CONTACT INFORMATION

LONDON, May 3, 2004 - DST International Billing (DSTi Billing) – a leading provider of innovative customer management and open billing solutions to the utility industry – announced today that South East Water has completed its implementation of the HiAffinity customer care and billing system. The highly successful and timely implementation of HiAffinity will provide the government-owned water utility with a greatly improved customer service process. With its proprietary Business Rules Engine, HiAffinity is a system well equipped to cater for new business requirements in the future. Superior functionality, customised Call Centre computer screens and a full product development path will improve the relationship and outcomes between South East Water’s staff and customer base. HiAffinity is marketed and distributed in Australia through DST International.

In partnership with DSTi Billing, South East Water has made the most extensive use to date of the HiAffinity Business Rules Engine. With a development team including one technologist and five business consultants, assisted by DST Billing, South East Water has developed more than 60 business processes for the customer service area. Key examples include change of occupier, payment arrangements, letter generation all providing a greater focus on the customer experience.

In addition to the business rules engine a new customer call front end has been developed. Over 80 per cent of South East Water customer contacts can be answered from four fully customised call center screens. The screens are intuitive and easy to use, having been designed by South East Water’s own staff, and will greatly reduce the induction and training times for new and existing staff.

A long-term customer of HiAffinity’s predecessor system Custima, South East Water in partnership with DSTi Billing, completed the configuration of the 700,000 strong customer database to HiAffinity over a 48-hour period.

Peter O’Donoghue, Business System Manager at South East Water said, “DSTi Billing has met and also exceeded our expectations for this project. We have produced 60 specifically tailored business process screens for our customer service representatives – all through a Business Rules Engine facility that has provided more functionality and a richer experience for all involved. Importantly we also now have a product path for the future through which we can control our own business solutions destiny. This is the ideal situation to be in – no longer do our people focus on the processes involved in doing the business, they now solely focus on the customer.”

“South East Water worked actively with DSTi Billing on the design requirements for HiAffinity’s Business Rules Engine and we believe we will now enjoy enormous benefits from that collaboration. To date this has proved true. Our software implementation dates have been met, the quality of the business solutions has proven to be excellent and the overall project has had low to minimal defects,” he concluded.

Simon Patterson, Chief Operating Officer of DSTi Billing said, “The comprehensive re-engineering of HiAffinity’s Business Rule Engine has now placed South East Water in an enviable position as the leading provider of customer solutions in the water utility sector in Australia. With water becoming a more and more valued resource, it is truly imperative for the customer experience to be one that is as enjoyable and as easy to conduct as possible – for all concerned. We are looking forward to continuing our dialogue and development with South East Water to ensure that its customer experience remains at the forefront of the industry.”

Editor’s Note: Screen shots are available on request.

# # #

About DSTi Billing
For over 25 years, DSTi Billing has led the market in providing innovative customer management and open billing solutions to the utility industries. DSTi Billing’s business solutions transform typical billing and customer care tasks into valuable and efficient communications, resulting in loyal customers, increased revenues and decreased expenses. DSTi Billing is a wholly owned subsidiary of DST International Limited. For further updates, please see the DSTi Billing website, www.dstibilling.com

About DST International (DSTi)
With 16 offices and over 1200 professionals to support its growing client base, DST International provides a unique and comprehensive range of investment management and business process management software solutions and related services to 600 clients in 55 countries. www.dstinternational.com

About DST Systems, Inc.
Our parent company, DST Systems, provides sophisticated information processing and computer software services and products that help clients improve productivity, increase efficiencies, and provide higher levels of customer service. DST is organised domestically and internationally into three operating segments: Financial Services, Customer Management, and Output Solutions. DST operates one of the most advanced data centres in the world, which provides information-processing services to support the products within each operating segment. These products are further enhanced through the integration of DSTi's advanced technology and e-commerce solutions.

About South East Water
South East Water Limited is a government owned company, which provides water and sewerage services to 1.3 million customers in the south-east region of Melbourne, Australia. South East Water manages infrastructure and assets valued in excess of (AUD) $1 billion.