OREANDA-NEWS. May 26, 2010. The customers that have accessed the portal in test mode have unanimously noted the convenience of exchanging information with Freight One's managers and hailed the possibility of planning their costs and obtaining real-time data on freight car deployments through the portal.

Freight One has introduced a multi-functional customer service portal that allows customers to communicate in real time with the company's employees. The portal is unequalled in the railway sector in terms of functionality, mobility and the scope of information that is shared within it.

The portal can significantly simplify and accelerate the information exchange between Freight One and its customers through the use of electronic communications. The portal has a multi-tiered security system and ensures the reliability, integrity and confidentiality of the information that is stored and shared. All of Freight One's customers receive logins and passwords for use with the portal.

The system stores general information about contracts such as the rate schedules specified in them, general details and correspondence, and makes the information available round-the-clock from anywhere in the world to the company's employees and customers. The company is also preparing to implement an electronic supplementary agreement record-keeping system. The portal provides data on account activity such as payment history as well as generalized and detailed information on the services rendered, including information on each car. The structure of the information is hierarchical and allows obtaining data on presented invoices with detail down to each signed document. The system is also dynamic; all the information produced in Freight One's internal information products are recorded in the system in real time. Freight One has also added the functionality of automatically informing the customer via electronic communications and Short Message Service (SMS) of an impending shortage of funds for payment or a failure to pay for services.

Finally, the system allows online tracking of car deployment (loaded, empty run, deployment to stations for loading/unloading), which is especially useful for small and medium-sized customers as well as customers with a single shipment, when it doesn't make sense to sign separate contracts for information support due to the small volumes to be shipped.

The system gives the customer more control over information management, including cost control and traffic volume tracking as well as data on current payments and service provision, allowing the customer to quickly assess the situation and react without waiting for a notification from a Freight One employee.

By the end of the year, customers will be able to submit task orders thrфough the portal and track the status of goods in transit. The next step in the development of the portal is the introduction of a digital signature on job completion reports, which will significantly reduce the exchange of paper documents between Freight One and shippers.

"Freight One's customer service policy is aimed at enhancing and improving the quality of the services, introducing new technologies and achieving absolute transparency in its operations. By introducing the portal, we are rising to a new level of service," said Salman Babayev, Freight One's CEO.