Verizon Business Intros Global Billing Report

July 21, 2008

Verizon Business multinational customers now have a more convenient way to view, monitor and analyze their expenses, with the company's introduction of Global Billing Report. Customers can use this advanced tool, available at no cost through the Verizon Enterprise Center (VEC), to view worldwide communications expenses online in both the original billed currency and another currency selected by the customer.

Global Billing Report is immediately available, and a number of customers headquartered in Europe, Asia and the United States are currently using the tool to manage their worldwide billing information.

"Our customers are eager for a sophisticated and consolidated view of their global communications operations and expenses," said Tom Vitale, vice president of customer enablement and cross-product support for Verizon Business. "Global Billing Report replaces disparate billing reports, historically accessed in various ways, with one customizable and holistic online tool."

Global Billing Report is made possible through a comprehensive billing transformation initiative through which Verizon Business has consolidated customer billing data from all regions into one centralized data repository. As a result, Global Billing Report can combine billing data from domestic and international invoices into a group of summary reports that provide a more detailed view of a customer's services across the regions where the customer operates. The company plans a series of future enhancements, including expanded product-level reporting and additional languages.

Global Billing Report simplifies the process of reviewing invoices before making payment. Customers can view and analyze invoices in various levels of detail, from high-level summaries to individual charges. The billing information that is included in Global Billing Report can be easily and efficiently downloaded, as well as viewed online. The tool is fully integrated into the Invoices section of the VEC, allowing customers to easily isolate an individual invoice to view images, and in many cases, line item detail.

When customers sign up for Global Billing Report, they can select the invoices to be included and choose the currency. Each month, Global Billing Report converts all invoices to the customer's requested currency, allowing them to see the charges in both the original and converted currencies. Invoices are grouped by international region (United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, Canada and Latin America), as well as shown in a consolidated master list to enable customers to analyze expenses by country, region, or across a worldwide enterprise.

Global Billing Report is the newest offering in Verizon Business' suite of online self-service billing applications that provide a practical and environmentally friendly alternative to paper-based billing and reporting. Verizon Business offers a variety of paper-free billing and reporting options which enable customers to review, analyze and, in many instances, pay their invoices online. Available options include EDI Billing, BillManager, Direct Data Billing Services and Online Billing through the VEC.

Verizon Business encourages its large-business and government customers to take advantage of its online billing applications to help customers better manage and report on their communications expenses. Last year, Verizon Business teamed with Computershare and American Forests on a program to plant a tree for every customer who registers to conveniently view and pay bills online. The program is modeled after Verizon's successful eTree program for shareholders who opt for electronic versions of annual reports, proxies and other shareholder communications materials. Paper-free billing offers both cost and conservation benefits, especially for enterprise customers whose invoices for a single month of call detail can number tens of thousands of pages.

The feature-rich VEC online portal allows customers to place orders, view and pay invoices, create trouble tickets and analytical reports, and monitor and manage their voice, data and IP services with the company. It provides near real-time access to information so companies can make informed decisions about their domestic and global networks. Users can access the VEC virtually anywhere in the world, at any time.