May | 2021
Tollway operators are facing a myriad of challenges such as high labor costs, operational inefficiencies with high cost of transactions, revenue leakages, and increased competition from other modes of transportation. With the rise of digital, consumer expectations are also changing. Consumers want a seamless experience, multiple choices of payments, hassle-free claims management, and more. In addition, the Tollway operators have been severely impacted by the pandemic, which led to reduced traffic and revenue.
Technology can provide the answer to these challenges. A well-implemented digitized back office/enterprise resource planning (ERP) system helps sustain efficient business operations through automated processes and reporting. It also enhances productivity through standardized interfaces and web-based service portals.
How can the tollway operators leverage technology to sharpen transaction visibility, streamline tasks for enhanced efficiency, and bolster revenue streams?
Taking on the sector’s toughest challenges
For leaders across the industry, enhancing operational efficiency, and improving revenue and customer experience is a challenge given the disparate business systems, lack of visibility into daily transactions, and limited mode of payments. Clearly, the industry is tackling many issues at once:
Disparate business systems: Lack of interoperability among systems makes handling various business processes such as prosecuting toll evaders or getting insight into charge collections, a daunting task.
Scalability: The tolling industry continues to grow in size and number of transactions. Current infrastructure and application landscape provides limited capabilities and functionality that can help cope with the ever growing volume of transactions and customers.
Predictive Analytics/Insights: The Tolling industry lacks clear benchmarking or the support of enterprise standard predictive analytical tools that can offer insights on toll road usage, traffic conditions, and customer experience.
Collection and Revenue Leakage: Many Tollway operators face significant collection challenges and revenue leakages associated with technology and rising toll collection costs.
Interoperability and Technology: Some Toll operators have entered into interoperability agreements with other tolling organizations. There is a strong need to improve the integrations with enabling technologies.
Limited mode of payments: Cash and paper-based transaction is labor intensive resulting in higher cost and reduced customer satisfaction.
Tailoring IT to meet consumer needs and optimize performance
Modern tollway operators require an integrated one-stop solution combined with a centralized collection and refund system. This system provides end-to-end visibility of transactions and helps streamline, expedite, and automate processes across all business systems. At the same time, as COVID-19 impacts transportation requirements, there is an urgent need to predict both capacity and price swings considering interruptions and delays.
Operators need to take a two-pronged approach. One approach helps gain control of transportation and logistics operations while providing flexibility. The other provides the ability to adjust inventories based on customer priorities. In order to do this, operators need to be able to answer some crucial questions including:
Wipro’s Tollway Transportation and Billing solution
Leveraging Oracle’s CX Cloud, Oracle Customer Care & Billing (CC&B) and Oracle ERP applications, Wipro has built a solution that addresses key challenges that tollway authorities face such as revenue spillage, improve operational efficiency, and commuter experience. The solution provides a purpose built comprehensive Tollway Billing platform comprising of customer portals, commercial, operational back-office functions, and financial systems tailored for Tollway and transportation authorities. The core functionalities include:
The benefits include utilizing a highly configurable COTS solution with a proven reference architecture, capable of supporting high volume transaction processing (designed to support transaction volume of 6B annually).
We recently helped a leading South-east Asian transport authority leverage this solution to optimize its processes and improve customer experience. The transportation network in the country had been growing at a rapid pace, which led to the authority requiring new IT systems to help streamline its operations. With the help of our Oracle Cloud-based solution, the authority could achieve end-to-end visibility, superior analytical capabilities and seamless experience for its customers with fewer touch-points.
A modern enterprise resource planning (ERP) software underpinned by a unified modern cloud foundation is the key to maintain a single view across systems and customers to improve claim management, enhance billing efficiencies, and improve profitability for every customer. Wipro’s tollway transportation and billing solution enables authorities with data-driven customer insights to improve the customer experience, improves the collection process, and reduces cost associated with collections.
Vijayeswar Malladi
Global Head Oracle Industry Solutions, Wipro Limited
Vijay Malladi has over 20 years of experience in IT and heads the Oracle Industry Solutions Practice at Wipro. Vijay has played various roles in Competency Leadership, Digital Customer Experience, Utilities CIS, and Cloud Solutions. He is a regular speaker at Oracle events and customer forums.
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