In an effort to improve its mobile workforce performance, Pittsburgh’s largest natural gas company, Peoples Natural Gas, entered a license and services contract with enterprise software provider, Ventyx, to utilize its mobile workforce management (MWFM) software.
"Our plan is to implement Service Suite first to support our customer service efforts in the field, integrating the system with the customer information system from SAP (News - Alert)," said Lisa Reilly, PNG - process manager.
People’s Natural Gas, formerly known as Dominion peoples, was purchased by an independent investment management firm and spun off as a separate company in February 2010. Currently servicing 359,000 residential and business customers, the newly independent company was in need of a solid foundation for its information systems to optimize customer service and overall operational efficiency, leading to the Ventyx contract.
"This integration will help improve customer satisfaction by enabling call center reps to book tighter appointment windows, enabling more flexibility to schedule around customers' preferences. Additionally, the functionality within Service Suite will allow the system to quickly adjust to schedule changes throughout the day," added Reilly.
The service suite will be used to manage field activities in maintenance, construction, inspection and regulatory compliance work. The company hopes this will in turn improve customer service. Reilly said the Ventyx’s software was chosen particularly for its ability to manage multiple work types within a single application—be it high volume, short duration or a complex, multi-step activity.
According to Ventyx, its service suite is the first platform delivering the entire end-to-end MWFM feature set—from forecasting to reporting, in addition to offering support for top-to-bottom work order coverage required for both utilities and communications companies.
Peoples will join the ranks of Ventyx’s list of 100,000 licensed mobile users—among which includes 15 of the top 20 North American gas utilities.
"We are pleased and grateful to welcome the newly formed Peoples Natural Gas Company to the Ventyx client family," said Ventyx VP and GM, Mobile Workforce Management, Rick Nott. "Ventyx is dedicated to bring our extensive experience in the gas utility arena to help Peoples create a model of customer satisfaction and employee empowerment within the industry."
Janice McDuffee has worked in marketing, editing and freelance writing for companies including SheKnows and HBM Inc. after receiving her master's and bachelor's degrees in journalism from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.
Edited by Chris DiMarco