Business Unit Agreement between SBC Telco and SBCLD

Business Unit Agreement (BUA)

for

Billing Inquiry Services

between

SBC Long Distance

and

SBC Telco

Table of Contents

1.Document Overview......

1.1Purpose...... 1

1.2Scope...... 1

1.3Assumptions...... 1

1.4Change Management Process...... 1

1.5Definitions, Acronyms & Abbreviations...... 2

2.Provision of Billing Inquiry Services ...... 3

2.1Roles and Responsibilities...... 3

2.2Workflow and Communications...... 3

2.3Call Quality...... 5

3.Training...... 5

3.1Initial Training...... 5

3.2Continuation Training...... 5

4.SYSTEM SUPPORT ...... 6

4.1System Support Documentation...... 6

4.2System Availability & Reliability...... 6

4.3SBCLD / IT Service Level Agreement...... 7

4.4Scheduled Maintenance...... 7

4.5System Outages & Trouble Tickets...... 7

4.6Technical Assistance:...... 8

4.6.1Off-site...... 8

4.6.2On-site...... 8

4.7Reports...... 8

5.Approvals...... 9

ATTACHMENT 1 HELP DESK DEFINITION OF PRIORITIES...... 10

PROPRIETARY and CONFIDENTIAL

Not for disclosure outside SBC Affiliates.

Business Unit Agreement between SBC Telco and SBCLD

1.Document Overview

1.1 Purpose

1.1.1This Business Unit Agreement (BUA) is an amendment to and further defines the inquiry procedures set forth in the Billing and Collections Agreement between SBC Long Distance (SBCLD) and SBC Telco dated 3/1/2000 (Southwest) and 12/18/2002 (West). This document sets forth in greater detail the billing inquiry support responsibilities of each company. The effective date of this Amendment is April 30, 2003.

1.2 Scope

1.2.1This BUA covers Billing Inquiry Services for:

SBCLD Voice Products

SBCLD Dedicated Voice

SBCLD Data Products

SBCLD Billing Products

Additional SBCLD charges that may be agreed to by the parties.

Billed via:

  • SBCLD Direct Bill (business segment only)
  • SBCLD Shared Bill (business and consumer segments)

1.3 Assumptions

1.3.1 This document is intended for SBC Telco Business and Consumer segments.

1.4 Change Management Process

1.4.1This Agreement will be in effect for one year and may be extended by mutual agreement of both parties. This Agreement may be modified by mutual agreement of both parties prior to the expiration date.

1.4.2For subsequent changes to this BUA, the following steps will be taken:

Step 1:The Party initiating the change request shall submit it in writing to the other Party.

Step 2:The other Party shall respond within 21 days of receipt of the Change Request whether it is willing or not to proceed with the Change Request, or willing to proceed with Modifications. If the Party accepts the Change Request or accepts the Change Request with modifications, the Parties shall amend this Agreement to reflect the agreed upon Change Request.

1.5 Definitions, Acronyms & Abbreviations

TERM / DEFINITION
BCS / Business Communications Services – Business
BCS Sales Operations / Staff support group for Business Communications Services
Billing Inquiry Service / Includes basic explanation of customer bills (including optional price plans), sustaining of appropriate charges - including thorough toll investigation of all calls (domestic and international calls), issuance of necessary credits, and initiation of necessary order or record correction.
Guiding Principle: If SBCLD proposes to introduce new procedures and/or make process changes that may impact existing SBC Telco processes, SBCLD and each SBC telco agree to work jointly to evaluate potential impacts on a case-by-case basis before the proposed changes are implemented by SBCLD.
BUA / Business Unit Agreement
CMG / Consumer Markets Group
CMG Sales Operations / Staff support group for Consumer Markets Group
Direct Bill / Bill is rendered directly to end-user by SBCLD, not utilizing the SBC Telco billing system.
IMG / Industry Markets Group
IPOC / Inter-exchange Point of Contact
IT / Information Technology (entity of SBC Corporation)
Lattis Pro / SBCLD Pricing Tool
LDSC / Long Distance Support Center in SBCLD
LSA / Local Site Administrator (a.k.a. Local Security Administrator or Local System Administrator). Generally the person at a location who interacts with the systems from a profiling perspective.
Mutual Agreement / Mutual Agreement consists of all parties agreeing to the requirement. All parties consist of SBCLD and the Consumer and Business organizations of each separate SBC Telco.
RSC / Resource Solution Center in SBCLD (formerly known as Call-AMI)
SPOC/RSC Intake Form / Communication tool utilized by the SBC Telcos to advise SBCLD of scenarios requiring their attention associated with SBCLD’s internal systems.
SBCLD / SBC Long Distance
SBCSI / SBC Services, Inc
SBC Telco / Southwestern Bell Telephone, L.P., d/b/a SBC Oklahoma, SBC Missouri, SBC Texas, SBC Arkansas and SBC Kansas; Pacific Bell Telephone Company d/b/a SBC California; Nevada Bell Telephone d/b/a SBC Nevada; Illinois Bell Telephone Company d/b/a SBC Illinois; Indiana Bell Telephone Company Incorporated d/b/a SBC Indiana; Michigan Bell Telephone Company d/b/a SBC Michigan; The Ohio Bell Telephone Company d/b/a SBC Ohio; Wisconsin Bell, Inc. d/b/a SBC Wisconsin; The Southern New England Telephone Company. These entities shall collectively be referred to as SBC Telco.
Shared Bill / SBC Telco bill rendered to the end-user where both local and long distance charges appear
SLA / Service Level Agreement (term previously used for BUA)
TeLD or TLD / Telegence Long Distance – SBCLD billing and ordering system
VPT / Voice Pricing Tool (SBCLD)
WOT / Web Order Tool (SBCLD)

1.6SBCLD and SBC Telco will designate a single point of contact to communicate inquiries associated with this Agreement.

2. Provision of Billing Inquiry Services

2.1Roles and Responsibilities

2.1.1SBC Telco Billing Inquiry Service includes basic explanation of customer bills (including optional price plans), sustaining of appropriate charges- including thorough toll investigation of all calls (domestic and international calls), issuance of necessary credits, and (if appropriate) initiation of necessary order or record corrections. If agreed to by both parties, SBCLD will assist in the investigation and correction of large volume of adjustments if the SBC Telco is unable to efficiently process them via the normal manner.

2.1.2SBC Telco will provide Billing Inquiry Service for direct billed customers (charges billed by SBCLD) and shared billed customers. In providing billing inquiry services, SBC Telco will utilize TLD, and if necessary the SBC Telco billing system (e.g.BOSS).

2.1.3In performing billing inquiry services for SBCLD, SBC Telco will use existing SBC Telco credit and adjustment guidelines and procedures, and if agreed to by SBC Telco, SBC Telco will incorporate SBCLD specific inquiry requirements. If agreed to by both parties, SBCLD will assist in the investigation and correction of large volume of adjustments if the SBC Telco is unable to efficiently process them via the normal manner.

2.1.4 Escalations will be addressed on an individual case basis, utilizing our current M&P.

2.2Workflow and Communication

2.2.1SBC Telco SPOC's are responsible for owning problemsand issues resolvable via:

  • M&P
  • SBC Telco/SBCLD system account review and correction
  • System user guides
  • PIC validation

2.2.2In some instances, SBCLD will need to resolve billing issues (e.g. recoveries involving taxes and surcharges, system data not matching customer records, etc.). When there is a discrepancy between an end-user's records in SBC Telco system (e.g. BOSS) and/or TLD , SBC Telco SMEs/SPOCs will e-mail requests for assistance to SBCLD and provide understandable/complete problem/issue description with, as appropriate, supporting materials andsteps taken toward resolving the issues using the SPOC/RSC Intake Form. The SBCLD RSC will log, assign Priority Level, track, resolve, and perform root cause analysis, including providing steps toward resolving the issue, of such billing and record discrepancies and notify SBC Telco of the results by returning the SPOC/RSC Intake Form with the customer account resolution noted. Additionally, SBCLD will take a proactive approach in identifying commonalties associated with root cause and addressing them effectively. SBCLD will develop Action Plans based on the assigned Priority Level. The timeframes are as follows:

Priority Level Target Action Plan

Level 11 Business day

Level 23 Business days

Level 35 Business days

Level 410 Business days

Level 51 Calendar month

The parties agree that SBC Telcos can request that SBCLD re-evaluate a priority level provided to the SBC Telcos. When requested, SBCLD agrees to provide rational for SBCLD’s priority rating. SBCLD also agrees to consider additional input from SBC Telcos that may result in a different priority designation. Additionally, root cause analysis will utilize existing examples provided by the SBC Telco to SBCLD. Additional examples will be determined on a case by case basis, requiring Director level approval for the SBC Telco to provide additional examples.

SMEs/SPOCs must be on the RSC approved list prior to referring issues to the RSC.

2.2.3To resolve billing issues on customer billing inquiry calls (which require changes to customer service orders or records), SBC Telco will make necessary customer order and/or record corrections within the SBC Telco systems as necessary. SBCLD Telegence will be utilized for service order or record correction only if mutually agreed to by all parties.

SBC Telco will utilize their current M&P associated with correcting service orders or records. If it is deemed necessary (based on verification that the order was processed correctly through the SBC Telco systems)for the correction to occur in Telegence, the SBC Telco will advise SBCLD of the issue via the established SPOC/RSC Intake Form process.

2.2.4SBC Telco will issue credits and adjustments in TLD. If Telegence cannot process an adjustment, the SBC Telco can pursue other options associated with issuing the end-user customer the appropriate adjustment. These options could include manual adjustments or SBCLD requesting the SBC Telco initiate an adjustment on their behalf through the IPOC process. In either case, these options should only be considered under exceptional circumstances and should not be considered business as usual. Direct bill adjustment issues will follow this same process.

2.2.5 If TLD is accessed, as part of providing inquiry or adjustment services, then the SBC Telco representative will make appropriate notes in TLD.

2.2.6All customer inquiry action taken by SBCLD must be noted in TLD using SBC Telco common acronyms and abbreviations, in addition to the use of standard notations.

2.2.7.All SBCLD process changes affecting SBC Telco’s billing inquiry services (e.g. significant increase in call volumes) must be communicated to SBC Telco in a timely manner. Implementation of such TLD changes affecting SBC Telco will be negotiated.

2.2.8SBCLD's RSC resourcewill be available during normal SBC Telco business office hours to assist SBC Telco. In other words, the RSC must be available during the time zone in which each SBC Telco operates.

2.2.9SBC Telco and SBCLD will meet as necessary to discuss Billing Inquiry Services.

2.2.10SBCLD is not staffing its centers with bi-lingual employees; however, SBCLD is procuring interpretive assistance in the languages supported by the SBC Telco (Spanish, Asian, Polish, etc.)

2.2.11In some situations, the SBC Telco will need to provide information to SBCLD associated with direct bills. All parties will mutually agree to the communication tool utilized for direct bills.

2.3 Call Quality

2.3.1 SBC Telco will monitor its service representatives' handling of inquiry calls for SBCLD according to existing SBC Telco quality guidelines.

2.3.2 SBCLD will not monitor SBC Telco service representatives providing SBCLD billing Inquiry Service. This includes, but is not limited to, onsite visits. SBCLD does have a need to evaluate how well SBC Telco service representatives interface with TLD systems. SBC Telco concerns will be addressed via the normal communication process.

2.3.3 SBC Telco will provide the same quality of service to SBCLD billing inquiry customers as SBC Telco provides other Billing and Collection Customers.

3.TRAINING

3.1 Initial Training

3.1.1SBCLD will provide training development support to write TLD training materials for all SBC Telco personnel who use TLD for account inquiry, billing inquiry, and adjustments. SBCLD will also provide train-the-trainer support for SBCSI on TLD course materials, as required. The existing SBC Telco training channel in SBCSI will provide the classroom delivery of this TLD training.

3.2. Continuation Training

3.2.1SBCLD will provide Follow-up/Continuation Training updates based on problem root cause analysis or at the request of the SBC Telco. Specific requests from SBC Telco will be negotiated on a case by case basis.

3.2.2Telegence training updates will be coordinated with each SBC Telco prior to being provided via RSC News Flashes.

4.System Support

4.1System Support Documentation

4.1.1SBCLD will provide SBC Telco with detailed documentation for TLD system updates and releases. This documentation will include TLD release update documentation created by the TLD IT team in SBCSI and revised TLD training materials. TLD release update documentation will be provided 30 calendar days prior to each major system update. If it is determined that the SBC Telco will be required to establish an internal project to coordinate with SBCLD’s system update, then SBCLD will be required to provide sufficient notification so that the SBC Telco will be able to establish, program and initiate the project in order to meet SBCLD’s release. Revised training materials will be provided by SBCLD to SBCSI for any required training delivery to support SBC Telco, when the TLD training system is updated. (The TLD Online Training System database is maintained by IT in SBCSI, and is normally available 2-3 weeks after each major TLD system update.) SBC Telco will coordinate any required training delivery through their existing SBCSI training channel.

4.1.2SBCLD will provide SBC Telco with timely and advance notice and written documentation for TLD billing changes that will effect customer-billing records. This includes, but is not limited to, finance changes to billing records, changes in billing processes, and system changes. This process is associated with all emergency updates, monthly releases and other system releases.

4.2System Availability & Reliability

4.2.1The following SBCLD systems shall be fully functioning and available to SBC Telco to perform Billing Inquiry Service during hours specified and communicated to SBC Telco:

  • Telegence
  • Web Order Tool
  • Voice Pricing Tool
  • LattisPro

(For example: The hours of operation for the SBCLD Data Center support for TLD to send IR files and receive SBC Telco files transmissions is Sunday through Saturday -24 hours).

4.2.2SBCLD is responsible for ensuring that all account adjustments and credits performed in TLD are sent to the SBC Telco system within 72 hours of the adjustment being entered into TLD.

4.2.3SBCLD system releases, updates, etc., will take place outside the normal SBC Telco business office hours. The SBC Telcos must agree to any exceptions to this procedure. Additionally, SBCLD and SBC Telcos agree to work jointly to ensure exceptions to these procedures are reduced over time.

4.3 SBCLD / IT Service Level Agreement

4.3.1Sixty (60) days prior to the estimated date SBCLD believes it will begin providing service in the specified SBC Telco region, SBCLD will provide SBC Telco with specific information and timeframes for back-out procedures for enhancements and fixes, Percent Up Time, system performance levels, Problem Management and Priority Definitions for SBCLD systems that could impact SBC Telco provision of Billing Inquiry Services to SBCLD.

4.4 Scheduled Maintenance

4.4.1SBCLD will provide its system maintenance schedule to SBC Telco.

For example: The data center will have scheduled downtime for maintenance that may affect TLD file transmission and receipt. This downtime will occur from 10 p.m. Saturday to 8 a.m. Sunday CST on the first and third Saturdays of the month. SBCLD will provide SBC Telco with a quarterly notification associated with any scheduled or anticipated additional system downtime. Additionally, SBCLD will confirm additional system downtime 21 days in advance.

4.5 System Outages & Trouble Tickets

4.5.1The SBCLD User Administration group will be the Tier 1 single point of contact for reporting problems. The User Administration Group is located in Richardson, Texas, and provides 24X7 support. An example of the type of issue the SBCLD User Administration group will address is ‘user log-on problems’. Other problems will be addressed via the RSC Intake Form.
4.5.2 SBC Telco will be advised immediately, via a telephone call or urgent e-mail, of any outages, estimated restoral time, actual restoral, and any necessary updates for the SBCLD systems/applications listed below that are used by SBC Telco to provide Billing Inquiry Services:

  • Telegence
  • Web Order Tool
  • Voice Pricing Tool
  • LattisPro

4.5.3 SBCLD will be responsible for getting fixes done and any system outages cleared that may impact SBCLD systems/applications used by SBC Telco for Billing Inquiry Services. SBCLD will provide SBC Telco a status of the system fix every 2 hours, via a telephone call or urgent e-mail, until such time the issue is cleared.