NetCologne: increased customer satisfaction with e-invoicing

“We were able to increase customer satisfaction - thanks to the independent selection of invoicing channels. In addition, StreamServe software enables us to create personalized information on invoices at any time, with little added expense.”

Markus Müller, Customer Care and Customer Service manager at NetCologne

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With favorable tariffs and technical innovations, NetCologne, a Cologne-based telecom provider, has grown into one of the most successful telecom providers in Germany.

Simplified invoicing

Simplified invoicing coupled with substantial cost savings were the primary incentives for NetCologne’s introduction of digital output management.

After deciding to move away from paper-based invoicing, NetCologne searched for a flexible output management solution that could generate electronic invoices in multiple formats from a single process. NetCologne and Lucom (an Erkrath-based systems provider) identified StreamServe Enterprise Document Presentment (EDP) as the leading solution. In addition to seamlessly fulfilling NetCologne’s requirement for multiple formats, StreamServe provided the best price/performance ratio on the market.

The best system

“In terms of efficiency and performance, StreamServe offered the best digital output management system,” said Robert Messer, billing manager at NetCologne.

In just three months bill templates were developed with Lucom, and the StreamServe solution was put into production at NetCologne.

Many formats, instead of just one

As a result of implementing StreamServe technology, NetCologne’s customers receive a faster, more personalized invoice service.

NetCologne now sends more than 70 percent of its invoices electronically. First, customers receive an e-mail that contains information about the invoice. Then the output type can be selected; customers can set and change their preferred output formats at any time via the web portal, and they can download the information, if necessary. NetCologne is using this procedure with increasing success in its private customers division.

“We use StreamServe to issue our invoices on paper and in CSV, XML, HTML, and PDF formats—customizing these invoices according to our customers’ needs,” Messer explains.

Less paper

Introduction of electronic invoices optimized several processes at NetCologne. Leveraging StreamServe’s EDP software, NetCologne can provide their customers with electronic documents in their preferred format while consistently reducing the use of paper invoices and decreasing delivery time and printing costs. Ultimately, these benefits lead to not only increased customer satisfaction, but a sizable contribution to the bottom line.

Supporting success

Thanks to StreamServe, customers, who opt for electronic invoices receive their invoices faster; the billing system automated invoice run is done within 72 hours, reducing DSO. By comparison, postal customers now receive their invoices an average of three to four days later than e-mail recipients, with corresponding payment delays.

“With StreamServe, we save an average of €1.50 per invoice compared to conventional dispatch methods,” says Messer, “and we pass a portion of these savings on to our customers. With about 3 million invoices per year, we found that output management using StreamServe quickly paid for itself. And StreamServe is easy to use in daily operations. Maintenance and update management functions are simple and user friendly.”