OREANDA-NEWS. Kamchatskenergo, the main provider of electricity and heat in the Kamchatka region, has moved to a new billing system and customer service. RAO Energy Systems of East jointly with MAYKOR-GMCS have implemented the project in the framework of the modernization of public utility infrastructure and development of the intellectual energy of the Far East.

Kamchatskenergo is a member of the company RAO Energy Systems of East, which has introduced a new system of customer service. The company provides service to about 200 thousand. The company has contracts with household consumers (individuals), and about 20 thousand contracts with entities - enterprises in the region.

The new billing system supports the full cycle of customer service fr om application prior to the contract conclusion, from meter readings to the creation of a single payment document, from payment up to the full settlement of the debt, including all forms of sanctions. In a single software product with a single database there is an analytical model of settlements with individuals and legal entities to pay for electricity, heat and hot water, settlements schemes with agents collecting payments, the scheme of interaction with management organizations.

"Kamchatskenergo is the first company within the holding company, which has launched a new billing system in its entirety. This experience is valuable to us and further will be used to increase the efficiency of sales work in the framework of the RAO Energy Systems of East," says Ilya Lishansky, deputy general director for the energy implementation of RAO Energy Systems of East.

Sergey Kondratyev, general director of Kamchatskenergo, mentions that the implementation of a unified billing system is the next step in the modernization of energy service. "We strive to make the process of energy consumption as interactive as possible, wh ere the end user is a participant of the business processes of energy consumption, rather than a passive observer," says Sergey Kondratyev.

Features of billing system includes calculation of actual losses, imbalances of power nodes and heat thermal network, sub-consumers connection diagrams, and registration of metering for economic needs. Consumers can track service history in their accounts on the web-portal, which is part of a complex solution. The centralized approach helps ensure the correctness of the calculations and high quality of service for residential customers and counterparties of Kamchatskenergo.

By automating the process of receivables management and claim-related activities, according to the results of Kamchatskenergo for 9 months of 2015 household consumers' debt of heat energy gas reduced by 1.3% (the growth for the same period in 2014 - 11.7%). Similar dynamics is observed on the payments for electricity costs. In addition, the regular process of the call-center specialists with debtors maintains an active feedback from household consumers to refine the information affecting the payment calculation - about the owners, number of guests, changes in residential and non-residential premises as the result of redevelopment, etc.

"There is a positive experience in the automation of claims work with individuals, so we are planning to automate the process of pre-trial debt collection from entities. Also we are working on the establishment of electronic document flow with units of Federal Bailiff Service of Russia using the capabilities of the billing and collection systems," adds Andrey Bahvalov, deputy director of the development of energy markets, RAO Energy Systems of East.

According to Sergey Zavelishko, project manager, MAYKOR-GMCS, the implementation of such a complex project demands a special methodology. "The project has been divided into stages: every 4-6 months we have launched a new unit of functionality on a working database. In parallel with the system implementation, we together with the customer have identified problem areas and made changes in business processes. After testing and stabilization of each functional unit, we have proceed to launch the next section," says Sergey Zavelishko.

Another important result of the project is the reconciliation and actualization of the reference data, which is the "weak link" for the majority of energy sales companies: directories of subscribers, metering and heating units, equipment, registry and characteristics of the housing stock.

"The customer has applied the opportunity to analyze and reorganize the sale process, the regulation of business and IT departments to maximize the obtained effect. The result is a powerful organizational and technological solution for the introduction of new processes, increased service standards, expansion of service channels and the portfolio of services," adds Maria Venediktova, engagement manager, MAYKOR-GMCS.