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Bell & Howell Unveils IMPACT Internet Billing(SM) New Solution Provides Reliable Integration Of Paper And Electronic Billing Systems
November 11, 1998
SKOKIE, Ill., Nov. 10 /PRNewswire/ via NewsEdge Corporation -- Bell & Howell Company (NYSE: BHW), a leading global provider of solutions for information access and distribution, announced today its launch of IMPACT Internet Billing(SM). IMPACT Internet Billing integrates paper and electronic billing systems into a simple, flexible solution that enables high-volume billers to respond efficiently to their customers' needs for ways to receive and pay bills via the Internet.
IMPACT Internet Billing combines the technology and services of Bell & Howell Mail Processing Systems (MPS), the leading provider of paper document processing technology, with the electronic billing and payment solutions provided by business partners, CheckFree and edocs. The result is a billing system that allows companies to implement electronic billing quickly and integrate it with existing electronic billing operations.
"IMPACT Internet Billing is the latest addition to a portfolio of solutions that support the IMPACT strategy we unveiled a year ago," said Michael Dering, president and CEO of Bell & Howell MPS. "Surveys and studies indicate that consumer demand for electronic-billing options will increase dramatically in the near future. With the introduction of IMPACT Internet Billing, Bell & Howell is poised to meet the future needs of large-scale billing operations."
Freedom to choose
IMPACT Internet Billing gives companies a complete billing solution that is flexible and easy to implement. Through strategic alliances with leading Internet billing solution providers, IMPACT Internet Billing enables billers to respond quickly and efficiently to customer preferences for paper or electronic billing statements. It also provides billers with three options for electronic billing:
1. Use edocs' BillDirect software to create their own electronic billing and payment server. This approach allows billers to maintain close relationships with customers, use billing information to launch targeted marketing programs and generate additional income.
2. Post detailed bill information at the CheckFree E-Bill Web site to give customers the convenience of viewing and paying all bills at one Internet location. This also is a fast, efficient way for billers to offer electronic billing without having to develop their own server.
3. Combine the two/use BillDirect to create their own server for detailed electronic bill presentation and post summary billing information at the CheckFree E-Bill Web site. Customers can view detailed billing information by double-clicking summary billing data at the CheckFree E-Bill site and automatically linking to detailed bill information at the biller's Web site. This approach gives customers the convenience of viewing and paying all of their bills at one site, while allowing billers to maintain close contact with their customers.
No matter which electronic-billing option a biller chooses, IMPACT Internet Billing ensures that paper and electronic billing operations work together seamlessly.
"IMPACT Internet Billing gives high-volume billers an easy, reliable way to respond to growing customer demand for electronic billing without changing existing billing systems," said Bill Walker, executive director of digital messaging for Bell & Howell MPS. "It also gives them the freedom to select the kind of electronic billing that suits their needs best."
Tying it all together
IMPACT Internet Billing expands on the flexible print-image and data- manipulation capabilities of The TransFormer(TM) software, from Bell & Howell, and provides a smooth interface between paper billing operations and the electronic-billing Web sites of billers and third-party bill consolidators. The TransFormer allows companies to reformat billing information for maximum impact on paper, or on-screen, without changing existing billing applications.
To help companies route bills and keep track of customer delivery preferences, Bell & Howell has developed e-Route(TM). e-Route software receives customer requests for electronic delivery from a biller's Web site or from bill consolidators -- third-party Web sites that collect and present electronic bills from many billers for greater customer convenience -- and validates the accuracy of the data before storing it. As bills are processed, e-Route sends account information to The TransFormer for proper formatting of each customer's bill based on their delivery preference. e-Route automatically records and reports process statistics, such as the number of bills sent by each delivery method, and selected bill content for management reporting and marketing analysis.
From its headquarters in the Research Triangle region of North Carolina, Bell & Howell MPS is redefining reliability with a wide range of products that integrate hardware and software into adaptable solutions for information distribution. For more information, visit our Web site at bhmailsys.com or call 1-800-220-3030.
Bell & Howell MPS' IMPACT (Integrated Message Processing And Communications Technology) integrates key elements of business messaging into a full circle of customer communication and response management, providing businesses with unsurpassed efficiency, flexibility, message integrity and control of the messaging process.
Bell & Howell Company, headquartered in Skokie, Ill., is a leading worldwide provider of solutions for information access and distribution. Additional information about Bell & Howell is available on the Internet at bellhowell.com.
SOURCE Bell & Howell Company
/CONTACT: Investor Relations: Dwight Mater, Vice President Investor Relations and Business Development, Bell & Howell Company, 847-470-7111, or dmater@corp.bellhowell.com; Bill Walker, Bell & Howell MPS, 919-941-8505, or walkerb@mps.bellhowell.com; or Frank Maley, RBL&W, 919-848-5547, or frank.maley@rblw.com, for Bell & Howell Company/ /Web site: bhmailsys.com /Web site: bellhowell.com (BHW)
[Copyright 1998, PR Newswire]
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