InterVoice Collaborated With U.S. Order on Software
InterVoice Inc., a vendor of telephone-automation systems, has signed a contract with First Tennessee Corp.
Under the terms of the contract, InterVoice will provide telephone bill-payment software to the $9 billion-asset bank.
Neither party would disclose the financial terms of the contract.
The Memphis-based institution, which operates throughout the state, will install InterVoice's RobotOperator/BillPayment system, allowing customers to pay bills electronically from touch-tone phones.
Callers will be guided through the process by the system's voice prompts, which instruct them to enter codes and numbers. The system is expected to be up and running by late summer, said First Tennessee officials.
Phone Inquiries
The bank has been using an automated telephone system for its customer-service center, where customers call to inquire, where customers call to inquire about account balances, for a few years.
The bank has only recently added the bill payment application, and will soon be adding funds transfer capability, said Susan Terry, vice president of marketing information management at First Tennessee.
To provide the additional services, InterVoice teamed up earlier this year with U.S. Order, Herndon, Va., which provides home banking, bill payment, and home shopping servives and developed the ScanFone and PhonePlus screen telephones.
The two companies are developing an interface between InterVoice's automated telephone system and U.S. Order's BankPlus bill-payment system, to offer packaged home-banking services. Banks will be able to offer customers the choice of using touch-tone phones or screen phones to access services.
The First Tennessee contract is "a good example of how providers can work together with a financial institution to develop bank-branded, cost-effective solutions to meet customers' remote banking needs," said William F. Gorog, chairman and chief executive officer of U.S. Order.
$5 for 10 Bills
First Tennessee will charge customers $5 each month to use the touch-tone service, allowing customers them to pay up to 10 bills. There is an additional charge if customers wish to pay more than 10 bills per month through the service.
The bank plans to offer access to the service through U.S. Order's PhonePlus later in the year, and through personal computers early next year.
