NI Water is getting ready to tender contract for customer billing and contact renewal and implementation programme worth an estimated £55 million.

The water company has issued a Prior Information Notice (PIN) to inform potential service providers of the upcoming competition for the provision of contact centre, billing, debt and channel management services, along with supporting solutions and technology.

NI Water is inviting potential tenderers to register their business on the www.eTendersNI.gov.uk website – for suppliers who are already registered the water company is recommending them to review their contact details to ensure the information is up to date.

NI Water said that customer contact, billing and debt management are critical components of customer service and operations. Currently the service supports billing services for approximately 80,000 non-domestic business customers and manages approximately 170,000 customer calls per annum (comprising circa 75% operational and 25% billing related calls).

With the approaching expiration of existing service, software licencing and support contract arrangements (the current Customer Contact and Billing (CBC) contract), NI Water is looking to procure the services of a provider to supply a new contact centre service, billing, debt and channel management services, along with supporting solutions and technology required to provide service continuity.

The new supplier will also be required to provide service enhancements through the delivery of modern and sustainable technology solutions and new ways of working.

Anticipated initial term of the contract is 7 years with potential extensions of 2 years and a further 1 year. Estimated date of publication of the formal contract notice is 7 February 2022 – click here to access the Prior Information Notice.

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