Applying Forensic Methodologies to Bill Print Review

Transcription

1 Applying Forensic Methodologies to Bill Print Review

2 Monica O Brien Burbank Water and Power Customer Service Division Derek Somerville Sure Power Consulting Chief Executive Officer

3 Monica O Brien Derek Somerville 20 years Customer Service experience Former FBI Special Agent 10 years Utility Experience CCB, AMI, MDM, EBPP, & Customer Portal Deployments MA Organizational Leadership 20+ years Technology leadership experience Fmr. Vice President Revenue Management, DS Waters ($1B) United States Marine

4 About BWP

5 about bwp 50,000 Customers AMI Since 2009 Customer Portal offering paperless billing since 2007 Electric, Water, Refuse, Sewer, and Emergency Medical Services

6 about bwp AFFORDABILITY RELIABILITY SUSTAINABILITY $$$ % page 06

7 about bwp 45,071 5,534 Small Commercial 1,051 Medium Commercial 95 Large Commercial 41 Extra Large Commercial 24.6% 8.7% 18.5% 18.6% 26.2% of Load of Load of Load of Load of Load page 07

8 about bwp SEWER Water Electric Sewer Solid Waste page 08

9 About Sure Power

10 about Sure Power 100% Utility Industry Focused Over 800,000 Hours Consulting Experience 580+ Consultants Engaged Since Sure Power s Inception 80,000+ CIS Consulting Hours Annually

11 about Sure Power CIS / Customer Advanced GIS Cyber / Operations Metering NERC-CIP Work / Asset Core ERP Project Utility Operations Management Oracle / SAP Management page 011

12 about Sure Power page 012

13 independent forensic audit Why did we do an audit? page 013

14 independent forensic audit Customers saying they did not receive their bills and notices timely High volume returned mail Attempting to document Invoice Approval Quality Controls 75% High number of jobs that never confirmed 100% complete through vendor reporting page 014

15 Independent Forensic Audit of Bill Print and Mail Vendor Performance & Invoices

16 audit keys to success Access to data and proficiency with related tools A relentlessly interrogative mind Desire to discover and to solve Manageable impatience Unshakeable integrity

17 audit scope The scope of this audit was limited to Burbank Water & Power s bill-presentment process, and more specifically from the point of Burbank s print file(s) submission to the Vendor through delivery of completed mail-pieces to the United States Post Office s (USPS) Business Mail Entry Unit (BMEU) for delivery to intended recipients (customers). page 017

18 areas of focus Mail Performance Returned Mail Contract Pricing

19 areas of focus Service Level Agreement Vendor Operations Postage Vendor Reporting

20 audit methodology Dissect: Break Down to Smallest Components Reconcile: Compare & Reconcile Each Components Question: Question Each Result Challenge: Challenge Each Finding & Result Establish Facts

21 data elements & artifacts File receipt metrics File complete metrics File transmission metrics SLA performance metrics Postage counts (type & volume) Delivery Confirmation Receipts

22 data elements & artifacts Mailed envelope counts Print Impression counts Page (paper) counts Bill-print vendor invoices Seed mail results (from vendor) Return mail: statements Return mail: termination notification Seed-mail: all categories Seed mail results (performed by BWP for this audit)

23 The Results

24 Service Level Agreements Service Level Performance is self-reported and difficult to objectively confirm Closer examination revealed inaccurate claims of service level compliance Service Levels are contractual, thus recurring failure to achieve SLA is a potential breach

25 Mail Performance Vendor reporting on mail delivery dates did not align with USPS reports or standards Seed mail results sent by BWP were inconsistent with Vendor reports

26 Mail delays Not all correspondence was performing equally (statement / dunning / disconnect) 7-Day Disconnection Notices were taking an average of 4.7 days to arrive in mailboxes

27 VENDOR 3 rd party presort PRESORT HOUSE Prevented proper postage discounting on numerous mail pieces Violated contract & caused potential mail delays POST OFFICE No knowledge of 3rd party or their QCs and protection of our customer data

28 Contract Pricing Pricing for consumables was incorrect up to 16 times the contracted rates Postal Rates were not consistent with USPS standard First Class Rates rates varied monthly between 46, 47 & 49 cents per 1 oz piece. 46 cents is correct

29 Returned Mail Excessive Return Mail comprised largely of repeat offenders 55% of change of address notifications would repeat at least 2 months after initial 33% of NIXIE or undeliverable mail would repeat at least one month

30 Vendor s Response

31 vendor s response Acknowledged Overcharging Received 12 month credit for some consumables Presented a new pricing structure similar to the original contract pricing. Failed to acknowledge or give information about the third party presort house.

32 What We Learned

33 lessons learned Know the Contract & Your Business Listen to Your Customers Document Processes & Make Sure Everyone is Trained Properly Question Everything Search for facts and act on them

34 Any Questions? page 034

35 thank you.