Automatic outage reporting through in-home monitors

Conference · Sat Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1994

OSTI ID:192076

Wyse, G D

Customer service and customer satisfaction initiatives take as many varied forms as there are perceptions of the words service and satisfaction. Too often utilities define service and satisfaction in ways that they understand but not in accordance with customers` expectations. Outage reporting and restoration of service is no exception to these expectations. Utilities expect customers to call when they are out of power while many customers expect the utility to know when the power is off. Also, customers` expectations are changing in regards to momentary outages caused by automatic switching devices. Where momentary interruptions were once an inconvenience, some customers are including resultant lost product and sales as a part of the total cost of energy. Redefining the interface between the customer and the utility from the customer`s perspective is fundamental in beginning to serve customers on their terms and expectations. Questions that address one`s vision of how outages are reported and the customers role in the restoration process surfaces the need to reduce customer frustration and involvement in reporting outages while increasing the information needed to restore service efficiently and provide early detection of developing system problems. A customer installed monitoring device has been developed that removes them completely from the process of reporting outages while providing restoration and momentary interruption information. The following discusses the implementation and roll-out of an in-progress pilot to test this technology.

• OSTI ID: 192076
• Report Number(s): CONF-940129--
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
DETECTION
OUTAGES
POWER SYSTEMS
RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS
TELEPHONES