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32 <br />AMI Feasibilitv Report I Client Name: City of Santa Ana <br />7.6 CALL CENTER RESOURCES <br />The call center will be significantly impacted by the AMI system. As mentioned previously, during <br />the deployment period, the call center will likely experience an initial increase in call activity due to <br />the following: <br />G Customers calling to inquire about the AMI program and its impact to them. <br />Customers with billing questions because their bills increased - often due to a poorly performing <br />meter being replaced with a new accurate meter. <br />Q Customers needing to schedule an AMI installation visit due to access constraints. <br />Many utilities set up a specific toll free number to route all AMI -specific calls to a small specially <br />trained team but there will still be an initial increase in calls <br />As the meter installations continue and the initial wave of calls decrease, the overall call volume for <br />the call center will be reduced. Calls related to high bill complaints or billing errors will be reduced <br />because the AMI solution will ensure that estimated bills are practically eliminated and, thus, all <br />customers will receive a bill based on actual measured usage every time. This should allow City to <br />evaluate the call volume after the AMI system has stabilized and assess the call center resource <br />requirements. <br />7.7 ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE <br />Given the discussion on duties and roles in this section, Black & Veatch recommends the following <br />approach to the organization and oversight for the City AMI program. Two organizational <br />structures are provided on Figures 9 and 10. Figure 9 shows the AMI implementation stage, and <br />Figure 9 shows the AMI sustainment operation stage. <br />25G-150 <br />