April 18, 2006--OB10, the global leader in electronic invoicing, and federal government solutions provider A&T Systems are now working together to bring electronic efficiencies to the federal government and help government agencies achieve their short- and long-term paperwork elimination objectives. The two companies announced their joint plans today and will soon announce their first joint client, a major U.S. Government agency.
OB10, with its global business-to-business e-invoice exchange solution, simplifies and streamlines the complex invoice-to-pay processes between public and private sector organizations and their suppliers. The e-invoice exchange is a service requiring no software or hardware investments. A&T Systems is a longtime provider of service solutions -- in information technology, telecommunications and the Internet, professional services, and healthcare -- to federal government customers in civilian agencies and public safety. The Government Paperwork Elimination Act, which took effect in 1998, is designed to reduce the burden of paper invoices and other documents. It mandates that federal government agencies give persons or organizations required to submit information to them the option of submitting that information electronically, wherever practical. The OB10 network can help government agencies not only comply with the Act but also realize at least a 60 percent reduction in the cost of handling each invoice by eliminating mailroom handling, scanning, indexing, and data entry on all converted invoices. Suppliers of products and services to the government can benefit from quicker payment of the invoices through a system that totally eliminates the errors caused via data entry and payment to the wrong vendor. The OB10 network allows a supplier to submit invoices in any electronic format, from sophisticated enterprise resource planning systems such as SAP and Oracle all the way down to small-business QuickBooks-generated invoices. The OB10 system then translates the submitted invoice into the format desired by the customer agency or company. "Many government agencies have attempted to automate incoming invoices using such tools as EDI (Electronic Data Interchange). Due to the limited success of these efforts, the agencies have resorted to investing in tools to process the paper more efficiently, like imaging and OCR (optical character recognition)," said Peter Watson, senior vice president of OB10. "EDI requires a single data format, making any supplier other than the largest hesitant and creating huge technical and cost barriers. Scanning and OCR only improve a paper process; they do not eliminate it entirely. "With the OB10 system and its ability to handle any-to-any electronic data format, the government's suppliers won't face obstacles in submitting their invoices electronically. With an electronic feed directly from suppliers, the system eliminates security screening, sorting, and scanning." Watson also noted that OB10 works with all its customers to help their suppliers make the transition from paper invoices by assigning to them an implementation team which provides extensive support to increase supplier participation. OB10 guarantees a high percentage of invoices will become electronic within the first six to 12 months of agencies using the service. "The OB10 e-invoicing solution is a perfect addition to the solution sets we offer to the federal government," said Fred Sanders, vice president of strategic relationships for A&T Systems. "All our solutions are aimed at making government run more efficiently and keeping costs down. Our customers love us because we deliver innovative solutions with superior performance, and e-invoicing meets both those criteria." Potential federal e-invoicing customers have been enthused about the joint offering by OB10 and A&T Systems, Watson added. "While most every agency has adopted EDI to some degree, it really works well only for the largest suppliers. The agencies we have spoken with are very interested in accelerating the adoption of electronic invoicing and bringing a much higher percentage of their suppliers on board," Watson said. About OB10 OB10, based in San Francisco, offers a global e-invoicing solution that simplifies and streamlines the complex invoice-to-pay processes between companies and their suppliers, while reducing the cost to manually process invoices by as much as 80 percent, and delivering ROI in less than six months. Operational in North America, Europe, and Asia, OB10 is compliant with each region's regulatory requirements, such as Sarbanes-Oxley and VAT. To ensure unrivaled supplier adoption, each new customer's suppliers are supported by an implementation services team responsible for getting them up and running on the OB10 network. Customers include: Hewlett-Packard, GlaxoSmithKline, Agilent Technologies, General Motors, Equant, Cargill, Mohawk Industries, Computacenter, and Procter and Gamble. For more information visit www.ob10.com. About A&T Systems A&T Systems Inc., based in Silver Spring, Maryland, is a 22-year old company specializing in Information Technology Solutions, Telecom and e-Solutions, Professional Services and Healthcare solutions. A&T Systems is a successful and ever expanding family of operating divisions and subsidiary companies. Each separate division or company has its own core competence and organizational structure which supports the overall capability of the company. Customers include most of the agencies of the Federal Government, State and Local Governments, as well as commercial enterprises. For more information, visit www.ats.com.
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