1. Utilities, Customers & SMS Rudi Leitner

2. Who in this room has a mobile phone? Who in this room has ever sent a text (SMS) message?

3. 1.52 billion global mobile phone users Global SMS – 3Q2004 : 135 billion (1 million SMS / minute) Global monthly SMS : 36/user

4. So why does this matter to me as a utility? Customers and utilities need to interact - they do so using Post Phone In person Fax Internet

5. But they don’t really use the potential of texting (SMS) …

6. Potential? The mobile phone, using SMS is… An on-line data terminal Widely available –Much more accessible than the web It is portable It is secure It is low cost Much faster than most other ways of interaction –Much, much faster than mail –Faster than in-person contact –Faster than voice Enables near real-time interaction between you and your customer And, it is owned (and loved) by your customer & is fully maintained by them

7. But what about voice? Voice and SMS offer customers different ways of interacting with utilities, but… –SMS can be faster (no need to hold in a call center queue, or speak to multiple people to achieve the desired response) –SMS is impersonal (some people dislike speaking to CC operators) –SMS is much cheaper –SMS allows for automation of processes – for example: directly accessing databases, logging responses etc.

8. Characteristics of SMS - Summary Accepted and understood by most users Accessible Low cost – in some cases free Quick and easy to use Secure, each user identifiable Time and date stamped Data processed and stored in real time Network manages data delivery

9.  Outage reporting & management  Customer self read  Community field service  Utility field service  Billing query support  Information server  Market research/service measurement  Prepaid vending solutions  ???? Some examples of using SMS in the interaction between customer and utility

10. Some examples of how this can work…

11. Customer material depends on type of SMS services deployed Examples Mail outs with the bill Meter sticker Fridge magnet Poster / Handouts at utility offices Adverts in media Posted/Knock & Drop communications m ultiple services on one card/magnet/mail-out/sticker Interface with the customer

12. Utility Solutions - Self Meter Read Low cost per meter read Instantaneous and real time collection of data (reads and check reads) Supplements existing methods of read collection Reads can be checked and corrected Reads can be scheduled with reminders at the customer convenience Communication channel to the customer Rapid deployment Integrates with billing systems “…managing the future”

13. Self Meter Reading Customer reads questionnaire Read typed into Customers cell phone SMS/e-mail sent to required person / call centre Reports generated Data fed through to utility database Appropriate response Sent back according to customer input Server in hosted environment

14. CustomerServer Database 1 4 SMS 3 Email/direct database entry 1 – request sent to customer for self reading 2 – customer reads and sends in result 3 – reading sent to database for checking, if correct store 4 – if incorrect ask customer to try again 5 – customer tries again 6 – If still incorrect send request to meter reader 7 – Field agent visits meter and checks operation 8 – Field agent send in correct reading or follow up if tampered or damaged Data incorrect 2SMS Data incorrect – try again 4 Second attempt 5 Visit Meter Field agent 7 68 ESP Self Meter Reading

15. Who wants to do an example? –Acc No: 567891234986 –Meter reading A: 102 –Meter reading D: 203 Please SMS +27 83 308 1062 567891234986 A102 D203

16. Utility Solutions - Outage Management Instant knowledge of outages Immediate communication to customers on the state of an outage Reduce load on call centers Low cost of communication Rapid Deployment Improve customer relationship Integrates with existing Outage Management Systems “…managing the future”

17. Outage Management Customer reports outage Information on outage sent back to customer SMS/e-mail sent to required person / call centre Field reporting Data fed through to utility database – Compare with known outages Server in hosted environment Further updates sent back to customer

18. ESP Outage Management Customer ESP Server Call Centre SMS, e-mail or database access Technical Centre 1 4 2 SMS 5SMS/e-mail Step 1 – outage not known Customer Server 1 2 SMS Step 2 – outage known 5 3

19. ESP Outage Management Customer ESP Server Call Centre SMS, e-mail or database access Technical Centre 2SMS/e-maill Step 3 – more time needed Step 3 – fault fixed -reset SMS 3 1

20. Empower communities to provide first line customer support Automatically manage the above process Reduce cost Improve customer service levels Community Based Field Service

21. Customer ESP Server Utility Field agent Phone / visit 1 4 2 SMS 3 Timed event 1 to 3, response required from community contact to server, closing customer request email 5 SMS/email 6 1 – customer sends a request 2 – message sent to community person 3 – community person visits customer 4 – reports problem found, resolves problem or indicates whether additional utility support required 5 – if additional utility support required, utility visit scheduled 6 – field agent visits 7 –job closed Community contact SMS visit Call Centre 5 7 ESP Community Based Field Service

22. Think how SMS based systems can fit into your customer management systems Think about your customer Give your customer more choices Improve service levels Increase customer loyalty Improve the image of the utility Measure and analyse key utility processes Reduce costs Increase accuracy of data Open new communications and marketing channels Some comments

23. For further information please contact Rudi Leitner (rudi@spintelligent.com) Thank you