20060414UWI response staff 2nd requests.pdf

McDevitt & Miller LLP
Lawyers
[phone]
[phone] (Fax)
420 W. Bannock Street
O. Box 2564-83701
Boise, Idaho 83702
Chas. F. McDevitt
Dean 1. (Joe) Miller
April 14, 2006
Via Hand Delivery
Jean Jewell, Secretary
Idaho Public Utilities Commission
472 W. Washington St.
Boise, Idaho 83720
Re: Case No. UWI-06-
-.. .
Dear Ms. Jewell:
. .
Enclosed for filing in the above matter please find three (3) copies of United Water
Idaho s Response to Staffs Second Production Requests Nos. 19-37-, and 44.
DJM/hh
UNITED WATER IDAHO INC.
CASE UWI-O6-02 "
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SECOND PRODUCTION REQUEST OF THE COMMISSION STAFF
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Preparer: Patricia Foss
Sponsoring Witness: Gregory P. Wyatt
Telephone: [phone]
Title: General Managing
REQUEST NO. 19:
Please describe how incoming calls from customers to the Company are
handled. Include in that explanation answers to the following questions: (a) Are
all calls handled by a centralized service call center, or are some types of calls
(e., service outage or new construction) directed to a separate call center or
department? (b) If some types of calls are directed outside the customer service
call center, are those calls separately measured or tracked? (c) If some types of
calls are handled through an interactive voice response system without the
calling party speaking to a customer service representative, are those calls
separately measured or tracked?
RESPONSE NO. 19:
Incoming customer calls to the company are directed into a central customer
service group through a direct phone number. Customer service representatives
take service orders, explain billing, make payment arrangements, accept phone
payments, discuss water quality and service issues , and set up new accounts.
United Water Idaho has only one customer service group and it is the only area
that has a central phone queue with call statistics. If a customer calls into the
customer service line but needs assistance from another department such as
engineering, the customer service representative will transfer the call to the
appropriate employee in the organization. For instance, if a developer calls into
customer service regarding a new project, the call would be transferred to the
Construction Coordinator.
In addition to the Customer Service telephone number, the company has direct
telephone numbers for: Administration , Engineering, Conservation , Construction
and Water Quality. Customers can call directly into any of those areas. There is
also a general switchboard number where customers can use a menu list and
reach any of the areas listed above or customer service. The existing phone
system software does not track call data on calls coming into the numbers other
than the Customer Service line.
United Water Idaho does not currently utilize an interactive voice response
system.
UNITED WATER IDAHO INC.
CASE UWI-06-
SECOND PRODUCTION REQUEST OF THE COMMISSION STAFF
Preparer: Patricia Foss
Sponsoring Witness: Gregory P. Wyatt
Telephone: [phone]
Title: General Managing
REQUEST NO. 20 :
Please provide the Company s performance objectives for handling incoming
calls.
RESPONSE NO. 20:
United Water Idaho tracks performance indicators regarding call performance
including average speed of answer, abandon call rate , average time to abandon
and average talk time.
Average speed of answer and abandon call rate benchmarks are tracked weekly.
Our targets are:
Average speed of answer in 30 seconds or less
Abandon call rate after 10 seconds less than 3%
Average time to abandon is also tracked weekly as an information guide and the
average talk time is tracked monthly also as an information piece.
UNITED WATER IDAHO INC.
CASE UWI-06-
SECOND PRODUCTION REQUEST OF THE COMMISSION STAFF
Preparer: Patricia Foss
Sponsoring Witness: Gregory P. Wyatt
Telephone: [phone]
Title: General Managing
REQUEST NO. 21:
What steps does the Company take if it fails to meet its performance objectives?
RESPONSE NO. 21:
Each telephone in the customer service group including the supervisors ' is
equipped with a readout display that shows the number of calls in queue and the
length of time the oldest call has held. All customer service employees in the
group are able to log into the queue and assist if call times increase or if the
number of calls in the queue spikes.
Performance objectives are reviewed by supervisors and with staff on a weekly
and monthly basis. Depending on the need we are also able to reassign duties
among the customer service representatives as needed to meet higher call
demand times.
UNITED WATER IDAHO INC.
CASE UWI-06-
SECOND PRODUCTION REQUEST OF THE COMMISSION STAFF
Preparer: Patricia Foss
Sponsoring Witness: Gregory P. Wyatt
Telephone: [phone]
Title: General Managing
REQUEST NO. 22:
Please provide the number of incoming calls handled by the customer service
call center by month for calendar year 2005.
RESPONSE NO. 22:
Attached is the number of incoming calls answered by the customer service call
center by month for calendar year 2005.
UNITED WATER IDAHO INC.
CASE NO. UWI-O6-
SECOND PRODUCTION REQUEST
IPUC STAFF
ATTACHMENT TO
RESPONSE TO
REQUEST NO. 22
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UNITED WATER IDAHO INC.
CASE UWI-06-
SECOND PRODUCTION REQUEST OF THE COMMISSION STAFF
Preparer: Patricia Foss
Sponsoring Witness: Gregory P. Wyatt
Telephone: [phone]
Title: General Managing
REQUEST NO.23:
Please provide the average number of busy signals reached by parties calling
the customer service call center by month for calendar year 2005.
RESPONSE NO. 23:
United Water Idaho has not tracked busy signals as part of the call center
statistics.
In reviewing the call center phone system reports from March through December
2005 , there are zero calls listed as busy signals into the customer call center.
Reports from January and February 2005 are no longer on the phone system.
UNITED WATER IDAHO INC.
CASE UWI-06-
SECOND PRODUCTION REQUEST OF THE COMMISSION STAFF
Preparer: Patricia Foss
Sponsoring Witness: Gregory P. Wyatt
Telephone: [phone]
Title: General Managing
REQUEST NO. 24:
Please provide the average handling time by month for calendar year 2005.
Average handling time" is the average amount of time (usually expressed in
minutes) it takes for a customer service representative to talk with a customer
plus any additional "off-line" time it takes to complete the transaction or fully
resolve the customer s issue(s).
RESPONSE NO. 24:
United Water Idaho tracks the average call time it takes for customer service
representatives to complete a customer call. This statistic is tracked monthly.
Please see the attached spreadsheet for calendar year 2005.
Customer service representatives at United Water Idaho have other duties in
addition to answering calls. The time "off-line" is not tracked. The time a
customer service representative is not logged into the phone system is spent
processing paperwork associated with active collections, returned items, and
other routine customer service work.
UNITED WATER IDAHO INC.
CASE NO. UWI-O6-
SECOND PRODUCTION REQUEST
IPUC STAFF
ATTACH MENT TO
RESPONSE TO
REQUEST NO. 24
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UNITED WATER IDAHO INC.
CASE UWI-06-
SECOND PRODUCTION REQUEST OF THE COMMISSION STAFF
Pre parer: Patricia Foss
Sponsoring Witness: Gregory P. Wyatt
Telephone: [phone]
Title: General Managing
REQUEST NO. 31:
Please provide the number of non-pay disconnections by month for calendar
year 2005.
RESPONSE NO. 31:
Attached is the number of non-pay disconnections by month for calendar year
2005.
UNITED WATER IDAHO INC.
CASE NO. UWI-O6-
SECOND PRODUCTION REQUEST
IPUC STAFF
ATTACHMENT TO
RESPONSE TO
REQUEST NO. 31
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UNITED WATER IDAHO INC.
CASE UWI-06-
SECOND PRODUCTION REQUEST OF THE COMMISSION STAFF
Preparer/Sponsoring Witness: Greg Wyatt
Telephone: [phone]
Title: General Manager
REQUEST NO. 34:
Please clarify name of low-income funding program referred to in Case No. UWI-
04-4 Final Order No. 29838 and the Stipulation with CAP AI , as "United WaterShares" program. In his testimony in Case No. UWI-06-, Mr. Wyatt
discusses a "UW Cares" program. Is this the same program?
RESPONSE NO. 34:
Yes. Because United Water Idaho was the first United Water location to initiate
the low-income program , the working name "United Water Shares" was used in
the initial discussions and representations. When the program actually came into
existence the corporation chose to call it "UW Cares
UNITED WATER IDAHO INC.
CASE UWI-06-
SECOND PRODUCTION REQUEST OF THE COMMISSION STAFF
Preparer: Patricia Foss
Sponsoring Witness: Gregory P. Wyatt
Telephone: [phone]
Title: General Managing
REQUEST NO. 37:
Please provide the total number of customers who have arrangements to pay
each month under levelized payment plans for calendar year 2005.
RESPONSE NO. 37:
United Water Idaho is not authorized to offer a level payment plan.
In February 2004, United Water Idaho filed case UWI-04-1 that, if approved,
would have authorized the Company to provide a method of level payor budget
billing for residential customers. The Commission Staff was very supportive of
the proposal , understanding the benefits of predictable utility bills for customers.
The Commission was not supportive of level pay for United Water customers and
the proposal was denied.
UNITED WATER IDAHO INC.
CASE UWI-06-
SECOND PRODUCTION REQUEST OF THE COMMISSION STAFF
Preparer: Patricia Foss
Sponsoring Witness: Gregory P. Wyatt
Telephone: [phone]
Title: General Managing
REQUEST NO. 38 :
Please provide the total number of customers who requested payment
arrangements during the months of May through October for calendar year 2005.
RESPONSE NO. 38:
There were 10 294 customer calls into the customer service group from May
through October 2005 requesting to make payment arrangements.
UNITED WATER IDAHO INC.
CASE UWI-06-
SECOND PRODUCTION REQUEST OF THE COMMISSION STAFF
Preparer: Patricia Foss
Sponsoring Witness: Gregory P. Wyatt
Telephone: [phone]
Title: General Managing
REQUEST NO. 39:
Please provide number of customers enrolled in the leakGuard program for
calendar year 2005.
RESPONSE NO. 39:
United Water leakGuard was sold May 19, 2005. As of that date , there were
086 United Water Idaho customers enrolled in the leakGuard program,
UNITED WATER IDAHO INC.
CASE UWI-06-
SECOND PRODUCTION REQUEST OF THE COMMISSION STAFF
Preparer: Patricia Foss
Sponsoring Witness: Gregory P. Wyatt
Telephone: [phone]
Title: General Managing
REQUEST NO. 40:
Are customers who enroll in the LeakGuard program billed on United Water's bi-
monthly bills?
RESPONSE NO. 40:
United Water customers, who were enrolled in the LeakGuard program prior to
its sale in May 2005 , and who continue to have a water account and LeakGuard
protection, have the LeakGuard charge shown on their bi-monthly water bills.
New LeakGuard customers who sign up for the program with the new LeakGuard
owner are billed directly by the new owner for their LeakGuard service.
UNITED WATER IDAHO INC.
CASE UWI-06-
SECOND PRODUCTION REQUEST OF THE COMMISSION STAFF
Pre parer: Patricia Foss
Sponsoring Witness: Gregory P. Wyatt
Telephone: [phone]
Title: General Managing
REQUEST NO. 44:
Please provide the cost to United Water Idaho of promotional material for the
leakGuard Program.
RESPONSE NO. 44:
United Water Idaho did not incur any promotional material costs for the
leakGuard program. United Water leakGuard was a separate business entity
and all marketing and operating costs were charged to that business unit.