Voice and data giant SBC Communications is negotiating a multi-year deal with billing and customer relationship management software specialist Amdocs
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The proposed pact includes upgrading IT systems in SBC’s directory operation and possibly outsourcing certain functions.
“Details of any such agreement would be communicated if and when it is finalized by both parties,” St. Louis-based Amdocs said in a statement this morning.
A spokesman for San Antonio, Texas-based SBC told internetnews.com that the company will consolidate call centers (some of which were picked up in acquisition sprees) over the next two years. It is too soon, however, to say which facilities will be closed or how much the company will save, he said.
The two companies have worked together before. In 2000, an SBC Internet services unit purchased applications from Amdocs. And earlier this year, Cingular, SBC’s joint wireless venture with BellSouth, singed on as an Amdocs customer.
A deal with Amdocs could help SBC become more efficient as it readies for a national push under a unified brand name.
Other pieces of the strategy include expanding its Internet protocol
Amdocs has signed similar deals with other telecommunications service providers. For example, earlier this year it inked a five-year agreement to provide software and service to Verizon Communications’ Dallas call center.