Ameren Missouri - Customer Operations

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1 Ameren Missouri - Customer Operations Enhancing Communication during Major Storm Events Mark Mueller Manager, Customer Service March 2017

2 Corporate Overview Ameren is headquartered in St. Louis, MO 2.4 million electric customers in MO & IL Nearly 1 million natural gas customers in MO & IL 64,000 square miles (total MO/IL) Ameren Missouri 1.2 million electric customers 130,000 natural gas customers 64 counties including 500 communities throughout MO, including the greater St. Louis metropolitan area 2

3 Customer Care Operations Regular Billing Hours: Monday through Friday, 7:00AM to 7:00PM Outage/Emergency staffed 24/7 ~200 Customer Care Advisors (CCA); 29 Home Agents 3 locations: St. Louis, MO, Jefferson City, MO & Outsourcer in San Antonio, TX 1.4 million agent-handled; 10,000 average/day Self-service = 46% of all inbound Metrics 82% service level in 60 seconds, quality monitoring scores, customer after-call surveys, advisor performance metrics 3

4 A Stormy Six Months From July 2006 to January 2007, Ameren Missouri saw three outage events which helped shape the way we would begin managing major storm restoration: July 19 & 21, Over 600,000 customer outages. Two major storm systems moved through three days apart and created the largest storm event in our history. With nearly 100,000 restored after two days, a second storm came through and resulted in an additional 200,000+ new outages. November 30, Over 225,000 customer outages. Ice storm knocks out power across the St. Louis metropolitan area. January 13, Over 260,000 customer outages. Ice storm knocks out power across central MO. 4

5 Ameren Missouri Emergency Operations Center (EOC) Having been formed in the spring of 2006 just prior to the historic storms of that year, Ameren Missouri created an EOC, or Emergency Operations Center to better manage all aspects of major storm restorations Coordination of Field Operations resource support Materials coordination/support Logistics Lodging, meals, laundry Communications Internal and external More accurate and timely Estimated Restoral Times (ERT) 5

6 Customer Care Incident Command Structure (ICS) While the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) oversees and manages the storm (or event) from a global perspective, the Customer Care ICS provides a basic structure that can be applied to any event. Customer Care serves as a vital conduit of information which our customers need during major outage events. Having an established structure ensures that specific roles are clearly defined and responsibilities are understood which facilitates more accurate and seamless staffing and organization during a storm. Communication channels are identified and status updates are provided to Customer Operations leadership at pre-determined intervals. 6

7 Customer Care Incident Command Structure (ICS) Sample of ICS roles Additional roles: Social Media Coordinator Safety Coordinator Logistics Team Regulatory Liaison Outsourcer Lead 7

8 Contact Center Storm Response Monitor weather, call volume and outage counts Monitor, assess and prearrange staffing Heightened awareness for increased social media posts Our 1 st responders for outage calls are our 29 home agents followed by additional advisors as needed Keep customers informed by updating upfront IVR message with any outage information including ERT and number of customers affected Continue handling billing, move, delinquent, etc. calls. Assist with outbound restoration and/or courtesy calls for single outages. 8

9 July- August 2016 Four Major Storms July 13-17: All Missouri Service Territory 116,118 customers out 1780 workers engaged, 78 hours to total restoration 45,765 customer calls answered (55,481 offered) July 19-20: Northeast Missouri, Metro St Louis 28,553 customers out 576 workers engaged, 24 hours to total restoration 19,139 customer calls answered (22,990 offered) July 24-25: Metro St Louis 11,966 customers out 256 workers engaged, 18 hours to total restoration 10,562 customer calls answered (13,650 offered) August 15: Metro St Louis 16,982 customers out 406 workers engaged, 12 hours to total restoration 11,163 customer calls answered (14,183 offered) 9

10 Two Types of ERT Global ERT Major Events: When will everyone be back on? Provided by the EOC Dependent on amount of total damage and number of resources May be tailored by region, i.e. within a ZIP Code area Premise-based ERT When will my lights be back on? Noted in outage management system Field personnel are the best and most accurate source Not all crews perform same work Managing customer expectations Why do the trucks keep driving by my house, but my power is still off? 10

11 How ERT s Impact the Customer s Experience Those that utilize our self-serve options to report their outage will receive updates with ERT s. If they do not have information sent to them, they often choose to call in to check their status. Calls where ERT s are not available are often frustrating to customers as they are not able to plan and/or make arrangements - especially during extended outages. Calls made where ERT s are available are often more positive to customers as they have a better understanding of the situation and can make arrangements. 11

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13 ERT Rapid Improvement Event In a recent Continuous Improvement event, the team identified additional opportunities for improved communication on ERTs Enhanced notification through mobile app which would link data directly from our outage management system New storm role within EOC to provide more information on feeder outages Better intel on downstream outages More proactive outage/ert communication from Digital Care team through social media channels 13

14 ERT COMMUNICATION Customer Care Advisor 14

15 Outage Status: IVR, Website, Mobile App, Alerts or Customer Care Advisor Outage Start Date/Time Outage Status Cause of Outage (not in IVR) Estimated Restoral Time Number of Customers Out Last Status Update webpage 15 OUTAGE ERT ALERT The estimated restoration time is now 05/26 10:11 AM for the outage affecting XXXX HELIAS DR Cause: NOT YET DETERMINED text message mobile app

16 Driving More Effective Outage Response Throughout the Organization Outage Response structure in place with pre-defined roles and responsibilities EOC Field ICS Contact Center Heightened awareness for accurate ERTs Importance reinforced in the Field and in Customer Care Better Self-Service options for customers for ERT updates Web, Mobile, IVR, Text & Alerts 16

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