucks. Ultramar's first e-commerce application will be fully operational before the end of June. Sixty-five of Ultramar's largest Canadian commercial customers will be able to do secure transactions on the BCE Emergis Electronic Business Network and begin receiving Ultramar invoices electronically, along with fleet-fueling data that they can input into their accounting systems. By 2001, Ultramar expects to have several thousand commercial customers using this application. Ultramar chose BCE Emergis because of its ''impressive level of understanding of the application,'' stated Jean Bernier, Ultramar's newly appointed President. ''By outsourcing the entire solution to BCE Emergis, we benefit from a level of technical expertise and round-the-clock support that far exceeds our in-house capabilities. With the performance guarantees built into the contract, we know the solution will run flawlessly.'' ''This is the first phase of an ambitious project that will be linked to our payment capabilities. Before the end of this year, Ultramar's commercial clients will be able to pay their invoices on-line,'' explained Brian Edwards, President and Chief Executive Officer, BCE Emergis. ''BCE Emergis is also enabling Ultramar's new Website to let its clients access their transactions, create customized reports and manage the assignment of cardlock credit cards to their fleet drivers.'' ''The Web portion of this application brings real value to our customers,'' added Jean Bernier. ''Working closely with BCE Emergis, we will develop and gradually add new features over time.'' Concurrently, the Website is being developed for use by fleet customers of Ultramar's U.S. owners, Ultramar Diamond Shamrock, which operates some 4,500 Ultramar, Beacon, Total and Diamond Shamrock service stations in 17 American states. The BCE Emergis Electronic Business Network, a shared virtual private network (VPN) with an IP infrastructure, is located off the Internet. One of the few VPNs in North America to offer a bundled, end-to-end managed solution supporting e-commerce, the BCE Emergis Electronic Business Network is fast becoming the network of choice for companies seeking state-of-the-art security and guaranteed performance for the transmission of their critical data, which is not possible over the public Internet. BCE Emergis delivers network-centric e-commerce business solutions that enable organizations to better compete in the global marketplace. Combining e-commerce services, network infrastructure, security services, and payments solutions through industry vertical applications, BCE Emergis offers a full suite of core technologies that are the essential building blocks for electronic commerce. BCE Emergis, one of the top tier electronic commerce providers in the world is now part of the TSE 300 Composite Index. For more information, please refer to www.emergis.com. This news release contains certain forward-looking statements that reflect the current views and/or expectations of BCE Emergis with respect to its performance, business and future events. Such statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Actual results and events may vary significantly. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------