Credit management functionality frequently resides in third-party back-office credit systems. Siebel eBusiness Application Integration (eAI), which is part of Siebel Communications, provides you with the ability to integrate with these systems and to use their information and functionality.

If customers are late in paying their bills or have not paid their bills in full, their accounts are flagged by the third-party credit system. The rules for detecting late payment or nonpayment are defined in the credit system. Siebel Communications can interpret late payment or nonpayment messages that the credit system generates.

As a basis for credit management, Siebel Communications provides information in the form of credit alerts. A credit alert is a Siebel Communications credit record that can be generated by messages from a back-office credit management system when a customer breaches a credit threshold. It can also be generated manually by a customer request or by the initiative of a customer service representative (CSR). Credit alerts can be resolved through a variety of means, such as customer payment of the outstanding amount, adjustments to a customer account to correct an erroneous billing, and an agreement with a customer for a payment arrangement plan.