Customer Service: 2020

Deck: 

Grid upgrades spark an interactivity revolution.

Fortnightly Magazine - April 2010
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When utilities and regulators consider smart-grid investments, they tend to focus their analysis on operational issues, such as cost savings, reliability and the ability to defer capital investments through greater demand-response capabilities. They seldom focus on customer-service processes, practices or standards.

This stands to reason, because utilities traditionally are driven to achieve two overriding goals: reliability and cost control. As a result, T&D investments of any kind are justified primarily on whether they serve those two goals. However, smart-grid technologies might be opening the door to some fundamental changes that transcend the basic drivers of reliability and cost control—and perhaps starting a revolution in the way utilities serve their customers.

“Today the industry is focused on operational benefits because they are the most easily quantified in smart-grid business cases,” says Kit Hagen, a senior director with customer service company Convergys. “But smart grid is laying the foundation for a new world of customer interaction that will benefit both utilities and customers.”

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