South Kentucky RECC outage reporting made easy

Posted July 15, 2015 at 1:57 pm

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South Kentucky RECC’s members expect professional and prompt service, and they want to do business at their convenience. In an effort to assist members right at the moment they need it, South Kentucky RECC has a state-of-the-art system specifically for this purpose.

Interactive Voice Response, or IVR, allows SKRECC members to conduct business on their timeline. IVR is able to answer member calls reliably during an outage situation; it can collect data in order to analyze and assist in rectifying an outage; and it allows members to complete routine transactions, such as paying their electric bill, day or night, 365 days a year.

Dennis Holt, Vice President of Engineering for South Kentucky RECC, says the IVR system provides a useful link between the co-op and its members.

“With IVR, South Kentucky RECC members’ telephone numbers are matched to their accounts, making it easy for members to pay their bills, update their information, and much more.

“Even more importantly is the IVR’s ability to automatically associate an incoming member call with a power outage, which will be reported to SKRECC’s outage management system. When the call is recognized by the system, the dispatcher can more efficiently send crews to respond to an outage. This makes it vital that the co-op have the correct phone number and service address for each member.”

IVR is accessed when members call into their local office during or after regular working hours. If they call their regular office number, they will hear a message with instructions on how to access their accounts or to report an outage.

This is just another way South Kentucky RECC is trying to do its best for its members – making service easily accessible, on demand, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

South Kentucky RECC Dispatcher David Sparks acknowledges an alarm from the co-op’s IVR system showing a member’s information from a completed call. He will then be able to dispatch a crew to the outage.