New England Gas Company (NEG), a division of Southern Union Company (NYSE: SUG) headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island and serving residential and commercial customers in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, has selected CGI Group Inc. (CGI) (TSX: GIB.SV.A; NYSE: GIB), a leading provider of solutions and services to the utilities sector, to deploy an enterprise-wide Mobile Workforce Management Solution suite (MWFMS) for NEG's distribution business operations.
As prime contractor, CGI's utility solutions team will deliver a turnkey solution that will fully automate NEG's utility field operations in order to streamline business process execution, increase productivity, and extend the capabilities of its mobile workforce. The project includes the integration of CGI's MWFMS solution suite with NEG's Indus Advantage CIS, GE Smallworld GIS, Oracle (Financial, HR & Inventory), and its construction and maintenance systems for full management functionality. CGI will provide the application software, system integration, application and database hardware, and project management services, while its subcontractor, CyberComm, will supply the required Panasonic mobile data terminals.
In addition to automating a host of field service processes, the CGI MWFMS applications will enable NEG to manage its mobile workforce remotely and establish real-time communications to and from the field for effective customer appointment taking. The tight integration to NEG's CIS will increase the effectiveness of first-time call resolution by streamlining incoming customer service calls, the generation of work orders, scheduling, street-level routing, and mobile dispatch operations.
“CGI's Mobile Workforce Management suite of solutions will allow us to make use of the latest technology for immediate benefits in distribution and customer service operations through more efficient field resource management,” said Karen Czaplewski, vice-president of Customer Service and Information Technology for New England Gas. “This will help differentiate New England Gas with a strong competitive position in an industry that is driven by customer growth and quality care.”
François Ouzilleau, vice-president of Integration Services for CGI's utility solutions sector added: “We are delighted to partner with NEG in this strategic initiative. Our commitment to provide NEG with enhanced performance for customer-focused field work will help them to meet their business objectives while improving service delivery, time management and ultimately, cross-organizational optimization.”
About New England Gas Company
New England Gas Company, headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island, serves over 290,000 residential and commercial customers in Rhode Island and Massachusetts and employs more than 700 people. It is a division of Southern Union Company (NYSE: SUG). Southern Union Company, headquartered in Scranton, Pennsylvania, is engaged primarily in the transportation and distribution of natural gas. For more information, visit www.negasco.com or www.southernunionco.com.
About CGI
Founded in 1976, CGI is among the largest independent information technology and business process services firms in North America. CGI and its affiliated companies employ approximately 25,000 professionals. CGI provides end-to-end IT and business process services to clients worldwide from offices in Canada, the United States, Europe, Asia Pacific as well as from centers of excellence in India and Canada. CGI's annualized revenue run rate is currently CDN$3.8 billion (US$3.0 billion) and at June 30, 2005, CGI's order backlog was CDN$12.9 billion (US$10 billion). CGI's shares are listed on the TSX (GIB.SV.A) and the NYSE (GIB) and are included in the S&P/TSX Composite Index as well as the S&P/TSX Capped Information Technology and MidCap Indices. Website: www.cgi.com.
– 30 –
For more information:
CGI utility solutions & services
Heather Tracy
(514) 228-8888
