Convergys Corporation is partnering with Plug Smart to provide real-time rating, billing, and data management support for electric vehicle charging stations. The collaboration combines Plug Smart’s charging station technology, Zephyr, with Convergys’ Smart Revenue Solutions to bill electric vehicle charging anytime, anywhere.

According to Convergys, “multi-party billing capabilities allow for revenue and cost settlement between multiple service providers and Convergys’ real-time processing capability provides instant authentication of users, as well as the delivery of prices and balances in real-time.”

Plug Smart’s Zephyr platform is a suite of cloud-based services that enable open, standardized communication between charging stations and software products. Instead of integrating with each and every electric vehicle charging station vendor, Zephyr provides a single interface to the utility and handles communications with the charging station, charging network or directly to the electric vehicle.

Global Utilities General Manager Eran Ofir says, “The billing challenges utilities face in the wake of smart grid technology and electric vehicles are not unlike those the telecommunications industry addressed in its early years. As a world leader in real-time transactional intelligence, with significant experience in rating and billing for telecommunications roaming, we are able to draw upon a wealth of expertise to help solve and evolve electric vehicle settlement.”

Pike Research forecasts that the global market for plug-in hybrid and electric passenger cars and light duty trucks will increase 106 percent between 2010 and 2015, which translates into sales of more than 3.24 million vehicles during that window.

Richard Housh, Plug Smart President and CEO, notes: “The electric vehicle market is just starting to emerge. Only limited standards have been established and transaction models have yet to be defined. We are excited to partner with Convergys who, as a recognized leader with proven experience in real-time transaction processing at scale, provides technology that will keep pace with the needs of the market as it grows and evolves. Together we are shaping the future for the electric vehicle charging ecosystem.”

Zephyr will be deployed across the United States this fall as part of a smart electric vehicle charging pilot with several large utilities, universities, and corporations. During the pilot, electric vehicle drivers will charge at 110 volt “smart sockets” and Zephyr will aggregate the data, enabling billing settlement, demand response and real-time pricing.

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