The launch of SilverBlaze premier announced by a Canadian-based software company and a U.S.-headquartered billing provider will offer the best of both, executives said in a recent news release.
The collaboration was announced Tuesday, Nov. 16, by Harris Utilities and InvoiceCloud in a joint news release.
An Arlington Water Utilities Department crew on the job in Arlington, Texas. The public utility integrated SilverBlaze and InvoiceCloud software before the collaboration announced this week.
| arlingtontx.gov/
Customers will benefit from SilverBlaze, a business unit of both companies that offers an EngageSmart solution for online bill payment services, InvoiceCloud President Tom Griffin said in the news release.
"SilverBlaze Premier with InvoiceCloud brings together leading customer engagement technology with the industry-leading online bill payment solution in one package," Griffin said. "Our joint customers are delighted by the increased engagement, payer options and revenue collected since implementing the portal, all while reducing call center volume and employee frustration."
Harris Utilities, based in Ottawa, Ontario, is a vertical market software business acquisition company.
InvoiceCloud is a core billing solutions company that serves utilities, local governments, insurance and consumer finance. Based in Braintree, Massachusetts, InvoiceCloud maintains offices in Brownsville, Texas; Madison, Wisconsin; Marlborough, Massachusetts; and Memphis, Tennessee.
The new customer engagement platform and the announced partnership is expected to strengthen both companies' and their place in the U.S. utility market, according to the news release. SilverBlaze provides utilities payer engagement tools such as smart meter management, conservation and outage reporting.
That is important at any time but especially during the ongoing pandemic, Harris Utilities Senior Executive Vice President Jim Simak said in the news release.
"Utilities are under enormous pressure to provide the very latest in contactless, self-service solutions," Simak said. "This partnership ensures that utilities across the U.S. now have a turnkey solution integrated directly with their existing software."
The collaboration is expected to prioritize the U.S. utility market with the launch helping customers with their payment management.
While the collaboration is new, SilverBlaze and InvoiceCloud integration is not. For example, Arlington Water Utilities Department in Arlington, Texas, has implemented SilverBlaze and InvoiceCloud integration for drive e-adoption and paperless billing and payment. The new strategy has helped the City of Arlington decrease payment-related calls by 60% and realize $30,000 in annual savings in printing costs alone.