FARYS

Technology is also critical in everyday communications with FARYS customers, such as water bills and letters. Opreel noted that the IT department at FARYS plays a vital role in supporting customer communications management (CCM) with technology that supports the creation, delivery, storage, and retrieval of outbound communications, including customer correspondence, marketing communications, new product introductions, and bill and payment notifications. “We have a clear IT vision for a centralized system where we can reach all our customers, whether it’s digital or paper, through a single platform,” said Opreel.

In the past, FARYS had relied on an external print shop to produce customer documents, which was costly and lacked flexibility. “If we wanted to add a new type of document, or if we wanted to change the layout, then we were dependent on the print shop to make those changes. This took a lot of time and cost us a lot of money. Also, if we were not satisfied with certain services, we couldn’t look elsewhere because we were tied to the print shop,” said Opreel.

Efficient and dynamic customer communications

Several years ago, to gain control, flexibility, and efficiency in its customer communications management (CCM) approach, FARYS assessed various solutions and ultimately selected OpenText StreamServe to provide the platform it needed. “We did a study, and at that time, OpenText StreamServe was chosen. We have a very big SAP landscape, and StreamServe integrated very seamlessly into that landscape,” said Opreel.

By moving to the OpenText CCM solution, FARYS was able to automate and customize customer documents to save time, money, and reduce the need for external resources. The solution allowed business users to quickly and easily create, edit, and personalize content for customers. Opreel reported, “One of the main benefits was that we were not dependent on the print shop anymore. This was very much appreciated from the business side, where they can do their own changes in layout, text, and fields.”

Boosting CCM with OpenText Exstream

After a successful StreamServe deployment, FARYS recently made the upgrade to OpenText Exstream, the next step in OpenText’s CCM roadmap. The upgrade would facilitate communications regardless of output channel, device, or screen size. The solution also featured connectors and improved API (REST) to ensure seamless integration with business applications such as SAP, in addition to content collaboration with OpenText xECM and Core Share and a digital signature application with OpenText Core Signature.

The initial OpenText StreamServe deployment and the subsequent upgrade to OpenText Exstream were supported by the OpenText Professional Services team. Opreel commented, “OpenText Professional Services not only provided expertise in the matter, but they really guided us through the whole project to make sure that we had a high quality, robust solution that we could build on in the future. This has been a huge benefit to us as we now have a solid platform that allows us to send thousands of documents out in a few seconds.”

The upgrade has also provided full visibility into the status of document delivery, tracking, and response. Opreel commented, “An important benefit to our application team is that they can monitor the whole document cycle, from the bills that are generated within SAP, to what is coming in OpenText Exstream, what has been processed for output, and which output channel. They can follow all these numbers through the OpenText technology and ensure that we are not losing any bills.”

Integrated systems for quality communications

The new solution easily connects with other business systems at FARYS, such as SAP, to integrate data and content. “The upgrade has enabled us to use new features of the OpenText Exstream product, like the APIs, so we can connect more easily to SAP and to other systems,” said Opreel. “The connection between SAP and OpenText is a huge benefit for us. We produce more than 2million documents annually. Every document that is generated in SAP, be it a bill, purchase order, or letter to personnel, is now done by one system, OpenText Exstream.”

The Exstream upgrade also provided improved integration with OpenText Core Signature, a cloud-based electronic signature application that allows parties to sign documents quickly and easily. The application filled a need in the FARYS customer portal where the customer form for moving in to or moving out of a location requires a signature. Opreel explained, “OpenText Core Signature helps make this process completely digital, by adding a digital signature. Using the OpenText APIs to integrate Core Signature with OpenText Exstream and SAP, our customers don’t have to log in to another portal to provide a signature. The document that is generated by OpenText Exstream is available for our customers to digitally sign right there in our portal. It’s working very well.

A future in the cloud

The next step in the company’s upgrade plan is the implementation of OpenText Core Share, a solution that allows internal and external users to securely share and collaborate on content. Opreel explained, “The first phase of implementing OpenText Core Share is to support our SAP project portfolio management, which we are upgrading in S/4HANA. With utilities infrastructure projects, there are a lot of documents that need to be either shared or uploaded by external parties.”

For the time being, FARYS is following a hybrid strategy with OpenText Core Share and Core Signature running in the OpenText Cloud, while OpenText Exstream remains on-premises. However, with technology and innovation always driving FARYS to grow and to meet goals related to sustainable water management, the company predicts a future move to the cloud. Opreel explained, “We have our core applications such as SAP on-premises, but for innovation, we really look to the cloud. Eventually, we will move everything to the cloud because it provides a fast and agile way to bring innovation into the organization.”