The acquisition underscores NEC Corporation’s long-standing commitment to offering innovative solutions to the communications industry, enabling service providers to transform their business and successfully compete in a rapidly changing environment. The IM business has enabled service providers around the world to transform their BSS environment and create the foundation for next-generation billing, customer care, and revenue management.

Following the acquisition, the IM business and organization will be integrated into NetCracker Technology Corporation, a subsidiary of NEC. NetCracker will be responsible for all business operations of the combined entity. With this acquisition, NetCracker will add key BSS expertise, software, and services to its market-leading Telecom Operations and Management Solutions (TOMS) suite. The combination of IM’s BSS products and NetCracker’s TOMS solutions will create a compelling end-to-end portfolio that will bring experience and innovation to service providers and other industry verticals — whether they access BSS/OSS solutions through the cloud, as a managed service, or as an on-premise system.

The combined resources and assets of NEC, NetCracker, and IM — including software, services, data centers, and R&D investment — will create a Telecom software-focused business that is unprecedented in its scale and size, and will give service providers the industry’s most comprehensive set of TOMS solutions and services anywhere in the world.

NEC’s communications carrier business features a superior lineup of software, services, and network infrastructure that helps service providers rapidly deploy and monetize LTE (Long Term Evolution) infrastructure, Mobile Backhaul, Carrier Cloud Computing, undersea cable systems, and more. These systems enable service providers to create globally competitive and distinctive business models. The continued success of NEC’s carrier business has contributed substantially to NEC’s total net sales of 3,115 billion yen (US $ 37.535 billion) in the financial year which ended March 2011. NEC’s carrier business spearheads NEC’s mid-range goals to further expand its international markets and software services.

The acquisition is scheduled to be completed by late second quarter of calendar year 2012.

UBS Investment Bank acted as exclusive financial advisor to NEC/NetCracker.

Convergys is already deploying this new version to tier one operator UNE in Latin America to improve speed and customer experience with a real-time view of customer data and faster time-to-market of personalized promotions. UNE was looking to monetize 4G services through a convergent billing system with quick access to data and an automated view of customers.

According to UNE, “We are investing in new technologies that will enable us to offer compelling services, attract more customers, and further grow the business. We needed a solution that not only fulfilled our immediate requirements, but could also grow seamlessly with us as we add to our portfolio of telecommunications services (especially for Mobile Services). Convergys’ real-time, convergent platform is that solution.”

Convergys’ latest release of its Rating & Billing Manager, coupled with Active Mediation, provides standards-based real-time policy control from the network interface to billing and charging; covering the Policy Control and Rules Function (PCRF) and User Data Repository (UDR), in addition to the existing support for simultaneous online and offline convergent charging. Rating & Billing Manager’s proven and fully documented Application Programming Interface (API) for integration to other Business Support Systems (BSS) ensures that the policy applied on the network is linked right through to front end systems, such as CRM or self care.

Convergys’ products eliminate the complexities and challenges inherent with the construction of a policy solution from individual discrete components, naturally shortening the time required to put an end-to-end network policy solution into production. With granular control of usage in place, operators can leverage the new real-time promotions capabilities in Rating & Billing Manger to automatically identify and react to up-sell opportunities and usage patterns that are indicative of potential churn.

“As the speed of data transfer within telecommunications constantly increases, customers utilize available network capacity with ever-popular high-definition video and Smartphone applications,” said Bob Lento, President, Convergys Smart Revenue Solutions. “Increased data capacity is not free, so operators must find revenue-generators through up-sell opportunities and have better control of their networks.”

According to a Cisco report on global mobile data traffic, there was a 2.3-fold increase in global mobile data traffic in 2011, more than doubling for the fourth year in a row. The same Cisco report also says global mobile data traffic is expected to increase 18-fold between 2011 and 2016 at a CAGR of 78%, reaching 10.8 Exabytes /per month by 2016.

“While network equipment to control data usage even down to a very granular level has been available for some time, it has often been deployed in isolation from the customer care and billing environment. This makes it very difficult to link the policies that are applied to each user in the network to the rich profile information that is available and the services that they are charged,” added Lento. “Convergys Rating & Billing Manager now allows operators to intelligently monetize and have control of their network usage without impacting the customer experience.”

Convergys develops and implements Smart Revenue Solutions for the telecoms, cable, satellite, broadband and utilities markets. These solutions can help providers to Solve for today. Evolve for tomorrow.SM Convergys’ Solve and Evolve approach enables providers to have the tools to transform to the changing world. Convergys calls it SmartLifeSM; transforming everyday touch points and transactions into seamless, positive, loyalty-building customer experiences.

About Rating & Billing Manager

The latest version of Rating & Billing Manager brings a wealth of new functionality which is applicable to different vertical markets from telecommunications to utilities. Key features for this release:
• Integrated Network Policy control to provide granular control of network access while ensuring total consistency with billing and charging
• Installment billing to manage the payment for a large purchase, such as a solar panel or telephone handset over a number of bills
• Payment arrangements, for example so that an existing debt can be paid off over a number of bills
• Changes to cater for specific requirements of different countries and jurisdictions across the globe. From support for Hijri calendar charge periods in the Middle East to taxation refinements in North America
• Richer APIs and integration points allowing even easier deployment into an operator’s environment
• Real-time promotion capabilities to proactively identify up-sell opportunities or churn risks and react to them

Convergys Corporation (NYSE: CVG) is a global leader in relationship management. We provide solutions that drive more value from the relationships our clients have with their customers. Convergys turns these everyday interactions into a source of profit and strategic advantage for our clients.

For more than 30 years, our unique combination of domain expertise, operational excellence, and innovative technologies has delivered process improvement and actionable business insight to marquee clients all over the world.

Convergys has approximately 70,000 employees in 69 customer contact centers and other facilities in the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia, and our global headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio. For more information, visit www.convergys.com
(Convergys and the Convergys logo are registered trademarks of Convergys Corporation.)

Convergys Smart Revenue Solutions is at the forefront of enabling global businesses to intelligently monetize their services, driving revenue and profits through innovative billing, customer care, and real time charging and policy solutions. Convergys solves today’s business challenges and positions providers to evolve to take on future opportunities. Convergys’s customer-focused approach delivers straight-forward, best-of-breed technology from its Smart Suite, which enhances the customer experience.

To assist providers with their business challenges, Convergys announced a strategic relationship with Microsoft in February 2010, to deliver a comprehensive, pre-integrated solution that would improve billing processes, customer service, and time-to-market for new revenue-generating services for communications and utilities providers.

Convergys CRM 2.0 combines and enhances Microsoft’s market proven Dynamics CRM platform with best-in-class Convergys shopping and ordering, customer management, and account management, which is pre-configured and dedicated to telecommunications, cable, broadband, satellite and utilities businesses, transforming customer service into sales. Convergys CRM is also integrated with Rating & Billing Manager, so that billing information is seamlessly brought forward to enhance the customer service experience.
Convergys CRM is a flexible CRM product that works the way the service provider does and can be extended to meet the constantly changing market, business, and competitive requirements:

• Consolidated view for customer service representatives to view all key customer details, including products, services, billing information, interactions, equipment and other important activities.

• Ability to seamlessly move customers between support channels and segments, including the ability to view available services and products based on service location.

• Positive and consistent customer experience at all touch points creates competitive differentiator.
Built on a true product model with Microsoft Dynamics 2011, Convergys CRM can significantly reduce the cost and on-going effort that providers have experienced with business CRM software, specifically in the areas of CRM implementation, licensing, integration, support/maintenance, testing, and upgrades.

Convergys develops and implements Smart Revenue Solutions for the telecoms, cable, satellite, broadband and utilities markets. These solutions can help providers to Solve for today. Evolve for tomorrow.SM Convergys’ Solve and Evolve approach enables providers to have the tools to transform to the changing world. Convergys calls it SmartLifeSM; transforming everyday touch points and transactions into seamless, positive, loyalty-building customer experiences.

UNE is among a handful of providers worldwide – and the first in Latin America – to launch its 4G network over LTE Advance, which enables mobile devices to exchange data at 100 megabits/second, a significantly faster data speed than is currently available on 3G networks.

UNE required a solution with demonstrated flexibility and the ability to handle the complexity of real-time convergent services, which Convergys convergent platform was able to demonstrate. The flexible platform can accommodate any new service like 4G-LTE, support convergent service requirements in real-time, and help UNE speed its offers to market.

The Convergys’ solution also provides proven revenue assurance, a must-have for providers offering real-time services, and integrates well with UNE’s objective architecture model, which includes CRM, provisioning and enterprise resource planning software.

Convergys develops and implements Smart Revenue Solutions for the telecoms, cable, satellite, broadband and utilities markets. These solutions can help providers to Solve for today. Evolve for tomorrow.SM Convergys’ Solve and Evolve approach enables providers to have the tools to transform to the changing world. Convergys calls it SmartLifeSM; transforming everyday touch points and transactions into seamless, positive, loyalty-building customer experiences.

“Convergys is a proven partner who has provided us with high-quality work for more than 20 years,” said Ted Torbeck, President, Communications, Cincinnati Bell. “In this most recent contract, Convergys’s expertise in the billing space will allow us to simplify our business processes and reallocate IT resources to focus on growing other parts of our business.”
Cincinnati Bell will also now license a wireless billing solution that Convergys has hosted and managed for Cincinnati Bell over the past nine years. Convergys will continue to support the solution for Cincinnati Bell with application development and maintenance services.

“Convergys and Cincinnati Bell have a strong relationship built on a long history of trusted partnership,” said Bob Lento, President, Information Management, Convergys. “We are committed to helping Cincinnati Bell realize their business goals. This contract extension is a testament to the high level of service Cincinnati Bell has come to expect from us.”
Convergys develops and implements Smart Revenue Solutions for the telecoms, cable, satellite, broadband and utilities markets. These solutions can help service providers meet the billing and customer care needs of the retail, enterprise, and wholesale sectors.

Throughout 2010 and 2011, Convergys worked closely with three E.ON affiliates in a variety of markets to conduct a series of pilots to test Convergys’ capability to deliver sophisticated rating and billing functionality related, but not limited to, Smart Metering. The success of these pilots has culminated in the signing of this new global framework agreement.

“Convergys’ solutions will help E.ON IT to make the most of the company’s current back office infrastructure investment by expanding their system capabilities to solve business needs brought on by changing business conditions, including Smart Metering and growing customer requirements,” said Eran Ofir, General Manager, Global Utilities, Convergys Smart Revenue Solutions.

Andy Corkhill, Head of Utilities EMEA, Convergys Smart Revenue Solutions, adds, “Convergys will support E.ON IT group-wide to enable a better customer experience, using products such as Rating & Billing Manager, among other Convergys solutions.”

Convergys develops and implements Smart Revenue Solutions for the utility, energy retail and communications markets. These solutions help energy retailers and others companies meet the billing and customer care needs for the residential, commercial and industrial, and wholesale sectors, enabling them to solve today’s business needs and evolve to take advantage of tomorrow’s opportunities.

E.ON IT GmbH is the IT function of E.ON AG, one of the largest private power and gas companies in the world. E.ON IT manages all IT matters for the E.ON Group and has over 2700 employees. The company has its headquarters in Hanover and is represented across Europe by nine subsidiaries in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Romania, Slovakia, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

Convergys Corporation (NYSE: CVG) is a global leader in relationship management. We provide solutions that drive more value from the relationships our clients have with their customers. Convergys turns these everyday interactions into a source of profit and strategic advantage for our clients.
For more than 30 years, our unique combination of domain expertise, operational excellence, and innovative technologies has delivered process improvement and actionable business insight to marquee clients all over the world.
Convergys has approximately 70,000 employees in 69 customer contact centers and other facilities in the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia, and our global headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio. For more information, visit www.convergys.com
(Convergys and the Convergys logo are registered trademarks of Convergys Corporation.)
Convergys Smart Revenue Solutions
Convergys Smart Revenue Solutions is at the forefront of enabling global businesses to intelligently monetize their services, driving revenue and profits through innovative billing, customer care, and real time charging and policy solutions. Convergys solves today’s business challenges and positions providers to evolve to take on future opportunities. Convergys’s customer-focused approach delivers straight-forward, best-of-breed technology from its Smart Suite, which enhances the customer experience.

Gartner evaluated CM contact center business process outsourcing (BPO) service providers on their CM contact center BPO capabilities in the Americas, EMEA and Asia Pacific. The scope of services evaluated included the management of service provider employees to the delivery of CM contact center BPO services and the management of the customer experience.

“Convergys is honored to be recognized in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant as a global leader in customer management BPO services,” said Andrea Ayers, President and COO of Convergys’ Customer Management business. “We take great pride in the commitment of our employees and agents worldwide to consistently deliver superior customer service experiences for our clients and their customers no matter where they may be located.”

According to Gartner, Leaders in worldwide CM contact center BPO services demonstrate a market-defining vision and the ability to execute against that vision, a superior market share, and solid client references for CM contact center BPO service, worldwide, including a cross-section of vertical industries. Leaders invest in innovative service offerings, business/pricing models and service delivery models. They have a superior understanding of client needs and of current market conditions, and are actively building competencies to sustain their leadership position in the CM contact center BPO market across multiple regions worldwide. Providers in this quadrant generally have strong global or regional service delivery operations and deep technology to leverage and deliver above-average customer experience.

As a single-source provider of agent-assisted, self-service, and proactive care, Convergys combines agent services, innovative technology, and analytics to optimize the customer experience and strengthen customer relationships. Through customer care outsourcing and services to in-house contact centers, Convergys is helping clients build more effective relationships with their customers driving increased revenues and cost savings.

According to findings from Convergys’ 2011 U.S. Customer Scorecard Research, the majority of U.S. consumers still rank interacting with companies via agents over the phone among their top two preferred channel options for customer service. The next most preferred channel is Web chat. However, the Convergys research reveals that customer channel usage is changing, and U.S. consumers are using alternate channels to get customer service especially on their initial contact with a company. Yet, when a U.S. consumer feels they can’t get what they need quickly via an alternate channel, they turn to an agent for help.

The Convergys research found that 73% of U.S. consumers have already used new interaction technologies such as smartphones, tablets and social media accounts. Social media is particularly pervasive—61% of those surveyed have their own Facebook or Twitter account or their own blog. Respondents to the Convergys research survey indicated that one in eight U.S. consumers had used mobile applications or text messaging for customer care in the last six months; 11% had used social media. These numbers are expected to grow, with the younger Millennial generation initially fueling the rise.

To thrive in this environment, companies will need to deploy social media strategies that keep track of content across platforms, monitoring social networks, blogs, forums and traditional media. By using comprehensive analytics to sift through masses of data, companies will be able to discern critical trends and make better-informed decisions on which problems need proactive outreach.

“Because the use of alternate channels will inevitably grow, companies need to do more than shift their attention from one new channel to another,” said Sarenac. “It is essential to excel at managing the customer experience across all channels.”

In the coming weeks Convergys will release further findings from its 2011 U.S. Customer Scorecard Research on personalization and analytics.

Methodology – 2011 Convergys U.S. Customer Scorecard Research

– This is the third year in a row that Convergys has conducted its U.S. Customer Scorecard Research. The research focuses on individuals who have had some type of customer experience in the past six months with two or more of the following industries: banking, credit cards, healthcare insurance, Internet service provider, mobile phone, retail, satellite/cable, technology and telephone.

– Individuals 18 to 74 were eligible for this study, and women and men were nearly evenly represented. 3,514 people responded to the survey.

– We also conducted a survey of employees to explore their perceptions of customers, the customer experience, and the employees’ readiness to provide excellent customer service.

– Employees who fulfilled some type of direct customer service function in one of the nine industries listed above were eligible for the study.

– Both the customer and employee research were conducted via the Internet using an online panel.

About Convergys

– Convergys Corporation (NYSE: CVG) is a global provider of customer management solutions, including proactive service, self-service, and agent-assisted services to optimize the customer experience.

– Based in Cincinnati, Ohio, the company helps its clients drive more value from their relationships with their customers, turning everyday interactions into a source of profit and strategic advantage.

– Convergys serves over half of the Fortune 50, is listed on NYSE in the Fortune 1000, and handles more than 2 billion customer interactions per year.

– The business has approximately 70,000 employees in 69 customer contact centers and other facilities worldwide.

– 2010 revenues were $2.2 billion.

For more information, visit www.convergys.com

According to findings from the 2011 Convergys U.S. Customer Scorecard Research, the percent of U.S. consumers who report a bad service experience to the offending company continues to rise, up 5% in the past year and up 13% since 2009.

At the head of the list of complaints over service: customer effort. One-third of survey respondents said it takes at least a moderate amount of effort to interact with U.S. companies. Among the minority who describe themselves not satisfied with customer service, U.S. consumers complain that it can take two, and sometimes three or more, attempts at interacting with a company to resolve a problem.

“Clearly, ‘effort’ is the flashpoint of the service experience, and those companies who make problem resolution hard for customers can pay a stiff price,” said Igor Sarenac, Convergys vice president. “Although small in number compared to the mass of U.S. consumers who gave high marks to service in the research, greater vocalization by a handful of dissatisfied consumers can do considerable damage to a company’s reputation, leading to a drop in consumer purchases, reduced advocacy, and new customer avoidance.”

The 2011 Convergys U.S. Customer Scorecard Research also finds that 8 out of 10 U.S. consumers who have had a bad service experience tell their friends or colleagues, often using social media and other new communications technologies. Over 6 in 10 U.S. respondents to the Convergys survey have Facebook or Twitter accounts or their own blog, while 4 in 10 own smart phones or other mobile devices/tablets with data plans.

Negative social media posts can result in lost business. Responses to Convergys’ U.S. Customer Scorecard research show more than 1 in 4 U.S. consumers read about someone else’s bad service experience, and more than 7 out of 10 who read these posts were influenced to avoid or stop doing business with a company. The Convergys research also shows Millennials are more likely than other generations to share their bad service experiences via social media or texting.

“If customer effort is analyzed and proactively reduced, companies can increase long-term loyalty and turn customer relationship management into a revenue generator rather than a cost center, said Sarenac. “Companies don’t have to spend more money to increase customer satisfaction. They just need to focus on solving customer issues the first time issues are raised, ensuring they – and their customers — expend the least effort possible.”

In the coming weeks Convergys will release further findings from its 2011 U.S. Customer Scorecard Research on channel management and personalization.

In her new Managing Director role, Zamora is responsible for Convergys’ international customer management business, overseeing approximately 37,000 employees throughout contact centers in the United Kingdom, India, and the Philippines. In this global role, she is responsible for delivering superior service to Convergys clients and their customers, with the goal of growing Convergys’ international business.

Zamora now holds the distinction of being one of the only Filipino executives in the BPO industry whose responsibility extends beyond Asia.

“Our global clients want a greater Convergys presence in the international market, and accomplished professionals like Marife have helped us expand our network of state-of-the-art contact centers worldwide to meet that demand,” said Christine Timmins Barry, Senior Vice President of Operations for Convergys. “Marife managed the spectacular growth we have experienced in the Philippines and the additional responsibilities we announce today are a true reflection of both Marife’s success in the Philippines and our belief in her ability to replicate that success internationally.”

Convergys continues to hire additional employees in the Philippines. Those interested in work with Convergys should submit résumés to jobsph@convergys.com or text ‘APPLY’ to 2600 from a mobile phone to begin the recruitment process. For up to the minute job openings in the Philippines, follow Convergys’ recruitment account on Twitter, Multiply, and Friendster or search “Convergys Philippines” on Facebook.