Outsourcing shines at unisys processing center

Today, Aug 2002

EXCEPTIONS ACCOUNT FOR 20% OF ALL PROCESSING BUT ARE 80% OF THE COSTS-IS OUTSOURCING THE SOLUTION?

Organizations continue to be challenged to generate higher profits and at the same time, find ways to reduce costs. Although automation can facilitate these objectives, the initial cash outlay and risks involved can outweigh the intended benefits. Recognizing this challenge, companies are turning to a third option-the service bureau. Responding to the outsourcing migration, remittance processing technology vendor Unisys (215-986-3204 /www.unisys.com) has added outsourcing options to its business. Unisys' remittance processing solution is offering payment processing services for those organizations who prefer to outsource payment processing.

Unisys' service bureau option leverages the latest Unisys remittance processing solution which is currently processing over 79 million payments a month at 17 locations.

At Unisys, payment processing services include a cash management system (CMS), image archive, and electronic transaction solutions. CMS leverages banking relationships and finds the lowest deposit cost and best availability. Image archive provides multiple search features and a production class document management system. Additional services include electronic agents. pay-by-phone and optional ACH (Automatic Clearing House) processing.

HANDLING EXCEPTIONS

Exceptions typically make up 20% of all processing but are 80% of the costs. Unisys estimates that the cost for its clients to process each exception manually is approximately 47 cents or more. Opting for an outsourced payment processing service reduces these operating costs by eliminating the need to maintain extensive workers required for manual exception processing.

Unisys services not only process single full payments but also 100% of all exceptions. These exceptions may include:

* Partial single pay

* Checks only (checks without stubs)

* Agents (stubs only from third parties)

* Electronic files

* Multiples (both multiple stubs and/or checks)

* Miscellaneous items

* Non-sufficient funds (NSF) checks

* Check and list

UNSCRAMBLING CABLE BILL PAYMENTS

Founded in 1963, Comcast (www.comcast.com) has grown from a single system cable operation into one of the world's leading communication companies. Comcast Cable is the country's third largest provider of cable services, serving more than 8.4 million cable subscribers.

Previously, Comcast Cable managed its payments at 17 facilities throughout the U.S. By outsourcing the business to Unisys, the cable company has been able to consolidate its processing.

The RPS System smoothly automates processing. "It's pretty clean," said Connie Shoemaker, remittance processing manager at Unisys. So clean in fact, that payments can be processed with an average of one employee for every 100,000 monthly payments. (26 employees for the 2.6 million payments.)

These goals are reached by equipping the center with high-end equipment. The NDP 1150 high-speed document processors include features such as intelligent speed selection that enables operators to maximize document throughput. The NDP 1150 can feed documents at variable speeds, from 500 to 1150 dpm, selecting the best transport speed based on the type of work being processed.

Variable speeds allow the user to customize the sorting to accommodate the workflow and/or operator and achieve greater throughput.

In addition to state-of-the-art software and hardware (see profile) the processing center has a highly experienced staff of data operators. According to Shoemaker, the team works hard, having been together even before the Unisys center was created. "We're pretty tough on them," jokes Shoemaker.

Outsourcing payment processing holds additional benefits, which Unisys stresses to its clients:

Audited performance

While Unisys commits to its clients that 98% of all payments received by 6:30 a.m. will be processed and delivered to the bank by 7:00 p.m. daily, Shoemaker points out that a 100% deposit is their expectation. Additionally, an outsourced commitment specifies the accuracy of processing; Fbr Comcast, the number of errors are assured to not exceed 15 per 100,000 checks processed.

Security

Another advantage to an outsourced facility is the security it provides. The Unisys Processing Center provides a key-access building with surveillance cameras monitoring the work areas and motion detectors in a locked payment processing room.

Despite the high volume of payments handled, the center is seeking to add additional clients in the months ahead.

"We're looking to be a 24/7

operation," Shoemaker said. "We have the capacity to do 6.7 million (monthly)."