All outage notifications were triggered primarily by batch files extracted from outage management systems (OMS) and applying customer preferences, templates, and utility business logic. In order to expedite communications, particularly for new outages, PECO and AGENT511 collaborated to deploy a real-time interface that would instantly send Initial Outage Notification (ION) messages to customers.
In addition, a new high-fidelity text-to-speech (TTS) communication channel was added that would allow PECO the ability to instantly customize messaging templates which maximized flexibility. This channel type has been since used to communicate on-demand with customers in the cases of incriminate weather or the pandemic.
Further, each channel – whether email, voice, or SMS text message, incorporated interactive feedback so that customers could confirm the outage status. This is particularly useful for “nested” or single customer outages.
The program successfully launched on December 2019, much to the delight of PECO’s customers. According to PECO Senior Analyst Rob Busa, “we were excited about the success of our timely project deployment and are pleased to further leverage our investment in AGENT511 REACH.”
This innovation and other PECO investments in customer communication continue to drive customer experience at PECO, as evidenced by the year-on-year growth in JD Power rankings.