Harte-Hanks Announces Data Quality Enterprise Licence Contract with BT
Enterprise licence for Trillium Software's TS Quality supports British Telecommunications plc (BT) strategy for 'Total Data Quality' across its worldwide organisation
ALDERMASTON, UK- March 27, 2006 - Trillium Software®, a division of Harte-Hanks (NYSE:HHS) and a leading provider of Total Data Quality (TDQ) solutions, today announced that it is to provide its TS Quality enterprise data quality software solution to global telecommunications provider BT on an enterprise-wide licence basis.
The agreement extends an existing licence based on user numbers, to permit BT the flexibility of unlimited, worldwide use of TS Quality as it pursues a strategic goal for Total Data Quality in a drive for continuous improvement in customer service and business performance.
"Customer name and address information is an extremely valuable BT asset," said James Gault, programme director, product and customer data platforms. "We must manage the quality of that data with strategic intent in all corners of the organisation. TS Quality is now BT's global standard for customer name and address data quality processing; helping us in the quest to ensure the accuracy of our data wherever and however it is stored or enters our organisation so that it is fit for all of our business purposes."
According to Gault, TS Quality enables BT to standardise source data formats, to recognise and handle duplicates, and to mould fragmented records into linked information. Across multiple systems, this data quality regimen benefits hundreds of vital business processes, among them:
o CRM: Helping to ensure clean data and a single customer view for BT's Siebel customer relationship management (CRM) investment; one of the largest implementations anywhere in the world.
o Regulatory Compliance: Compliance with undertakings agreed with OFCOM's Telecomms Service Review to ensure all service providers have transparent and equal access to the nationwide local BT network. [OFCOM is the United Kingdom Office of Communications, the regulating agency of UK telecommunications services.
o Sales and Marketing: Enabling improved relationship intelligence allowing sales and marketing campaigns to be improved. This was valuable in launching BT Mobility, the mobile phone company and is aiding up-sell and cross-sell activity.
o Customer and Account Services: Enabling customers telephoning BT to be quickly and accurately identified so they can be automatically connected with the correct account team. Call centres are finding customer files can be located swiftly.
o Field Service: Customer faults reports are better handled since engineers, once delayed by sometimes incomplete or inaccurate addresses when on call-out, are now finding erroneous addresses a rarity.
Ed Wrazen, vice president for marketing, international for Trillium Software at Harte-Hanks, said; "BT is to be applauded for recognising data quality as a strategic and enterprise issue and for its progress towards Total Data Quality. We are delighted that TS Quality is a core component of BT's solution."
BT is also an extensive user of TS Discovery; Harte-Hanks Trillium Software's data profiling and analysis solution. BT employs TS Discovery to gain insight and understanding of data and quality issues hidden within them, enabling the automated construction of rules for data quality improvement via TS Quality, and for better communication management.
About BT
BT is one of the world's leading providers of communications solutions and services operating in more than 160 countries. Its principal activities include networked IT services, local, national and international telecommunications services, and higher-value broadband and internet products and services. BT consists principally of four lines of business: BT Global Services, Openreach, BT Retail and BT Wholesale. In the year ended 31 March 2005, BT Group's revenue was £18,623 million with profit before taxation of £2,354 million.
British Telecommunications plc (BT) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT Group and encompasses virtually all businesses and assets of the BT Group. BT Group plc is listed on stock exchanges in London and New York. For more information, visit http://www.bt.com/aboutbt
About Harte-Hanks
Harte-Hanks, Inc., San Antonio, TX, is a worldwide, direct and targeted marketing company that provides direct marketing services and shopper advertising opportunities to a wide range of local, regional, national and international consumer and business-to-business marketers. Visit the Harte-Hanks Web site at www.harte-hanks.com or call in the USA (800) 456-9748 and in the United Kingdom call +44 (0) 1344 325500.
Harte Hanks Trillium Software provides businesses with Total Data Quality solutions - a full complement of technologies and services providing global data profiling, data cleansing, enhancement, and data linking for e-business, customer relationship management, enterprise resource planning, supply chain management, data warehouse, and other enterprise applications. Use of the Trillium Software System® by many of the world's largest and most successful companies has made Trillium Software the leader in its marketplace. For more information about Trillium Software and its offerings, call in the USA (978) 436-8900 and in the United Kingdom call +44 (0) 118 940 7666, or visit Trillium Software online at www.trilliumsoftware.com
Trillium Software is a registered trademark of Harte-Hanks, Inc. All other product and company names and trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Media Contacts:
UK: Derek Harris
Harris Communications
+44 (0) 845 838 6044
derek@harriscomms.com
USA: Patricia Mercier
Harte-Hanks Trillium Software
(978) 436-2794
patricia_mercier@trilliumsoftware.com
