iFactor Consulting's Blog

I recently experienced a power outage at my house. While this is certainly ironic for someone in my line of work, it was also a great chance to observe first-hand the realities of this critical utility transaction.  I started out with my iPad, visiting the local utility’s web site. I was able to locate a map, but it only had high level regional information. Next I navigated to a list of known outages and found that there were several in my region, but I still couldn’t be sure if one was “my” outage.  At this point, I found myself thinking this would be the perfect time for me to get a Notifi-driven proactive text message!

There was no link for web based outage reporting, so my only remaining option was to start dialing. I used my work cell phone, as like most houses, my fancy cordless phones were out of commission and I didn’t feel like going to the basement to dig out my trusted analog phone. Speech recognition ramped up and starting waking me through things. I fumbled with the commands, gave up on speaker phone, then gave up on speech altogether and used the key pad. All in all, in a few minutes I learned that I was part of a known outage with an ETR 2 hours out at 5:30PM. I undocked my laptop, booted up from battery, and was back to work.  About 40 minutes later, at 4:20,  the power was restored! So I re-docked again and picked up from there, now with full network access going again on my home router.  Twenty minutes later, the power went back out again, and I started to picture the switching or other steps that must have been happening down the street from me.  This time I went right back to the phone and went through the motions again, and convinced the IVR to share what it knew with me. I once again learned that I was part of a known outage which now had an ETR that was 6:30PM. There was no indication of the cause or the reason for both outages.  We lit up some candles, started a fire, and started to discuss what to do about dinner! This time restoration occurred at about 6:15, and I was very impressed with the accurate information.

That’s a long tale of a typical blue sky outage…so what’s the point? If you equate this scenario to any other vertical, you can start to see the differences. If Southwest Airlines knows my flight is delayed, they alert me – by calling me or texting me – it’s my option. If something changes and the flight is delayed again, they update me again.  If Gap has a delay in shopping my wife’s order, they email her, with information on what happened and when it will be resolved.  They might even reduce or eliminate the shipping charges. If my bank balance goes below a threshold I set, PNC sends me an alert, again via email or a text.  Information is power, and companies that deliver it proactively through whatever channels their customers prefer can change a negative transaction into a positive one.

This is the trend that is really accelerating in utilities now! Your customers and members want information about their energy and their bills. They are increasingly connected and digital, and increasingly dependent on electricity for many aspects of life. We are working to create a smart grid fueled by smart energy consumers and this will require that we treat our customers to the same service they get in every other industry!