Transcript Document
Customer Service Overview
Corina Stretch
Debra Humphrey
March 2007
HISTORY
1873 Washington Natural Gas Introduced
to the NW
1886 Puget Sound Power & Light
Introduced to the NW
1997 PSE Arises From Puget
Power/Washington Natural Gas
Puget Sound Energy
Headquartered in Bellevue, Washington
An investor owned gas & electric utility
(NYSE:PSD)
As Washington state's oldest and largest
energy utility, with a 6,000-square-mile
service territory stretching across 11
Washington counties, primarily in the Puget
Sound region, PSE serves more than 1
million electric customers and nearly
700,000 natural gas customers.
Strong residential base
Puget Sound Energy Service Area
65% suburban
20% metropolitan
15% rural
Bothell Facility
325 employees
75,000 square foot facility
Activities
Customer Access Center
Exception/Special Billing
Payment Processing
Credit & Collection
Customer Service Training
Bothell Facility
Bothell Facility
7 X 24 Hours of
Operation
Core Business
7:30AM – 6:30PM
Emergency Service
24x7
Products:
Electric and Gas
Merchandise
Street Lights
35% of calls handled
automatically
75% of calls handled
within 30 seconds
Less than 1% call
abandonment rate
Multiple languages
supported
Bothell Customer Access Center
State of the Art
Facility
Workout
Room/Showers
Spacious
Lunchroom/Kitchen
Training & Meeting
Rooms
Private Phone Booths
Private Break Rooms
Ergonomic
Workstations
Advanced Technology
Private “Mothers
Room”
Free Parking
Walking Trail
Bothell Access Center
Call Distribution
Start/Stop Service
Credit Arrangements
Billing Inquires
Other
Gas Emergency
Outage Restoration
Appliance Repair
Account Inquiry
Pay Station Locations
Staffing
Customer Access Center
Customer Service
Agents (220)
At Home Agents (16)
Spanish Speaking
Language Bank
Agents (2)
In house Training
department
In house Help desk
Supervisors (6)
Team Leaders (12)
Business Analysts
Forecasting &
Scheduling
Communication
Administrative (2)
Staffing
Support Department Back Office
Billing Department
Credit Department
Supervisors (2)
Supervisor (1)
Senior Business
Analysts (3)
Lead (1)
Agents (23)
Program Manager (1)
Senior Business
Analysts (1)
Business Analysts (6)
Agents (35)
Payment Processing
Supervisor (1)
Agents/Clerks (16)
Analysts (1)
Technology Tools
Updated Customer Information System
(ConsumerLinX)
Quality Assurance Tools (E-talk; Qfinity)
Updated Telephone System (Aspect;
Uniphi)
Skills Based Routing Ability (Aspect ACD)
Technology Tools
E-workforce management suite (Aspect)
Real Time Adherence Performance Tools
Empower – Agent schedules
Agent Performance Optimization (APO)
Statistical performance reporting
e-notification server – Communicating schedule
changes to staff
Esp-IVR – Allows phone access to Empower
through the VRU
December 2006 Storm
Corina Stretch
Debra Humphrey
Overview
Storm forming
Major Storm Forming
Communicated advanced warning of
possible outages from approaching storm
Media, Customers ,Communities
&Governments
Call Center
Website
Outreach
Once the storm hit, messages tied to PSE
Emergency Operations Center (EOC)
conference calls
The storm’s damage
Conditions led to extensive
damage caused by fallen trees
December 2006 windstorm had winds
speeds that typically can occur every 10 +
years
Two-month period preceding windstorm
was extraordinarily wet-breaking all-time
precipitation records
People moving into traditional forested
lands
Land use and “Boutique Trees”
Unprecedented Damage
Unprecedented Damage
Poles to replace
Boutique trees!!
Unprecedented Damage
Dec. 15: >700,000 Customers Out
Dec. 18: ~ 500,000 Customers Restored
Storm Damage and Restoration Metrics
700,000
160
159 Substations Out
140
85 Transmission Lines Out
600,000
Customers
180
700,000 Customers Out
120
500,000
100
400,000
80
300,000
60
200,000
40
100,000
20
0
0
15
16
17
18
19 20 21 22
December 2006
23
24
25
Transmission Lines and Substations
800,000
Response personnel and crews
800
Service Teams
700
Teams and Crews
600
Assessment and
Coordination Teams
500
400
300
200
Crews (Line, Tree and
Substation)
100
0
15
16
17
18
19 20 21 22
December 2006
23
24
25
Crews from various areas here to help
Multiple crews on each major line
More damage
Assessing the damage
Dangerous conditions
Transformer and Line damage
Pole, tree and lines down
More line damage
Line and Tree damage
Call Center Metrics
120,000
VRU Option 1 Outage Info
Offered to Agent
VRU Option 2 Regular Calls
Service Level
100%
80,000
80%
60,000
60%
40,000
40%
20,000
20%
0
0%
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
December 2006
22
23
24
25
Service Level
Number of Calls
100,000
Sharing Information
Operations, Corporate Affairs, and Customer Services
Media, Customer (Major Accounts/Access Center),
Community, and Government
Message Development tied to PSE Emergency
Operations Center (EOC) conference calls every
four hours (4 a.m. to 8 p.m)
Media Outreach
News Releases
In advance of drive-time and scheduled news casts
and immediate response (more than 100 calls daily)
CEO ads and news conference
Web site updates (four+ times daily)
Sharing Information – pse.com
Sharing Information
Web Hits on Service Alert Pages
Number of hits combined
120,000
100,000
80,000
60,000
40,000
20,000
0
14
15
16
17
18 19 20 21
December 2006
22
23
24
25
Sharing Information
Community Outreach
EOCs – King County and State
CRMs – Counties and Cities
Shelters
Government Outreach
State – WUTC, Governor, Legislature
Federal – Delegation
Employee Support
Hotel Accommodations
Shuttle from hotel for those requiring assistance
Meals provided during the entire storm duration
Other departments volunteered to assist the call center
with customer and escalated calls
Security was provided for all essential and critical areas
in the company
Chair massages, toiletries for hotel including some
clothing. A coach and a counselor volunteered to help
support our employees during this difficult time. (Access
Center)
Gift wrap stations set up for holiday wrapping
Accommodated Holiday pre-planned activities
Community Support
Many pictures and Thank you notes have been
received by our departments
Communications
State
Counties and Cities
EOC
WUTC
Governor’s Office
Legislators
EOCs
Elected Officials
Shelters
Federal-Delegation
Next Steps
Operational
Permanent repairs
Evaluation (restoration/response,
internal/external communication, future system,
etc.)
Communications
Information sharing
Stakeholder outreach and input
Ongoing stakeholder dialogue
Regulatory
At Home Agent Program
Access Center
1996-2007
At-Home-Agent Program
Pilot Program
1996 – March; Pilot program launched
3 agents began pilot program
1998 – November; Additional 16 agents
added in two more phases sporadically
since 1996. Total of 19 agents in pilot
program
Approximate cost p/agent $6,600 (one time)
$150 p/month for telephone
Regular 8/10 hour shifts
Through attrition, currently 6 agents still
working from home since 1996/98
At-Home-Agent Program
Official
2006 December; Program became official
with an additional 10 agents
Approximate cost p/agent $2000 (one time)
Equipment (Computer, fax/printer, telephone)
$1500 p/year general operating expenses
$40-60 p/month for telephone (Verizon, Vonage, etc.)
$50 p/month for Internet (Comcast, Verizon, etc.)
Split shifts during core hours (7:30AM-6:30PM)
2007 2nd quarter; plans for an additional
10-15 agents
At-Home-Agent Program
Benefits/Advantages
Improves Outage Response
Improves Schedule Flexibility
Reduces Absenteeism
Reduction in Turnover
Agent Morale
Lower Commuting Costs and Time for
employees
Lowers companies needs for office space
and parking
At-Home-Agent Program
Disadvantages
Isolation
Burn out with too much overtime
Training and/or meetings may be limited to
“day-in” the office
Decreased mentoring to less skilled agent
Less likely to advance in company due to
comfort at home
Skills may decrease due to less exposure
to policies and procedures
Union Agreements
1996 – Pilot Program
2006 – Official
At Home Agents (AHA) contracted prior to this
agreement will continue to work their current schedule
unless the employee and the Company agree to a
change in their current scheduled shift.
New agents will be scheduled to work a shift based on
operational needs, which will include an extended lunch
break.
Selected agents will report on-site at their residence and
are otherwise covered by all terms and conditions of the
Collective Bargaining Agreement and the signed AHA
agreement.
The Company and the Union agree to review the
progress of this project within 90 days and as often as
necessary thereafter to ensure that issues are addressed
in a timely manner.
IT Requirements
Internet Preferences in priority order for
deployment should be:
High Speed Internet
DSL
Dial up is the last option and will not be
considered for AHA roll out.
There is no preferred cable company
Agent requirements
IT requirements met
Meet expectations
Attendance
Quality/Quantity of performance
Independent worker
Advanced agent (at least 3 years) – This is still
in the review process.
Other
Willing to work split shifts (non-traditional)
Must pass a technical and procedural
questionnaire
AHA Equipment
PSE provides computer, battery back
up/surge protector, headsets, adapter,
printer, fax and telephone.
The PSE provided equipment specified cannot
be used for personal use by any member of the
household.
Employee must provide desk, and PSE will
provide chairs. An ergonomic assessment
will be provided.
PSE is not responsible for support of any
non-PSE equipment.
Security
Home must have a smoke detector and a
fire extinguisher.
Employee must have a locked room or
office for non-disruptive work environment
from others in the household.
Employees must provide Proof of
Homeowners/Rental Insurance for fire and
theft, when requested.
AHA Expectations
Availability
Be available for call outs to work from home,
and/or hours outside your shift to assist with
call volume and outage calls.
If on scheduled PTO, (Paid time off) or if
unavailable for the weekend AHA is to notify
the Outage Manager
Call outs are paid at double time. (minimum of
two hours)
Call outs/message: Respond to voice message
as soon as possible to see if still needed.
AHA Expectations
Reporting to the office
If employee elects to bid a traditional or part-time shift,
they are electing off the split shift opportunity. They are
no longer eligible for an at-home-agent position and must
return to the office.
Scheduled overtime for weekend shifts, will be required
to come in to the office as staff is limited. (Major holidays
can be the exception if mutually agreed upon by the
supervisor)
Committed to 90 calendar days from the date started
working at home. If returning to the Access Center agent
will be re-assigned to a shift based on operational need.
AHA Expectations
Reporting to the office
Equipment Failures (ETA of more than 1 hour)
Meetings/training
One day a week (Scheduled in advance)
Department mail pick-up
Coaching/meeting with team or Leadership
Power failure (ETA of more than 1 hour)
Equipment upgrade
General AHA Housekeeping
Lunch/Breaks/Split Shift. Split shifts will reflect
three hours “off schedule” in the middle of the
shift.
Childcare: The AHA will provide a professional,
safe and noise free environment during work
hours. Being an at-home-agent is not a substitute
for child-care.
Random site visits during working hours,
scheduled or unannounced.
If the AHA is not meeting expectation standards,
they will no longer be eligible for this program and
will be required to report to the office.
Leadership & Support
Direct telephone numbers to leadership
(Same as in-house agents)
Supervisor direct Cell telephones
(Nextel-Blackberry)
Direct telephone numbers to In-house
help desk technician
Designated help desk technician for At
home Agent
TBD- Instant messaging
Process Improvement
Action Items
Solicit on-going feedback from AHA
Web Chat-Instant messaging capabilities
for prompt communication between
leadership and AHA team
Develop a more defined escalation process
for technical problems
Review/grant access to in-house computer
programs – Firewall issues
Formalize off-site visit process – quarterly