SoundBite and Online Resources Partner for Agentless Payments
Chantilly, VA and Bedford, MA, January 28, 2008 – Online Resources Corporation (Nasdaq: ORCC), a leading provider of web-based financial services, and SoundBite Communications Inc., (Nasdaq: SDBT) a leading provider of on-demand automated voice messaging solutions, today announced a referral agreement to provide creditors and billers with an integrated agentless payment solution. This agreement expands upon a referral arrangement between SoundBite Communications and Internet Transaction Solutions, which was acquired by Online Resources in August 2007.
The integration of Online Resources’ CollectPay™ for consumer debit and SoundBite’s on-demand automated voice messaging solution will be available to clients in the receivables management, consumer lending, telecommunications, utility, healthcare and other industries. The two platforms will be integrated via SoundBite’s Agentless Direct Collect payment interface. This will provide mutual clients with a single source for automated payments and enable them to deliver a seamless user experience to their customers. The partnership deepens relationships with existing clients and introduces complementary services to each company’s respective clients.
SoundBite’s voice messaging solution allows organizations to reach their customers faster and without the need for live agents or on-premise hardware and software. Integration with Online Resources’ biller-direct payments service will enable clients to increase collections, lower costs and enhance productivity through further automation. In addition, clients will be able to more effectively measure campaign success with improved reporting that includes round-trip payment details.
“By integrating our services with those of Online Resources, we can offer our mutual clients a comprehensive solution that improves productivity and maximizes consumer options while minimizing costs,” said Chris Selland, vice president of business development at SoundBite. “Our clients can now realize the benefits of a truly integrated agentless payment and collections solution without undertaking a major engineering effort.”
“Online Resources is committed to delivering innovative solutions that meet our clients’ diverse electronic bill payment, presentment and collections needs,” said Robert R. Craig, executive vice president and general manager of Online Resources’ eCommerce Services. “Our partnership with SoundBite will provide billers and creditors of all sizes with a feature-rich solution that maximizes their payment rates and improves customer satisfaction.”
About Online Resources
Online Resources powers financial technology services for thousands of financial institutions, billers and credit service providers. Its proprietary suite of account presentation and payment services are branded to its clients, and augmented by marketing services to drive consumer and business end-user adoption. The Company serves over 10 million end-users and processes $100 billion in bill payments annually. Founded in 1989, Online Resources (www.orcc.com) is recognized as one of the nation’s fastest growing companies.
About SoundBite Communications
SoundBite Communications is a leading provider of automated voice messaging solutions that are delivered through a Software as a Service (SaaS) model. Organizations rely on SoundBite’s on-demand solution to initiate and manage customer contact campaigns across a variety of collections, customer care, and marketing processes. SoundBite helps organizations increase revenue, enhance customer service and retention, secure payments, and can also improve contact center efficiency by increasing agent productivity and enabling agentless interactions. The company’s multi-tenant customer communications platform is used by organizations across a number of industries, including collection agencies, financial service providers, retailers, telecommunications providers, and utilities. SoundBite’s clients use the service to place approximately one and a half billion calls annually. SoundBite is headquartered in Bedford, Massachusetts. For more information, visit www.SoundBite.com.