News & Press
The Integrated Voice Response System (IVR) at Tri-County EMC went live today. This system will enhance customer service by allowing 24-hour account access, taking outage calls faster to better manage power outages and allowing members to pay their bill or check their balance at any time of the day. The system will also allow us to provide alerts for members with prepay accounts, conduct courtesy calls for members late to pay, and contact members before a planned outage occurs in their area.
“More and more members want to do business online or over the phone rather than in person. The IVR system gives our members more opportunities to communicate with us on their schedule,” said Greg Mullis, VP of Energy Services. “Instead of only making payments during business hours, members can pay their bill over the phone, or check their balance, at any time of the day.”
“From an outage standpoint, this will make the coop’s power restoration much more efficient,” said Lee Marsh, VP of Distribution Services. “We’ll be able to take 4-8 times the number of calls we are currently able to take during an outage now while still giving members the opportunity to talk to a live customer service representative. The system will help us better organize our crews and get power restored to members faster.”
When reporting an outage, the IVR system will be able to recognize phone numbers that are saved on member accounts, which will eliminate several seconds of looking up an account. Because of this capability, when a member calls to report an outage, the system will already know if the outage has been reported on that member’s circuit and if a crew is at the scene, speeding up the restoration process. Tri-County EMC encourages members to take advantage of this benefit by keeping phone numbers updated on their accounts.
Members will always have the opportunity to talk to a live representative from Tri-County EMC. The IVR system will allow more ways for members to communicate with the cooperative at times that are convenient for them.
For more information, visit www.tri-countyemc.com.
About Tri-County EMC…
Tri-County Electric Membership Corporation is a member-owned electric cooperative serving more than 21,025 accounts in Baldwin, Bibb, Jasper, Jones, Morgan, Putnam, Twiggs and Wilkinson County. The cooperative, chartered in 1939, is headquartered in Gray, Georgia and has a district office in Eatonton and a payment center in Milledgeville. Tri-County EMC is governed by a nine-member board of directors elected by and from the cooperative's customer/members.