Western Water Company (Western Water) is a not-for-profit customer-owned water system serving unincorporated areas of Clermont, Clinton, Warren, and Brown counties in southwestern Ohio. This area includes over 400 square miles and some 23 townships. With over 14,500 customers at the end of 2006, Western Water has been steadily growing at a rate of 500-1000 customers per year.
Western Water has used SSI’s Utility Billing and Work Order applications since 1998, and has been using SSI’s Online Account Inquiry and Payment application since May, 2005. A network of PCs installed with the help of SSI as part of the overall solution supports two separate locations. Billing is integrated with an Itron drive-by automatic meter reading system using the standard SSI Utility Billing interface. SSI software applications are also integrated with Western Water’s general accounting system.
"Our SSI systems have helped us maintain a pretty lean operation," says Scott Kirk, Western Water Company’s General Manager. "We’ve been able to handle quite a bit of growth since we installed the SSI software without needing to add people.”
A Highly Efficient Billing Process
Western Water has just 3 people in the billing department, and just one meter reader with a backup. Meters are read on a zone by zone basis throughout the month, with readings taken each Monday and billed each Friday. Meter data collected by the Itron system is automatically uploaded to the SSI billing system where an analysis program highlights any potential issues such as unusual or missing readings. Mailed payments are processed using bar code scanning, so only the exceptions require manual entry.
"Our billing process is almost on autopilot," says Kirk. "And as more and more customers take advantage of our SSI-based capabilities for e-mail billing, online payment, online account inquiry, and credit card payment, we are seeing even greater savings in terms of the overall effort required. Besides making us more efficient, these capabilities are also improving our cash flow and making life easier for our customers."
The number of Western Water customers taking advantage of online bill payment increased over 240% between mid-2005 and mid-2006, with the majority of new customers electing to pay online from the start. "Many of our older customers will probably continue to pay by mail for a long time; but our newer residents and business operators really want to pay online, just as they do with most of their other monthly bills," adds Kirk. "We don’t charge any type of convenience fee for credit card payment, either, because the time savings and productivity improvements more than make up for the small cost."
Integrated Service Order Management
Western Water also uses the SSI Work Order system to process an average of 600 service orders per month. The Work Order system is tightly integrated with the SSI Utility Billing system, so all essential customer information, as well as information about meter location, type, and serial number is automatically passed to work orders when they are raised. Today, work orders are printed on standard paper and distributed to service people from the office. In the near future, Western Water plans to eliminate the need for crews to physically pick up orders by e-mailing them directly to the trucks using standard mobile communications.
Very Pleased with Support
According to Kirk, "SSI’s support people have been great to work with. They always respond quickly to our requests and do a good job of addressing our needs."
When the SSI system was first installed, support people worked with Western Water on hardware, network, and software installation, as well as testing integrations with the meter reading and accounting systems. Since then, SSI support people have developed a number of special reports and helped perform periodic software upgrades.
"For instance, our recent upgrade went like clockwork," says Kirk. "No one was here until midnight or anything like that. SSI’s people have made things pretty easy for us all along."
In summary, Kirk adds: "With the SSI billing and work order systems in place, we feel like our ability to serve our customers is almost unlimited. Our productivity has increased in pace with our growth and we anticipate that will continue for some time to come." |
