WINfirst Selects Accenture to Build Customer Service Platform to Support Fiber-to-Home Customers
NEW YORK, February 20, 2001 – Accenture announced today that it has been selected by WINfirst to integrate and build an end-to-end customer service platform to support the WINfirst fiber-to-the-home network. The solution, which combines traditional operational support systems with innovative customer relationship management functionality, will help WINfirst to provide its customers with leading edge levels of customer care. The platform plans to break new ground in the industry by providing holistic capabilities across WINfirst’s entire product line of Internet, cable TV, video-on-demand and telephone services.
Accenture, a leading global management and technology consultancy will have overall responsibility for integrating and delivering the end-to-end suite of applications covering customer care, billing and order management. The solution will incorporate best of breed software from, among others, Siebel Systems, the world’s leading provider of eBusiness applications software, and Lucent Technologies. Accenture will provide additional customization based on internal, proprietary design methodologies with the overall goal of meeting WINfirst’s objective of delighting the customer.
Based in Denver CO, WINfirst is building an entirely new optical access network that will connect each home using a dedicated fiber optic cable and equipment with lasers to send and receive information using the Internet protocol (IP) and Fast Ethernet, a networking transmission standard that provides 100 megabits per second (Mbps) of symmetric bandwidth. The optical link will enable WINfirst to provide an Internet service that will be some 65 times faster than typical 1.5 Mbps high-speed connections offered via T1 or DSL and Cable Modem today. This bandwidth will enable people to download a DVD movie in as few as eight minutes or an entire album of MP3 songs in approximately five second as well as to simultaneously hold multiple phone calls and stream a home video to a friend.
WINfirst has already received regulatory approval to build networks in Sacramento and San Diego, California; Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio, Texas; and has received a temporary permit pending full approval in Portland, Oregon. As a result, WINfirst will be able to provide its service to more than 3.2 million homes. In addition, WINfirst is pursuing regulatory approval in San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles, Seattle, Phoenix and Nevada.
"WINfirst is breaking new ground by building a network to address the “last mile” problem that faces all residential service providers," said Tom Lamming, Accenture’s Global Managing Partner for the Communications Industry. "More significantly, the company has taken the unprecedented step of investing heavily at the outset not only in the network itself, but in the infrastructure needed for top-notch customer service and billing. This willingness to invest in leading customer relationship management capabilities from the point of initial development has made it possible to build key features up front to truly delight the customer and provide a completely differentiated customer experience."
Mr. Lamming added that the new support systems being deployed will handle basic services such as providing accurate billing statements and facilitating prompt resolution of customer queries. Further, the platform will support the implementation of major improvements to the management of work force assignments in order to help ensure prompt customer repair and service calls.
"We are delighted to be working with Accenture," said Frank Casazza, WINfirst’s President and COO. We needed a heavyweight ally that had the resources to address a project of this magnitude as well as the nimbleness to deliver a solution within Internet timeframes. Ultimately however, they have shared our commitment to delivering not just great software but delivering on the promise of great customer care.
About WINfirst
WINfirst is building a new fiber-to-the home residential network using fiber-optic technology in conjunction with Ethernet networking standards to break the last-mile bottleneck. WINfirst will provide the highest quality of customer service and choice, the convenience of one-stop shopping for Internet, cable TV and telephone service and the value of a bundled-service offering. For more information about WINfirst please visit the company’s web site at http://www.winfirst.com.
About Accenture
Accenture is a $10 billion global management and technology consulting organization. The firm is reinventing itself to become the market maker, architect and builder of the new economy, bringing innovations to improve the way the world works and lives. More than 70,000 people in 46 countries deliver a wide range of specialized capabilities and solutions to clients across all industries. Under its strategy, the firm is building a network of businesses to meet the full range of client needs -- consulting, technology, outsourcing, alliances and venture capital. Accenture’s home page address is http://www.accenture.com.
###
Jill E. Posnick
+1 (917) 452 4947
Shiraz Moosajee
+1 (303) 407-1617