South Jersey Gas Selects Oracle Utilities Solutions to Support Enterprise-Wide Customer Service Transformation Initiative

[January 24, 2013]

South Jersey Gas Selects Oracle Utilities Solutions to Support Enterprise-Wide Customer Service Transformation Initiative

REDWOOD SHORES, CA, Jan 24, 2013 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) News Facts -- South Jersey Gas -- an investor-owned natural gas utility with approximately 700 employees and over 354,000 customers within the seven counties in Southern New Jersey -- selected Oracle Utilities Customer Care and Billing, Oracle Utilities Customer Self-Service and Oracle Utilities Customer Care and Billing Business Intelligence to support its enterprise-wide customer service transformation initiative.

-- South Jersey Gas is replacing a legacy customer information system (CIS) with Oracle's integrated utility platform -- which supports complete customer care, billing, credit and collections and payment processing -- as a business imperative to continue providing its customers with the level of service they expect and deserve.

-- Oracle Utilities Customer Care and Billing and Oracle Utilities Customer Self-Service will give South Jersey Gas customer service representatives a 360-degree view of customer and premise data, helping streamline billing processes and enabling more responsive customer service. The utility expects that the solutions will help reduce abandoned calls, wait time, average handle time and training time for customer service representatives, as well as increase first call resolutions.

-- With the Oracle applications in place, the utility will work to manage all aspects of the utility customer lifecycle including service connection, meter read management, complex billing, payment processing and debt collection. South Jersey Gas also plans to use the Oracle solutions to more easily implement rate changes through flexible rate and billing structures as well as to ensure all customers receive a correct bill.

-- Additionally, with Oracle Utilities Customer Care and Billing Business Intelligence, South Jersey Gas hopes to easily organize consistent, relevant and timely customer data from across the enterprise to improve reporting processes. These reports will provide South Jersey Gas management with a holistic view of customer-related information to improve decision making and ensure regulatory compliance in a deregulated market.

Supporting Quotes -- "Oracle Utilities will enable us to easily and effectively share data across our company to enhance and streamline our customer service processes, while providing flexibility to support long-term strategic goals," said Samuel Pignatelli, Vice President Operational Initiatives, South Jersey Gas.

-- "Deregulation, increased competition and customer demands for superior service all contribute to a utility's need to continuously improve organizational effectiveness. Oracle Utilities Customer Care and Billing, Oracle Utilities Customer Self-Service and Oracle Utilities Customer Care and Billing Business Intelligence will help South Jersey Gas to harness a complete view of customer data, streamline billing processes and enable more responsive customer service," said Rodger Smith, senior vice president and general manager, Oracle Utilities.

Supporting Resources -- Oracle Utilities -- Oracle Utilities on Facebook -- Oracle Utilities on Twitter -- Oracle Utilities on LinkedIn -- Oracle Utilities YouTube Channel -- Oracle Utilities on Diigo About Oracle Utilities Oracle Utilities delivers proven software applications that help utilities of all types and sizes achieve competitive advantage, business performance excellence and a lower total cost of technology ownership. Oracle Utilities integrates industry-specific customer care and billing, network management, work and asset management, mobile workforce management and meter data management applications with the capabilities of Oracle's industry-leading enterprise applications, business intelligence tools, middleware, database technologies, as well as servers and storage. The software enables customers to adapt more nimbly to market deregulation, meet ever-evolving customer demands and deliver on environmental conservation commitments. Additionally, Oracle Utilities helps utilities prepare for smart metering and smart grid initiatives that enhance efficiency and provide critical intelligence metrics that can help drive more-informed energy and water usage decisions for consumers and businesses. For more information, visit www.oracle.com/goto/utilities.

About Oracle Oracle engineers hardware and software to work together in the cloud and in your data center. For more information about Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL), visit www.oracle.com.

About Oracle in Industries Oracle industry solutions leverage the company's best-in-class portfolio of products to address complex business processes relevant to utilities, helping speed time to market, reduce costs, and gain a competitive edge.

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Contact Info Candice van der Laan Oracle +1.650.506.0814 Email Contact Lacy Cooper O'Keeffe & Company +1.540.364.5913 Email Contact SOURCE: Oracle Corporation http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/emailprcntct id=86FBAC08BA8D4AF5 http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/emailprcntct id=E4E9E7D04F979B6E

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