APPA Business & Financial Conference

Interactive Voice Response Systems: Inbound & Outbound Capabilities

Presented by Christie RodriquezIVR Coordinator, Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD)

Austin, TXSeptember 25, 2007

– Sacramento Municipal Utility District

– 6th largest publicly owned utility in the country (customers served)

– Sacramento County & a portion of Placer County

– 900 square mile service area

– Over 540,000 customers

– 2,300 employees• 700 non-represented professional & supervisory• 800 represented physical force• 800 represented clerical and technical employees

About SMUD

– Mission • To empower our customers with solutions &

options that increase energy efficiency, protect the environment, reduce global warming and lower the cost to serve our regions.

Major Touch Points

IVR

Completed Contacts* 16%

Residential Contact Center45%

Commercial Contact Center

4%

Web & Kiosk

Completed on Web 35%

2006 Statistics

Route to IVR payment option

Outbound Calls

*Customer must perform at least one transaction and hang up in order to be considered “Completed in IVR”

Transfer to Agent ~60%

E-mail to Agent

StructureResidential Services

– 115 Seat Contact Center– 7 AM to 7 PM Monday – Friday– ~1M contacts per year

Commercial Services – 8 Seat Contact Center– 8 AM to 5 PM Monday – Friday– ~72K contacts per year

IVR– 2 Technology Developers– 1 Business Liaison– 24 hours a day 7 days a week– ~320K contacts per year

– Intervoice IVR– Siemens PBX – Genesys Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) – Integrated with SAP Customer Service System– 21st Century High Volume Call Answering (HVCA)– West Corporation Proactive Customer Contact– Custom Developed Softphone– Integrated with Kubra (payment processing system)– Oracle DB

Technology

Outbound Collection CallsProcess Flow

This is an important message from SMUD your electric service provider. Please call our office at 1-888-847-7683 to speak to a customer service representative.

West Corp. creates a customparser that would ingest thefile and parse it into severalsmaller files based on SMUD specifications.

West Corp.places the callto the customer.

SMUD provides asingle XML fileto West Corp.

1. 2. 3. 4. Customer calls SMUD’stoll freenumber.

5. The call is answered by SMUD IVR.[813] You have reached SMUD's customer service department.

[XXX] Please enter your 10 digit home phone number.

[753] Please enter the numbers of your street address

Authenticate success?

[XXX] Our records show that your account is past due. To avoid disconnection you must pay <$xxx.xx>. To pay this amount in full press 1. To pay a different amount press 2.

[816] To pay by check press 1. To pay with credit card press 2.

1

[XXX] Enter the amount you want to pay. Use the star key in place of the decimal point.

2

Warning message needed?

No

YesWarning Message.Customer has option to change amount.

Stats– 1,000 accounts p/day– 1,400 calls made p/day– 76% successful contact (<1% pay on initial contact)– 33% result in inbound calls– 29% disconnected for non-payment

2007 YTD Automated Transactions– Account Balance - 66%– Check By Phone - 8%– Report Outage - 6% – Credit Cards – 5%– Payment Arrangements - 5% – Assistance Program Info - 4%– Stop Service - 2%– Miscellaneous Programs/Services 2% – Office & Pay Station Info - 1%– Report Meter Read - 1%

2007 YTD IVR Completed Contacts19% Residential English15% Residential Spanish 9% Commercial English 5% Commercial Spanish19% Total (all customers & languages)

IVR Functionality

Account Balance– First option in menu (highest volume)– Commercial & Residential customers– English & Spanish speaking customers– Not provided if disconnected for non payment– Messages based on specific account status

– Past due– Not past due– Payment arrangements– Credit on account– Account paid in full

– Last payment amount– Date last payment received– Proceeds to payment options

– Make a payment– Make payment arrangements

Stats– 311K transactions p/year*– 80% success rate**

Payment Arrangements– Commercial & Residential customers– English & Spanish speaking customers– Not provided if disconnected for non payment or in danger of disconnect– Not available to customers on Budget Billing or Custom Due Date programs– Balance must not exceed $600– Cannot have any current installments– Installments w/in the last 6 months have all been paid– Oldest amount due cannot be older than 3 months– Customer can chose to extend for 1-2 billing periods– If 2 billing periods, amount is divided and customer is informed of specific amounts

Stats– 24,000 transactions p/year*– 17% success rate**

Financial Transactions

* Transactions p/year estimated based on actual stats from Jan-March 2007 **Success rate based on Residential English transactions as of June 2007.

Check by Phone– Residential customers only (due to fee structure)– English & Spanish speaking customers– Account cannot be disconnected for non payment or have “Do Not Accept Check / ACH” indicator– Transaction can be turned on / off as needed– Checking account info is stored for future use– Name on check must be the same as name on acct.– If no checking info is on file the customer is asked:

– Where is check # located in the line at the bottom of the check?

– Different messages are played depending on the location of the check #

– What is the 9 digit bank routing number?– System re-prompts if not 9 digits

– What is the checking account number?– Checking account # must be > 4 digits– Value must be > 0

– What is the check number?– What is the dollar amount?

– * used as decimal– Amount >$0.00 & <$10,000

– Implicit verification of all data– Payment posts w/in 2 business days– Confirmation letter is sent to customer

Stats– 41,000 transactions p/year– 80% success rate*

Credit Card Payments – Visa Consumer Credit Cards only– Residential customers only (due to fee structure)– English & Spanish speaking customers– Account cannot be disconnected for non payment or have “Do Not Accept Credit Card” indicator– Transaction can be turned on / off as needed– Credit Card info is not stored for future use– Name on card must be the same as name on acct.– Customer is asked for:

– 16 digit account number– System confirms card is Visa

– Expiration date (mm/yy)– 5 digit zip code– Payment amount

– * used as decimal– Amount >$0.00 & <$10,000

– Implicit verification of payment amount & last 4 digits of credit card only– Error handling varies based on return code from payment processor (card #, expiration date, zip)– Payment posts w/in 2 business days– Confirmation letter is sent to customer

Stats– 40,000 transactions p/year– 45% success rate*

Payment Transactions

* Transactions p/year estimated based on actual stats from Jan-March 2007 **Success rate based on Residential English transactions as of June 2007.

Limited Income & Medical Discount Rates– Residential customers only– English & Spanish speaking customers– Brief message about program– Application & qualifying guidelines sent to customer

Stats– 10,500 transactions p/year– 100% success rate

Assistance ProgramsBill Payment Assistance– Residential customers only– English & Spanish speaking customers– Brief message about program– Telephone number provided for more information

Stats– 10,000 transactions p/year– 100% success rate

Office & Paystation Info Office Info– Physical address– Cross streets– Lobby hours– Mailing address– Option to repeat

Paystation Info– By zip code– 1 to 3 locations provided– Name of location– Physical address– Cross streets– Telephone number

* Transactions p/year estimated based on actual stats from Jan-March 2007 **Success rate based on Residential English transactions as of June 2007.

Stats– 4,800 transactions p/year– 88% success rate

Lessons Learned– Assign ownership– Define responsibilities– Establish a focus

– Cost vs. Customer Satisfaction– Create a strategy

– Market Research– Marketing Strategy– Objectives– Evaluation Process

– Learn best practices & human factors– Enterprise Integration Group– Incoming Calls Management Institute– Sterling Audits– SpeechTek

– Benchmark– Ascent Group Inc.– E-Source

– Adopt a philosophy & create guidelines– Voice

– Pleasant & Professional– Consistent

– Information Delivery– Relevant Info (No Jargon)– Quick Response Times

– User Friendliness– Menu Options Consistent– Concise Messages– Specific to General

– Evaluate business rules– Enhance reporting

Future– Interactive Outbound Collection Calls

– Add right party verify– Improve voice mail process– Connect to SMUD for payment processing

– Expand credit card options– Enhance Financial Assistance Programs

– Provide guidelines– Automate enrollment– Offer status information

– Leverage Genesys – Intelligent Routing within IVR

– Proactive Communication– Payment arrangement reminders

– Evaluate Speech Recognition technology– Consider expanding Language Options

Extras

Infrastructure and Capital Project costs not included in cost per contact.

IVR Implemented• CCS Firstline

IVR EvolutionCCIP• Brite Platform• Expanded applications• Screen pops• Limited reporting

Enhancements• Improved menu• Added functionality• Improved reporting

Assessment• By EIG

Satisfaction Survey• By Quantum

IVR Replacement• Intervoice Platform• Improved reporting• Standard Interfaces

1991 1995 1999 200415% increase

200320% increase

200215% increase

2001Baseline established

2000

IVR Replaced• Intervoice Platform

Reengineering• Channel Management• IVR Coordinator• Web Coordinator

200529% increase

Cost Per Contact Model• IVR• Web• Residential Contact Center(Commercial added in 2004)

Enhancements• Replacement issues• Spanish Automation• Commercial Options• Improved menu• EnergyHelp• Modify business rulesTelephone number Update• By Televox

Enhancements• Minor script changes• IVR brochure created• Spanish Focus Group

Outage Redesign• Eliminate TSR

calls after hours

200621% increase

2007

Usability Testing• By Sterling

Audits

Satisfaction Survey

Interactive Outbound Calling

Outbound Calling• Collection CallsAssessment• By Sterling Audits

C/C

IVR*

2001

683,522

128,418

2002

838,543

148,260

2003

957,024

178,620

2004

1,031,770

206,070

Complete Contacts2005

969,199

265,651

2006

1,013,062

320,790

*Customer must perform at least one transaction and hang up in order to be considered “Completed in IVR”

Cost Per Contact ModelIVR• Telephone charges

• Based on % of completed contacts• Maintenance agreements• Payment processing fees• Labor

• Supervisor • IVR Coordinator• Support Staff• Advertising Staff

• Promotional materials• Outside services• Postage

Infrastructure and Capital Project costs not included in cost per contact.

Questions

Infrastructure and Capital Project costs not included in cost per contact.