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Hi, I’m Stacy Aukamp, and I work with the technology group at Raftelis. Within the technology group, our goal is to help modernize and transform public utilities and government entities through technology.
With technology, many of the changes we make are about automation and integration—passing information back and forth between systems to help automate processes that used to involve duplicate or manual steps. This makes everything in a utility or government entity more efficient and effective, and allows people working in those organizations to be more proactive in their thinking—deciding how they’ll spend their day—instead of just reacting to things around them.
A good example of this technological transformation is one of our customers in Kingsport, Tennessee. Kingsport is a great city, and they are undergoing a large transformation across several products and processes. In the technology group, we are currently selecting and implementing a large system called a Customer Information System (CIS). Essentially, that’s a utility billing system.
In addition to that, we’re also selecting a Financial Information System (FIS), staggered just a few months behind. This includes accounting, general ledger, payroll, and human resources—and it will be used across the entire city, not just for the utility. So, we’re running several phased projects.
A third project related to the CIS is the implementation of a brand new customer self-service portal. We’re putting more and more data and capabilities into the hands of customers, creating an experience more like Amazon, rather than an antiquated utility portal. Customers can request service, look at their past transactions and billing history, view usage with graphics, and more. This empowers them to make informed decisions.
As a result, we’ve also seen a reduction in call center volume because customers prefer to self-serve when given the option.
Looking ahead, we have to consider emerging trends in technology. One of the biggest shifts is in customer expectations and how we define service. What used to be called “customer service,” focused on reactive support—responding to complaints, following up, and communicating—has now become “customer engagement.” This means proactively informing customers if they have a leak, letting them know a payment is due, and offering multiple ways to pay, like Apple Wallet or Google Wallet. We’re bringing these common conveniences into the municipal space.
Another major trend is artificial intelligence. AI is becoming a big part of customer engagement, especially in the form of chatbots. These allow customers to get help or answers without needing to interact with a person unless they want to.
We’re also seeing a huge trend in reporting. This affects not only CIS and FIS, but all ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems. Older systems might store the data, but they don’t make it easily accessible. Meanwhile, reporting requirements—whether state, local, or federal—are becoming increasingly complex.
Utilities and government entities are finding it challenging to meet these demands. That’s why having strong business intelligence tools—such as dashboards and systems that can pull data from multiple sources—is so important. Instead of running three separate reports and combining them manually, organizations need the ability to generate unified, efficient reports. This kind of reporting is becoming essential in our field.
For more information on how our technology group can streamline your organization, you can reach out to Stacey at saukamp@raftelis.com.
