Integrating Systems Improves Customer ServiceIntegrating Systems Improves Customer Service

Electric utility companies are learning the value of integrating systems to improve customer service, emergency crew deployment, and profitability.

Wally Curry, CIO at Enersource Hydro Missisauga, a wholly owned electric utility subsidiary of Enersource Corp., is using PeopleSoft's Enterprise One software for the task, and has seen dramatic improvements in customer service because of this. Requests from customers calling in previously had to pass through as many as three systems, and sometimes the information wasn't correct, he says. "With the new software, our operators point and click, calling up the schematics of the grid tied to our customers, and they're making informed decisions now, reducing response times."

The work response also is monitored in PeopleSoft, thanks to integration with the company's global information system, adds Johanna Raycraft, IS manager at Enersource. The utility plans to migrate to version 8.11 of the suite, due this month, and is looking forward to integrating data from Microsoft Project and PeopleSoft's asset-management module , and PeopleSoft's human resource intelligence software. "We could apply skill sets to emergencies and deploy the best crews for a job," Curry says. "That HR skill set will make us even stronger."

The inclusion of support for radio-frequency identification technology in version 8.11 also could be a bonus for the utility industry. It could help utilities better track the multitude of components around their portion of the grid and track the inventory in power plants , distribution centers, and customer-information systems that keep the power on. RFID support is the right step for PeopleSoft if it wants to gain more traction in the utility space, says Houghton Leroy, an analyst at enterprise app market research firm Arc Advisory Group. Few utility companies are buying a lot of software, he says, so vendors need to break through in some areas, like RFID or mobile systems support. "The PeopleSoft advantage is how they can tie financials into maintenance and operations," Leroy says.

Indus Inc., a leading vendor serving the utilities industry, agrees that RFID is gaining attention among utilities to help track assets spread out among wide territories. According to Mary McDaniel, senior director of solutions at Indus, such coverage could help with outages, emergencies, and maintenance routines.

Another utility executive doesn't see PeopleSoft replacing the multiple processes he oversees for managing poles, transformers, and substations, but credits PeopleSoft for integrating financials and operations. "We're creating an audit trail for our big-bucket trucks," says Peter Leonard, supply chain manager at Hydro Ottawa Ltd. The software is replacing ad hoc, paper-based processes in the field. Says Leonard, "We grew from five distinct utilities, and it's no longer possible for any one field engineer to know everything."