Dec
12

Notifi Version 2.2 Expands Customer Preference Management for Utilities

The evolution of proactive communications at utilities continues to move quickly, and Notifi’s set of features for customer preference management and automatic messaging is proving to be a home run in helping utilities address these needs. When we complete the currently active projects, there will be more than 20 million Americans with the ability to get outage and energy information from their utilities through 2-way texts and proactive messaging powered by Notifi. I think this is just the tip of the iceberg as utilities see the powerful results that can be achieved through both broadcast and transaction communications with customers on channels like 2-way SMS and mobile apps. I recently saw a customer satisfaction presentation which showed a 100 point jump in customer reliability scores when utilities offered proactive communications about outages. When you pair that up with cost savings through the use of a low cost channel, it is clear there is a great opportunity to build new connections with customers.

In addition to implementation work, the iFactor team has recently completed development of Notifi 2.2 which adds several exciting new features to the platform. These include enhancements to the administration website for better reporting and analysis, additional program support around billing and payment activities, performance and scalability improvements, and support for smartphone app alerts as a new type of subscription. The Notifi platform continues to expand its capabilities for rich customer preference management across a variety of subscription types, program types, and other aspects of utility information. We will also be releasing a customer preference management website widget for the product early next year, which will allow Notifi customers to quickly integrate Notifi communications preference management into your existing web self-service pages, providing a seamless customer experience and quickly adding the power of Notifi to your customer outreach offerings.

Notifi is quickly becoming a key centerpiece in iFactor’s overall EnergySuite platform for utility customer communications. This is thanks to the evolving demands from customers for more proactive communications with everyone they do business with, a desire to be able to reach those businesses on their terms, and strong efforts from utilities to keep pace with the change in technology and customer needs. We are working to enable this through cross channel integration across our products, with features such as signing up for texting from an outage map website or IVR system, and enrolling in proactive alerts from within a smartphone application.

Dec
8

iFactor Consulting provides online streetlight outage reporting tool for Gulf Power

Lights Out - example graphic

Gulf Power introduced a new online tool for streetlight outage reporting and status updates.  The tool, StreetLightOutages.com (SLO), was developed and implemented by iFactor Consulting.  SLO provides a method for Gulf Power customers to easily locate streetlights by pole number, address, or general location by visiting http://www.gulfpower.com/commercial/lightsout.asp.  Streetlights in Gulf Power’s service territory are displayed on a Microsoft Bing Maps platform, with each streetlight represented by a green icon.  To submit a report, customers simply click on the icon and complete a short form.  After the form is submitted, the streetlight icon on the map turns red, indicating that there is a known outage for the light and preventing submission of duplicate reports.

Once an outage report is completed in the SLO portal, an email notification is sent to Gulf Power that includes pertinent information about the outage.  If the light report is linked to an asset in Gulf Power’s database, that light’s known attributes are included in the report, including items such as wattage, pole number, light type, etc.  SLO also provides additional information such as a reverse-geocoded address, latitude and longitude, problem type, and contact information for the customer who submitted the report.  These detailed reports increase the efficiency and speed with which Gulf Power crews can locate and fix streetlight outages.

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Gulf Power has committed to repairing all streetlight reports within five days of submission, so the SLO tool is configured to automatically update an outage as repaired after five days.  Once the light status changes to “repaired”, the icon on the map becomes green again, indicating a working light.  For special cases that require more than five days repair time, a Gulf Power employee can use the SLO management console to change a light status to “in progress” and add a comment to the report.  The comment and updated light status are automatically emailed to the customer who submitted the report, notifying them that the repair time will exceed the standard five day window.

Headquartered in beautiful Pensacola, FL, Gulf Power is an investor-owned electric utility with all of its common stock owned by Atlanta-based Southern Company.  Gulf Power serves 428,154 customers in 71 towns and communities throughout Northwest Florida.  Their top priority is taking care of their customers.  “With that in mind, the StreetLightOutages tool made perfect sense for us to implement,” says Kenny Folsom, Lighting Team Leader.  “It enables our customers to quickly and easily notify us of a light in need of repair.  With a couple of clicks of the mouse the light is reported to Gulf Power and the customer receives confirmation that ‘we got it’”.

About iFactor Consulting
iFactor Consulting is the leading provider of intelligent web and mobile solutions designed exclusively for the utility industry.  Their integrated suite includes industry leading interactive outage maps, custom smartphone application development, proactive and interactive utility notifications via text, voice & e-mail and an interactive street light outage solution. They also offer consulting services on outage management and outage communications.  iFactor solutions enhance the online customer experience and fully integrate with utility back office systems.

For More Information
iFactor Consulting Contact:
Jamie Downing
800-631-9839
jamie@ifactorconsulting.com

Dec
6

Free iFactor Webinar: Harnessing The SmartPhone Revolution

Harnessing The SmartPhone Revolution - Graphic

 

Today, more than 85% of all adults carry a mobile phone and 43% of those phones are considered to be “Smart”. SmartPhones have become indispensable personal computers that allow us to trade stock, shop online, socialize on sites such as Facebook and even video conference with friends and co-workers around the world. However, most utilities have not yet taken advantage of the SmartPhone Revolution.

Join E Source & iFactor for a free one-hour presentation to learn more about “The SmartPhone Revolution” and how utilities are benefiting. The webinar begins on Wednesday, December 14th at 12 PM EST.

To learn more about this event and to register, visit our ‘Harnessing The SmartPhone Revolution’ event website.

Oct
24

iFactor Informer Update

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Oct
11

iFactor Expands Mobile App Opportunities for Utilities

The way people do their computing is changing: mobile device usage is growing steadily every day, indicating a preference to be connected anywhere and at any time. Input is also shifting from the traditional methods – keyboards, mice, trackpads – to more casual and natural touch interfaces.  Apple has sold over 250 million iOS devices worldwide, while Google’s Android OS is growing at 886% year on year and now activating over 160,000 devices a day, across 60 device types in over 40 countries (Source: Sybase, an SAP mobile intelligence company).

Utility companies now have the power to reach this rapidly growing segment of new users through iFactor Consulting’s suite of mobile device applications. iFactor’s mobile applications offer utility customers the ability to log in to their accounts and pay their bills, see their usage in an animated meter, sign up for account alerts, view and report outages, or even submit a photo read of their meter, all in a user interface that is made specifically for mobile screens and touch input. Each feature is modular to allow for custom applications which can start with a utility’s current needs and expand over time.

Bill pay stands out as the pivotal feature in iFactor’s mobile apps. Monthly plan customers can view and pay their bills, while prepaid customers can view their remaining energy and add credits. Information is transacted through an industry-leading payment gateway using strong 1024-bit Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption, which means customers’ data is kept safe. Customers can pay within seconds via credit card or ACH transfer from a checking account. Thanks to our focus on mobile apps, your solutions can continue to keep pace with the rapidly changing mobile payments space.

Push notifications built into the apps add even more value. Integrated with iFactor’s Notifi platform, notifications go beyond traditional SMS messaging by offering actionable content at a lower price. They give utilities another way to push important account alerts to customers in near real-time: an AMI customer can be alerted that they’ve hit a preset usage goal; a prepaid customer can be alerted that their service is about to be shut off. Notifications can also contain bill due and bill overdue reminders, outage updates, payment returned alerts, and more.

Utilities are striving to improve customer service, lower costs, and create strong, persistent customer relationships. Leveraging mobile technology to deliver self-service provides a means to engage with customers on a channel they prefer, while providing an opportunity to reach them more frequently and for much lower cost than traditional mail and phone channels. At that same time, mobile apps provide a new customer experience which can help drive a perception of the utility as “high tech”. Thanks to this powerful combination, iFactor’s mobile solutions can become key contributor to a wide array of short term and long term goals in your organization.

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