NEMA is a national, non-profit trade association representing wholesale and retail marketers of natural gas, electricity, as well as energy and financial related products, services, information and advanced technologies throughout the US, Canada and the European Union.  Its membership includes independent power producers, advanced metering, demand and load management firms, billing, back office, customer service and related information technology providers.

VoiceLog has been involved in the deregulated energy supply business for nearly a decade helping marketers of both gas and electricity in their new customer enrollment process via Third Party Verification (TPV).  Through products and services such as automated call recording, scripted recording, scripted TPV with quality control, speech recognition, and live operator services, VoiceLog provides companies with valuable information and documentation needed for sales tracking and verification.

In addition, as outsourced telemarketing and door-to-door sales have evolved as the two main channels utilized by marketers to acquire new residential and small commercial customers, the need to safeguard against fraudulent sales practices has become a greater issue of concern.  VoiceLog provides a valuable service as an unbiased third party in helping marketers ensure that their agents are acting in the best interest of their company and consumers.

This verification service has a growing importance in the competitive energy supply business as the deregulated energy market expands.  Therefore, VoiceLog has been working closely with regulators and marketers to develop new products and applications that meet the needs of both.

For further information on VoiceLog, please contact Dan Homa at 301.261.8583 or via email at dan.homa@bsgclearing.com.

On December 31, 2010 the rate caps expired, giving Pennsylvania consumers far wider options than they’ve ever had before.  While the majority of the players are reputable companies, already there are grumblings in the media about problems with slamming, where consumers’ utility services are switched to a new company without their consent.

These issues again drive home the importance and value of Third Party Verification.  Having an unrelated outside party walk through the process with the consumer to ensure they understand the terms of the switch and that they do in fact want to make the move is invaluable – offering peace of mind to the consumer and consumer groups, of course, and providing critical sales verification information to utility companies themselves.  By utilizing automated call recording, scripted recording, scripted TPV with quality control, speech recognition, or live operator services.

We know of instances where energy providers have come under fire for alleged unscrupulous sales tactics either by their own employees or contracted sales partners.  Having TPV in place would allow energy suppliers to monitor their sales teams and ensure that best practices are adhered to across the board.  Its good public relations. . .and just good business.

To learn more about Third Party Verification and the state of the art services offered by VoiceLog, visit www.bsgclearing.com/voicelog.

Last year, the JUGG Joggers and along with friends and family raised more than $4,000 at the Race.  This year? They are setting their goals even higher.

Participating in the Race for the Cure is rewarding experience that has a huge impact in communities all across America.  So go ahead and lace up your shoes…and join us.  To sign up as part of the JUGG Joggers team, call us for more information; or check the Komen chapter in your area to find out how you can get involved.

To learn more about the Race for the Cure, visit www.komensanantonio.org. To learn more about BSG Cares please visit our website.

BSG employees helped spread a little holiday cheer at SAMMinistries “Santa’s Workshop”, which gives parents and children receiving services from SAMMinistries the opportunity to ‘shop’ for gifts for their own family.

We applaud them and thank them for going the extra mile in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, The Vital Alliance Donate Life Run/Walk, and the National Down Syndrome Society “Buddy Walk”; for generously giving from their hearts to the United Way Campaign, SaMMinistries Santa’s Workshop and the Texas Department of Family and Protective Service’s “Three Christmas Families.”  We are honored to work with people who are committed to making our world a better place to live.

In the spirit of giving, we pause to wish our BSG family – and you – our BSG friends, customers and colleagues- a happy, healthy holiday season.

The good news is that, according to a recent study by Edge Research on behalf of Convio, 174 million adult Americans were planning to donate to a charity between Thanksgiving and the end of the year, with estimates predicting an increase of more than 30 percent over last year.

The research shows that when it comes to charitable giving, people like a variety of giving options by mail, online, at events or in person at events. What is most interesting are online donations, which, the research found, account for nearly half of all donations through any of the channels.

What charities have learned, however, is that donors of different ages differ in how and why they give. The younger generations give because of a sense of emotional connection, and tend to opt for frequent micropayments, smaller amounts spread out over a period of time often made online.

America’s big donor demographic at least to the top 100 U.S. charities- is women between 60-75 years of age who give out of a sense of obligation and habit. As a whole, they are uncomfortable with what they perceive as privacy and security risks of modern technology.

It is understood that many of these donors worry about identity theft and fraud and shy away from giving online or through credit cards, worried that someone will steal their information. The challenge for charities is to bridge that gap by providing these donors with a sense of security and privacy, so that they feel more comfortable giving in ways other than writing one paper check.

Our approach is to enable people to donate quickly and easily through a long-time trusted source: their local telephone company. Many donors and charities – may not realize that through Bill2Phone, there is a way for people to pay their donations through their home phone bill, which carries no interest charges or added fees, and allows donors to spread out their donations over the course of a year. The simple telephone bill is an existing payment vehicle sent to over 80 million households which is highly relevant in today’s world of giving. Have other creative ideas to share? Drop us a line or post it here!

Convio is a leading provider of on-demand constituent engagement solutions that enable nonprofit organizations to more effectively raise funds, advocate for change and cultivate relationships with donors, activists, volunteers, alumni and other constituents.  Their sold-out event is bringing more than 1,100 nonprofit professionals and technology experts together for a dynamic summit.

We’ll be sharing details about our convenient, user-friendly payment option,  Bill2Phone, and specifically how it can help non-profits.   With Bill2Phone Giving, donors can make charitable donations easily and securely and pay them later on their home phone bill; non-profit organizations gain access to more than 100 million potential donors, providing charities with a strong lift in donation conversion and sustained giving.  Charity and non-profit organizations can optimize the quality of lead generation with access to highly compatible donor target audiences and demographics accessible through BSG’s leading partnerships with U.S. phone companies.

It’s a perfect fit for charitable organizations and their constituents because donors can automatically add donations to their existing recurring phone bill, enabling charities to grow their sustained giving programs, and donors benefit from time savings, security and ease of use.

In today’s climate with many great charitable organizations struggling to maintain and grow their donor base, Bill2Phone can help establish a longer term and ongoing relationship between them and their valued donors.

Bill2Phone can be offered as a form of payment for multichannel contributions and fundraising initiatives, including for online donations; direct mail donations; both inbound and outbound telephone campaigns; DRTV and telethons; and event fundraising.

Other benefits of Bill2Phone?  It doesn’t require the use of a credit card or check; no log-ins, passwords or sign ups required to donate AND  Bill2Phone allows for both one time and recurring donations up to $100 monthly.

Want to learn more about Bill2Phone Giving?  Come see us at Convio or visit us online at www.bill2phone.com/verticals/giving.

The move was designed to level the playing field for new telecommunication companies and spur on competition. While the goal has been realized, number portability has created some interesting challenges for companies in the telecommunications space. Number portability has caused a fundamental change in the way the industry looks at telephone numbering. The industry has evolved from a very simple system to one that is much more complex. Back in the days before number portability, simply performing a lookup on the area code and exchange (NPA-NXX) of a specific telephone number identified the telecommunications company responsible for the number, the geographic location of the number, and the type of services it supported. The methodology made routing calls, inter-carrier settlements and the billing of third party charges simple and straight forward.

Flash forward to today – with multiple telecommunication players (traditional wireline, wireless operators, cable companies, other CLECS (resellers), MVNOs and pure play VoIP providers) all using the same numbering resources and consumer phone numbers bouncing from company to company, the use of the traditional six (or seven) digit look up to determine the company the end user perceives as his service provider is not only out of date but often provides completely inaccurate information.

Today, you must look at a telephone number at a 10 digit level to correctly identify the telephone company associated with the number. And even with 10 digits, questions can still arise, for instance, when an MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) resells a larger company’s networks, it is still difficult to identify the provider. It’s important to know who owns a customer from a network perspective vs. a billing perspective.

BSG has made a significant investment over the years in working to understand the impact number portability has had on telephone numbering. We have worked to develop tools which access the industry information that companies need to correctly identify the current owner of telephone numbers. BSG provides not only the tools companies need but provides our specific industry expertise.  We have tools that assist in the guiding, routing and billing of telecom services. BSG’s proprietary business information hub, BC BETI, provides access to the leading telecommunications industry sources via real-time batch or on-line interfaces. Our technical support team can help recommend the service which will best fit each of our customer’s individual needs.

Bottom line: It’s important for each company to understand how number portability has impacted their specific business operations and why it is so critical, to look beyond the first seven digits.
At least for now, 10 is the magic number.

No one likes a shamster . . . and when they do it on your dime, it can damage your business and reputation.  Now that a lot of states are deregulating the energy supplier industry and opening it up to competition, fraud, unfortunately, has become a big concern. 

Here’s one good example.

The deregulated energy industry in states across the U.S. has heated up the competitive search for new customers.  As utility companies clamor for new customers, though, an unsavory practice has crept up.  Unfortunately, some door-to-door sales reps are forging customer signatures on the letter of authorization to drive up their commission or meet the high sales demands from their management.  Essentially, sales people are stealing customers by switching them to new energy services without their ok.  The management at these companies can’t possibly be on site to ensure their employees or sales contractors are following best practices, and often just take their word for it that the consumer really signed the agreement. 

That’s why many states and regulatory authorities are supporters of third party verification services (TPV) because it can stop disreputable sales guys in their tracks.  And if when consumers know a company has their back?  They have more confidence in making a purchase or signup up for a new service because they know a neutral party is confirming they understood the terms and conditions of the transaction before it can happen. 

There are similar problems in other industries which we want to hear about.  We all benefit from increased vigilance and sharing of ideas on how to further reduce fraud.