O2
Reducing the number of claims in invoicing thanks to automated document control
- Reducing the cost of the complaints procedure
- Document control throughout the billing cycle
- Reducing reputational risk
- Better customer experience
- Freeing up control unit capacity for more complex cases
“
Fully automatic checking of all documents on a daily basis has freed up our work capacity for more important tasks and
significantly reduced the number of invoice complaints from customers.
Jana Vrzoňová
Team Leader Control Group, O2 Czech Republic
”
Client
Leading Czech telecom operator O2
O2 Czech Republic is a Czech telecommunications giant that is part of the PPF investment group. It provides a wide range of voice, internet and data services to residential, business and corporate customers. O2 is also one of the largest providers of hosting and cloud services in the country and the operator of the internet television broadcaster O2 TV.
Challenge
Finding a reliable and robust controlling automation solution without disrupting workflow
- Automating the process of checking issued invoices
- Ensuring system flexibility to support future control requirements
- Integration of automated controls into the corporate workflow, including document approval and circulation
- Delivery of the entire solution in the form of hosting outside the IT infrastructure of O2
The telecommunications giant O2 became the first Czech customer to use the capabilities of our specialized CEOS Rules system. As a result of the company's growth (acquisition of other companies, changes and expansion of the portfolio of key applications), the requirements for the invoicing process increased significantly, and the operator was looking for a sufficiently reliable and robust solution for checking the accuracy of the issued documents.
“
Before deploying CEOS Rules, we used a dedicated control department to check issued documents and invoices. However, manual spot checks could not detect 100% of errors, which exposed us to reputational risk and unnecessarily reduced the customer experience.
Jana Vrzoňová
Team Leader Control Group, O2 Czech Republic
”
Solution
Thorough data analysis, ETL and emphasis on the integration process of automatic controlling
- Data analysis
- ETL implementation
- Setting criteria for controlling, error detection and controlling evaluation
- Running the solution in the cloud
Input analysis, data preparation and processing
There were several important steps to go through when moving from manual spot checking of invoices to automated checking. The first was to analyze the customer's data sources. This analysis was to gain insight into the available data sources, formats and data quality. Based on this analysis, it was possible to determine which data sources would be most suitable for automated invoice checking. The second step was to implement an ETL process (Extract, Transform, Load) to extract data from various sources, transform the data into the required format and then load the data into the target system. This step was important to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the data needed for automated invoice checking.
Automatic control criteria
We have tailored the entire solution to the specific requirements of O2. For example, it involved setting the criteria according to
which invoices will be automatically checked, defining rules for error detection and evaluating the results of the check.
Deployment and integration with corporate systems for seamless workflow
The last step was the actual implementation of automated invoice checking into operation. During this phase, communication with other O2 systems was ensured and processes were set up to deal with exceptional situations so that the new solution would fit smoothly into the customer's existing workflow. To reduce the operational and maintenance requirements, we built CEOS Rules for O2 as a cloud service outside of its own IT infrastructure.
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The used solution is a set of several systems that use artificial intelligence to find inconsistencies and anomalies in internal and connected accounting systems. An example where CEOS Rules proved its capabilities was also its deployment to validate logistics costs at another CEOS Data customer, the Californian precision technology manufacturer KLA. In this case, immediately after deploying CEOS Rules, there was a 50% saving in invoiced services, as it was proven by analysis that a large part of them was incorrectly charged to the customer.
Miroslav Rod
BI consultant, CEOS Data
”
Results
Automated daily check of all documents relieved the complaints and control department and increased the level of customer satisfaction with O2 services
- Abandonment of manual spot-checking of documents
- Freeing up staff capacity to deal with more complex cases
- Introduction of automatic daily checks throughout the billing cycle
- Flexible solutions and cloud operation for future growth
- Lower rate of billing complaints
O2 Czech Republic has successfully implemented an automated control system for the invoicing process using the CEOS Rules system, which has led to a significant reduction in the number of customer complaints, reduced the cost of resolving complaints, improved customer experience and freed up control department capacity for more complex cases. The CEOS Data team designed a robust and reliable cloud solution for O2 that requires uncomplicated maintenance and is ready to grow with the company, its services and its customer base.