iFactor Consulting's Blog

Santee Cooper selects iFactor for PowerOn upgrade and implements iFactor’s Outage Communications Suite

Jamie Downing — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 21:48:05 +0000

Santee Cooper, the state utility of coastal South Carolina, has contracted with iFactor Consulting to provide an upgrade of their existing PowerOn OMS and the incorporation of several iFactor supporting software products.

The project started this winter with the development and integration of iFactor Storm Center and iFactor’s call taking application for PowerOn. Storm Center is a world-class web-based product designed to provide the public with up to date outage information and reporting tools. Through this portal, the public will be able to view accurate outage information with the appropriate details for public consumption. Customers will also be able to report outages and view restoration information.

Included in the first phase of the project is the incorporation of the web-based call taking application for PowerOn. The call taking application integrates directly into the PowerOn OMS Oracle schema to enable customer service representatives the ability to search for customer accounts, view call and outage history, log new calls and manage callbacks. PowerOn call taking and Storm Center were rolled out for internal usage during July. Storm Center will be introduced to the public in September.

This summer iFactor will commence with the PowerOn upgrade which will conclude at the end of the year.

iFactor Consulting and GeoSpatial Innovations continue Austin Energy PowerOn upgrade

Jamie Downing — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 19:41:40 +0000

iFactor Consulting has partnered with GeoSpatial Innovations (GSI) to deliver a system upgrade of PowerOn OMS to version 4.2 for Austin Energy. The system upgrade will be based on the Electric Office (EO) data model which will provide Austin the most up to date solution available for PowerOn OMS customers.

iFactor has completed the discovery and design phases of the project and has started development. During this phase, the project team will review the EO system, developed by GSI, and incorporate it with the PowerOn system glue code. Applications, configurations, customizations and interfaces in the current Austin Energy system will be incorporated into the new system to best meet the current business needs. Finally, iFactor will install much of new PowerOn 4.2 functionality. The new functions will be reviewed with Austin Energy to ensure that the utility is prepared to leverage all aspects of the new version that are applicable to their workflow.

The development phases of the project, which include the upgrade of the core GIS, are expected to wrap up this fall with testing and rollout activities to follow.

LG&E and KU go live with iFactor’s smartphone application

Jamie Downing — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 20:51:26 +0000

LG&E and KU recently implemented the outage communications module of iFactor’s mobile device applications, a suite of reusable software modules that allow utilities to quickly deliver self service solutions to their customers. The free smartphone app is available on iPhone, Android, and Blackberry devices, and is available in the app store for each specific device. LG&E and KU are the first utilities in the state of Kentucky (and among a small number of utilities in the nation) to offer near real-time outage information in a free smartphone app.

With this new app, customers will have access to the same outage information provided on the LG&E and KU online outage map, Storm Center, which is also powered by iFactor. Outage data is displayed using an interactive Storm Center map, and summary information by county and zip code is available in a chart format. Data from the Storm Center site is delivered directly to the app from the utilities’ outage management system, including estimated restoration times once the outage is assessed by field crews.

“Our smartphone outage map app is our first entry in a larger mobile communications portfolio that will be progressively introduced to customers,” said Greg Thomas, vice president of Energy Delivery – Distribution Operations for LG&E and KU. “Enabling the public to access and view outage information on the go is just another way we are working to enhance our customers’ experiences with us.”

LG&E and KU are currently developing several other mobile communications offerings, including two-way SMS texting, email and phone outage notifications, and in-app alerts.

iFactor Informer – Smallworld GIS Solutions Edition

Jamie Downing — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 17:09:35 +0000

Our Informer newsletter focused on Smallworld GIS solutions for the utility industry is now available.

If you aren’t currently receiving our Informer newsletters sign up now!

The Power of Mobile Engagement – A Free Webinar

Jamie Downing — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 16:37:26 +0000

Join iFactor and Chartwell for a free webinar on the power of mobile engagement, and learn more about harnessing the power of texting, apps, and the web for utility self-service. To learn more, visit our event website and watch this video presentation.

iFactor Informer Summer Edition

Jamie Downing — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 17:01:56 +0000

Are you curious to know what iFactor has been up to over the last few months? Check out the summer edition of the Informer!

Announcing the availability of Storm Center 3

Jamie Downing — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 18:34:28 +0000

We are really excited to announce the availability of Storm Center 3, the biggest product upgrade to date. SC3 is packed with changes to enhance the user experience and allow you to deliver more information to customers on a variety of devices. We started with an upgrade to Microsoft Bing Maps version 7, which offers new map tiles, improved map controls, and support for iPhone and Android web browsers.
We carried the mobile support form Bing through to all of the libraries and features in Storm Center so that the new version is fully supported with the web browsers on iPhones, iPads, and all Android devices. This support goes beyond just “making it work”- Storm Center 3 includes pages and content which automatically optimize for the mobile device with support for dragging and pinching the map to zoom and pan, and touching the icons to see the current information about an outage.

We have also integrated location-based APIs so that Storm Center on a mobile device can automatically zoom to your current location!

In addition to mobile support and the move to Bing Maps 7, we enhanced data flows and formats throughout Storm Center to streamline and minimize the content for use on mobile networks. The combination of these changes will give Storm Center users a great boost in page rendering times, performance, and scalability, with initial tests showing up to a 70% reduction in the data requirements for the application.

We have also integrated a variety of architectural changes and features into the product as fully supported modules. We have enhanced the clustering functionality in SC 3 with support for thematic clusters, which allows us to use different sizes, colors, and labels to distinguish each outage cluster. Our cloud hosting option is now fully integrated with the product, and can be implemented during your upgrade with a simple addition to your annual maintenance fee. Likewise, the SC 3 architecture now has full support for enabling optional modules such as animated WeatherBug lightning and radar, Event History tracking, and complete layer management support.

In addition to the outage map and outage summaries, we have also updated the outage reporting framework in Storm Center 3 with full mobile support. This framework allows us to quickly implement web based outage reporting for your customers, with support for access to the forms using both desktop and mobile browsers. With some utilities seeing upwards of 10% of outage reports coming via the web, it is critical to consider enabling this channel to help meet customer expectations and save costs. Thanks to Storm Center 3, you can deliver a combination of high level summaries, informative maps, and account specific reporting and information all to the desktop and mobile web!

For our existing Storm Center customers, an upgrade to version 3 requires that we work with your team to implement the new product on both the application/web services side as well as implementing your web page templates with it. We also need to work with you to implement your content and look and feel on the mobile pages, which are essentially a brand new page template to consider. We can deploy the mobile functionality as a link from your existing mobile website, or can work with you to launch a mobile website using Storm Center outage maps, summaries, and reporting as your initial content. Overall, this upgrade is a very straightforward process which can be completed quickly.

iFactor wraps up the first annual iConnect

Jamie Downing — Thu, 19 May 2011 12:00:35 +0000

iFactor’s first annual users conference, iConnect, was a huge success. The meeting took place at the beautiful Embassy Suites Paradise Village Resort in Scottsdale, AZ. The weather was perfect and the views from the grounds were magnificent.

Over 17 iFactor customers were in attendance this year, with several clients attending virtually. The festivities began the night before at Chase Stadium with food, fun, and baseball. We had a full agenda, featuring a customer roundtable discussion on transparency in customer communications with interactive solution sharing and reviews. Attendees also enjoyed iFactor product reviews including smart phones and mobile applications, Storm Center, StreetLightOutages.com, and Notifi.

Throughout the day, each customer in attendance shared examples of their iFactor product implementations with the group and talked about the impact iFactor technology has had on their organizations.

After an exciting day of presentations and discussions, there was a cocktail reception poolside before we boarded the bus to the Mission Restaurant in Scottsdale for a fun-filled customer appreciation banquet.

Based on all of the feedback we received from the attendees, the conference was a tremendous success. To foster open communications amongst our clients, we’ll be continuing to expand our outreach with webinars, open conference calls and online collaboration.

Our marketing team is already planning iConnect 2012, so start making plans now to join us next year!!!

Storm Center and the Ohio and Mississippi River Floods

Brad Sileo — Mon, 16 May 2011 17:39:56 +0000

Storm Center is being put to work during the record-setting floods that continue in the mid-west as several iFactor customers, including Entergy and Louisville Gas & Electric, have service territories in the impacted areas. One of the great features of Storm Center is the ability for utilities to be open and transparent with near real-time customer information. In these cases, the maps provide a glimpse into the role the companies play in the flood response, showing outages all along the rivers where power has been intentionally cut to protect home owners, rescue workers, and facilities until the flood waters recede.

In this screenshot, you can see the outage maps at Entergy with special comments included for the flood-based outages:

The Entergy Storm Center outage maps show power outages due to floods.

Here is a video showing the path of this devastation as a series of power outages along the river. You can see the live data on the Entergy website at http://viewoutage.entergy.com/la.aspx.

Further North, the LG&E / KU Storm Center outage maps are also helping communicate outage information to the public along the swollen Ohio River. The overview below shows the clusters of outages spread along the river through Louisville, KY and further to the southwest.

The LGE / KU Storm Center outage map shows outages due to flood waters along the Ohio River.

iFactor Consulting and GeoSpatial Innovations partnering for Austin Energy PowerOn upgrade

Jamie Downing — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 14:00:02 +0000

iFactor Consulting has partnered with GeoSpatial Innovations (GSI ) to deliver a system upgrade of PowerOn OMS to version 4.2 for Austin Energy. The system upgrade will be based on the Electric Office (EO) data model which will provide Austin the most up to date solution available to PowerOn OMS customers.

iFactor is proceeding with the discovery and design phases of the project. During these phases, the project team will review the EO to PowerOn system glue code and look for opportunities to leverage the enhanced capabilities in the data model. We will then review the current applications, configurations, customizations and interfaces in the Austin Energy system and develop a plan to migrate them into the new system to best meet the current business needs. Finally, iFactor will review the new capabilities of PowerOn 4.2 with Austin Energy to ensure that the design leverages all aspects of the new version that are applicable to Austin’s workflow.

The discovery and design phases of the project, which include the upgrade of the core GIS, are expected to wrap up in May. At this point system development will commence immediately.