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CONTACT INFORMATION
Peace Software
www.peace.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Energy America/Direct Energy
Deploys Peace Software's Energy™ CIS to Serve Millions More Consumers
MIAMI, FL., June 10, 2002 - Peace Software today announced
that Energy America (in the U.S.) and Direct Energy (in Canada)
successfully deployed Peace Software's open Energy CIS suite for
customer management of electricity customers in Texas and Ontario.
Energy America/ Direct Energy is part of Centrica North America,
the largest energy retailer in North America.
Centrica North America moved quickly to implement Energy in time
for the opening of the Texas and Ontario electricity markets in
January 2002 and May 2002 respectively. With little lead-time, it
opted for phased deployment.
In the first phase, an implementation team from Peace Software deployed
Energy Enrollment, Customer Care and B2B components to meet Energy
America/Direct Energy's minimum needs ahead of both market openings.
Soon after, Energy Billing was implemented with plans for other
components to be added in the future as needed.
"Our Texas and Ontario implementation projects have been successful,"
said Charles Giliberto, Director of Commercial Relations at Energy
America/Direct Energy. "We delivered two comprehensive solutions
for very complex and different market models within a tight 8-month
timeframe. Both markets are supported on a single Energy system
spanning two different countries and currencies."
Energy is interfacing to Exolink and EBT Express hub for Texas and
Ontario market transactions respectively. Energy America/Direct
Energy intends to integrate other best-of-breed applications, such
as financial and CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software,
into the Energy environment. To support its growth objectives in
Texas, Ontario and other markets, Energy America/Direct Energy recently
relocated and increased the size of its Toronto-based call center
to more than 500 customer service representatives (CSRs). Energy
has been up and running in the call center since January 2002. CSRs
are assigned to either Texas or Ontario markets but work with the
same Energy system.
The company plans to up-sell and cross-sell energy and energy-related
products and services using Energy, a strategy that has proven successful
for Centrica in the United Kingdom. "We see ourselves as an
international consumer marketing company," said Bernie Gilles,
CIO at Centrica North America. "We're focused on building lasting
customer relationships through our portfolio of leading brands by
leveraging advanced technology, such as Energy, to offer innovative
new services and value-added products."
Energy America/Direct Energy's core competencies in marketing, branding
and customer care are serving them well. In Texas, the company is
signing up customers in the Houston and Dallas/Fort Worth territories
on three-year contracts at a rate of about 1,000 a day and has reached
more than 60,000 to date. In Ontario, Direct Energy has signed electricity
agreements with more than 600,000 Ontario households. By the end
of the year, it will be supplying half of all Ontario households
with either gas, electricity or home services, or some combination.
The company plans to deploy Energy for its existing electricity
and gas customers in Manitoba, Michigan, Ohio, Maryland and Georgia,
and for new markets as it expands operations in North America.
Energy America/Direct Energy will take advantage of regular Energy
upgrades incorporating functional enhancements, technological advances,
performance accelerators, as well as innovative new components and
subcomponents. Charles Giliberto, said, "We are using the core
Energy components without customizations so that we can quickly
and easily move to new version releases as these become available.
This way, we remain competitive yet continue to deliver high standards
of customer service."
About Peace Software
Peace Software develops open, component-based CIS solutions used
by utilities and retailers for business innovation in regulated,
transitioning and competitive energy markets. The company's browser-based
Energy suite has been selected to drive efficient operations and
provide excellent customer care for 13 million mass market and commercial
and industrial (C&I) customer relationships in 40 markets around
the world. The innovative Energy suite can be phased into existing
CIS environments and new version upgrades are available every 12-18
months. Headquartered in Miami and founded in 1984, Peace Software
has offices in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
For more information, visit www.peace.com.
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