Northumbria University achieves 1st Class Honours with Telephone Payments Solution from Telephonetics VIP and Partner NEC Philips

-University sees 35% increase in automated payments and a return on investment within six months-

2nd March, 2010, Hemel Hempstead, U.K.  – Telephonetics VIP, the speech automation specialist and Partner NEC Philips Unified Solutions, a provider of secure enterprise IT and communications solutions, won a tender and installed the system at Northumbria University for an automated telephone payments solution. The contract consists of the Telephonetics VIP Automated Agent solution with Payments skill. This new system will enable the University’s Credit Control Department to automate a variety of routine, repetitive tasks and as a result provide a better service to students and parents. The University has seen a 35% increase in automated payments since the system was installed, and a return on investment was achieved within six months.

NEC Philips has been a dedicated Telephonetics VIP reseller and Partner for over three years and together they have worked on many joint projects.  Their combined understanding and strong relationship perfectly places them to deliver solutions, on time, in budget and to the specifications of the customer.

For all universities, the build-up to student enrolment is always a frantically busy period, and at Northumbria it is no exception. The strain placed on their Credit Control department is inevitable, with parents and students needing to pay a variety of fees, such as tuition, accommodation, parking permits and sports centre membership.

In addition to the payment options already provided for students – online, in person, and by phone – the University felt that if an automated telephone payment system was introduced, time would be saved and productivity would increase. Consequently, companies were invited to tender for such a system.

The Telephonetics VIP Payments solution selected by Northumbria University has one single dedicated phone number and can  handle a ‘warm agent transfer’ – meaning that if a member of staff received a call requesting to make payments, they simply transfer it to the dedicated payments line. The solution is quick, simple to use, and most crucially, completely reliable and secure. Northumbria University has a longstanding relationship with NEC Philips, and this implementation has further proven the trust and understanding between the two organisations.

Carol Bonner, Credit Control Manager at Northumbria University comments, “The Telephonetics VIP Payments solution has exceeded our expectations, increasing automated Payments by 35% in the first few months.  The University has always been at forefront of new technology to help improve services for studying students and their families. Our new telephone Payments solution is an invaluable tool that my staff now feel they could not live without!  We anticipate the volume of calls and payments made via this system will increase further as the new term arrives, due to heavily promoting the system throughout the year.”

Carol adds, “The new solution has ultimately alleviated Northumbria University’s Credit Control Department of the mass of payment phone calls during peak times and beyond.  It also provides a secure payments line, helping the University in achieving PCI compliance and reduces the backlog of paperwork that goes with each face-to-face payment transaction.  For students and parents it helps them make their desired payments from any location, at any time, quickly and securely without the need to queue.”

Mark Holmes, Director of Sales for Telephonetics VIP, comments “We are delighted that our Payments solution has exceeded Northumbria University’s expectations. The installation and project management of this project with our channel Partner NEC Philips went extremely well.  This is a great testament that our partnership with NEC Philips is strong and works extremely well to meet our customers’ needs.”