Click here...
Video - Customer Portal!
Checkout a short video of the AquaHawk capabilities available to your customers (Customer Portal)
Click here...
Video - Utility Portal!
This video demonstrates some of the AquaHawk capabilities available to utility employees (Utility Portal)
Click here...
Personalized Water Use Reports
To help utilities encourage customers to save water and meet conservation goals, AmCoBi offers individualized, print/e-mail Water Use Reports, in combination with its AquaHawk portal.
A Customer Portal Solution for Utilities
AquaHawk™ and UtilityHawk™ are affordable Web-based, customer portal solutions that help water, electric, and gas utilities improve customer service and build stronger client relationships. By presenting useful data and actionable information, providers can reduce routine support calls, easily resolve high bill complaints, and give customers more control over how they use utilities.
Learn about Customer Portal Solutions
Here are some resources to help you learn more about consumer engagement / customer portal solutions for utilities.
-
How to Make Business Case for Investing in a Utility Customer Portal
9 Ideas for Utility Billing and Customer Service Managers -
8 Best Practices
8 Best Practices for creating a successful customer portal that engages, informs, and serves. -
Customer Engagement for Water
Learn breakthrough technologies for water utilities that improve the customer experience in this free report. -
8 Steps for Evaluating Customer Portal Solutions
See an online demonstration! It only takes 30 mins.
Learn more about AquaHawk & UtilityHawk
Overview
AquaHawk & UtilityHawk are customer portal solutions for water, electric, and gas utilities. Learn what they do, who they're for, and how they can help your organization.
Features & Benefits - Utilities
AquaHawk & UtilityHawk enable customer support staff to more easily manage, and even prevent high bill complaint calls.
Features & Benefits - Customers
Enable your customers to access their consumption data, see an estimate of their bill anytime during the billing cycle, and be automatically notified before they spend too much money on utilities.
Advanced Leak Detection
Does your meter reading system produce an endless list of continuous flow issues or miss problems altogether? Is it easy to find the most severe leaks? AquaHawk reduces the time your staff spends managing leaks and simplifies the customer alerting process.
Screenshots
Take a look at some of the key features of the system that include an rich customer view, threshold alerting, and unique features for utilities and their customers.
Service Connections: 36,000 | Households + Businesses Served: 51,560 | Meter Reading System: SensusAMI
Highlights
- Identified potential water leaks and enabled SUA to easily alert customers
- Reduced onsite service calls for high bill issues
- Helped support staff answer customer inquiries more effectively
- Offered customers more self-service capabilities.
 |
Case Study: Seacoast Utility Authority, FL (PDF) |
Background - Seacoast Utility Authority - Palm Beach Gardens, FL
Seacoast Utility Authority (SUA) is a publicly owned water, wastewater, and reclaimed water utility that serves approximately 49,263 households and 2,954 commercial establishments. The Authority's 125 employees cover an expansive service territory (approximately 78 square miles) that includes parts of: the City of Palm Beach Gardens, the Village of North Palm Beach, the Towns of Lake Park and Juno Beach, and unincorporated northern Palm Beach County.
SUA has been using the Sensus FlexNet AMI system since September 2007. The Authority hosts its own headend system or Regional Network Interface (RNI), and bills monthly using Harris Advanced Utilities.
An Improved Leak Detection & Alerting Process
Utilizing AMI meter data to find leaks is a core service that SUA provides to its customers. Prior to implementing AquaHawk™, staff would run "high consumption" reports in the Sensus system to look for problem accounts. "It was difficult to find critical issues because the reports are very long (up to twenty pages) and they're filled with excess information," commented Kim Azulay, Customer Billing Supervisor.
"AquaHawk is much easier for employees to identify problems that require customer notification because the system lists accounts with potential leaks, and categorizes them in priority order," she noted.
Leak Alerts, Seven Days a Week
To ensure that customers are alerted seven days a week, including weekends and holidays, SUA opted to use AquaHawk's "Managed Services." With this option, AquaHawk analysts review abnormal use patterns, and send customer notifications on behalf of the utility. All communications are recorded in the application so SUA staff can track what's happening.
Turning Customers into Fans
Even if customers haven't registered for access to the portal, AquaHawk still monitors their consumption if they have a smart meter installed. Should a customer experience irregular usage, an alert is triggered. Contact information--cell, phone or e-mail address--imported from SUA's billing system can be used to connect with the customer.
An employee recently notified a customer of a potential leak, but the homeowner couldn't find any visible signs of water. Over the course of several days, however, she used nearly 100,000 gallons of water.
The owner hired a firm to conduct a sonic leak survey and they discovered a broken pipe under one of the concrete floors. In Florida, the water table is close to the ground and the soil is very permeable. It can be difficult sometimes to even see leaking water.
During Hurricane Irma, AquaHawk found several problems at homes where residents had evacuated. Downed trees, broken fences, and other flying debris had severed house valves and irrigation lines causing leaks.
The affected customers were alerted but not able to access their homes. Many reached out to neighbors, family members, and even SUA for assistance. "Our community was really appreciative of the notifications we delivered," shared Bonnie Evans, Customer Service/Billing Manager.
The portal has also expanded self-service options for users. "Customers can see their own usage online and we're linking to our online payment system. We also encourage them to set billing thresholds so they can be forewarned before receiving a surprise bill that's hundreds of dollars or more," Ms. Azulay highlighted.
Resolving Customer Complaints
Being able to resolve customer complaints more quickly during support calls is another area AquaHawk has made a positive difference. "Our team can pull up a customer's monthly, daily and hourly usage in graphical format, and get a feel for what's happening," explained Ms. Azulay. "The tools help us better communicate key information about the account's water consumption."
"If a customer calls and says, 'there's no way I used this much water,' we review the customer’s account on the AquaHawk system. Staff can usually pinpoint the day and time the high usage occurred. The customer will probably have already received a call or notification from the system. We explain that the alert often indicates a leak, a hose left running, or some other issue that should be investigated. Providing the date and time frame jogs the customer’s memory and he or she will usually know why the water usage increased,” Ms. Evans pointed out.
Fewer House Calls
When the majority of SUA meters were read manually, it was common for customers to request an onsite meter inspection if they received a high bill. These visits were expensive and time-consuming for the Authority's three field employees.
"AquaHawk and Sensus have been huge time savers for us," relayed Channa Martinez, Senior Meter Reader. "We can review near real-time consumption data, and determine from our office, if the customer actually has a problem. In most cases, the issue's on the customer's side of the meter and doesn't require us to send a truck onsite."
 |
 |
AquaHawk is a valuable tool that our employees use on a daily basis to better assist our service community. |
 |
| -- Bonnie Evans, Customer Service/Billing Manager | |||
|
Investigating Negative Meter Reads
Ms. Martinez and her team also use AquaHawk to find meters reporting negative use. "Meters usually don't run backwards unless they've been installed incorrectly," emphasized Ms. Martinez. "When we see negative use, it's usually because the AMI endpoint radio is malfunctioning and just needs to be replaced."
Encouraging Customers to Subscribe
Building a database of engaged customers is one of SUA's goals. They have sent out bill inserts, and customer service staff include a link to "Register for Water Alerts" on all outbound e-mails.
Employees also use a new feature called "QuickSubscribe™" to simplify the registration process. When customers call for support, staff members can gather some contact information and add them to the portal automatically.
Finding New Uses for AquaHawk
Past due accounts are a headache for most utilities. SUA sends late letters and delivers door hangers warning of an imminent shutoff, to as many as twenty-four customers a day. They are considering using AquaHawk's Group Messaging module to make automatic phone calls and send text messages in hopes of reducing onsite, shutoff-related visits.
SUA is also one of the first utilities to enable AquaHawk's improved mobile application so their customers can access the portal with a smartphone or tablet device.
Summary
"AquaHawk is a valuable tool that our employees use on a daily basis to better assist our service community," declared Ms. Evans. "It also gives our customers more control by enabling them to see how much water they're using, and to receive warnings when their consumption differs from what they might expect."
About AquaHawk
AquaHawk™ is an affordable Web-based, customer portal solution that helps water utilities improve customer service and build stronger client relationships. By presenting useful data and actionable information, utility customers have more control over their water consumption and can save money. Utility employees benefit through a reduction in support calls, easier resolution of high bill complaints, and improved operational efficiencies.
- End -
Add a comment
Case Study: City of Wooster, OH
Service Connections: 9,600 | Population: 26,540 | Meter Reading System: Aclara AMI
Highlights
- Improved the City's ability to identify leaks and rapidly notify customers
- Reduced customer support calls
- Delivers useful data for managing the water system
- Gives customers more control over their water consumption.
|
Case Study: City of Wooster, OH (PDF) |
City of Wooster - The Heart of Central Ohio
Located about fifty miles south and west of Cleveland, the City of Wooster is the county seat of the 13th largest county in Ohio (Wayne County). The City's Utilities department employs thirty-five people and provides water, sewer, trash and storm sewer services to a population of approximately 26,540.
Wooster has been using Aclara's fixed base, Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) system since 1999. They were the company's third AMI customer. They host their own Network Control Computer (NCC) and maintain 14 Data Collector Units (DCUs).
The City's AMI deployment was an involved, two-year project because the majority of water meters were located inside customer homes. To complete the installation, employees had to schedule customer visits, most of which were after working hours. With each visit, staff would replace the meter and install a radio transmitting unit.
Goals for a Consumer Engagement System
In late 2015, utility staff started evaluating consumer engagement solutions. They were looking for an employee and customer-friendly system that would:
- Improve their ability to catch leak events more quickly and alert customers
- Prevent customers from receiving unexpectedly high water bills
- Allow them to proactively monitor customer accounts without adding additional staff.
They reviewed several solutions ultimately selecting AquaHawk.
"We picked AquaHawk because the leak detection capabilities were better," noted Darrell Moser, the City's Accounts Receivable Manager. "The system uses algorithms tailored to each account to identify leaks. This was different than the protocol used by other applications that flag leaks when accounts have exceeded a hardcoded value...say 20% above average daily consumption."
"AquaHawk also includes an integrated messaging system," he pointed out. "Our employees can efficiently contact customers by automated phone call, text message, or e-mail. The application tracks everything from start to finish. We also liked the fact that AquaHawk monitors potential leaks for all of our accounts, even if they haven't yet subscribed to the service," he added.
|
|
We picked AquaHawk because the leak detection capabilities were better. |
|
| -- Darrell Moser, Accounts Receivable Manager | |||
|
Useful Data for the Engineering Department
In addition to leak detection, the City leveraged other analytics capabilities in the application. "We started tracking the amount of water being pumped into specific zones and compared that to demand-side sales," Mr. Moser shared. "By tracking apparent water loss by zone on a daily basis, we can monitor changes that may indicate leaks when plant pumping volumes increase."
Accommodating Complex Meter Configurations
Meter configurations for most utilities are very simple: one account is linked to one water meter. Wooster's situation is more complex because the City uses compound and inline (subtraction) meters.
For a system to accurately measure consumption on these accounts, it must factor in: how many meters are used, what's being measured (irrigation vs. drinking water) and how the meters are physically installed. The City also bills in thousand gallon increments so the application had to perform rounding.
AquaHawk correctly calculates usage for all of Wooster's meter configurations.
Minimizing Customer Support Calls
One of the City's measures for determining if the portal system was successful related to customer service call volume. Employees were asked to compare the number of calls they received prior to implementing AquaHawk, and after.
Staff members reported that overall call volume had dropped. Moreover, because the City was taking a proactive approach and alerting customers to potential leaks, the number of calls from upset clients had also decreased.
"Our team likes the tool because it's very straightforward to use," shared Vince Cicconetti, Utility Accountant. "Those customers we've notified about leaks have been very appreciative."
Prior to implementing the system, the City didn't have the staff to review use data for all its customers. Now, by combining the analytics capabilities of AquaHawk and near real-time consumption data from the AMI system, the utility can provide an enhanced level of service.
Concern for Customers is Paramount
Wooster is fortunate to have ample water supplies so there's little need for aggressive water conservation programs. At the same time, if a customer has a leak, the water used is billable.
"We already spend a lot of time dealing with delinquent accounts and shutoffs," Mr. Moser related. "So we asked our organization, 'What can we do to help the majority of our customers who pay on time and don't require much interaction? Can we protect those clients from receiving an additional $200 charge on their bills because a leak ran undetected for hours or days?'"
"AquaHawk was part of the answer. The system gives our users much more control," explained Mr. Moser. "When customers set their own thresholds, the system will automatically monitor their usage 24 hours a day, 7 days a week."
Enhancing the Portal Application
The City continues to collaborate with AquaHawk to enhance system capabilities. As an example, utility staff are interested in detecting abnormal low flow for their compound meters.
"If the low side of the meter hasn't moved in three days, and that's not a normal use pattern, alert our staff," suggested Mr. Moser. "These are events we want to track down and repair. Sometimes there's debris in the meters that can be easily cleaned. Other times, the register head needs to be replaced. Occasionally, the customer opened a bypass and forgot to close it."
The utility would also like to track if there's usage on any accounts that have been shutoff or "locked." These situations usually warrant further investigation.
Tracking how water moves through the distribution system is another important goal for Wooster. For example, one of their big industrial users sources water from the utility, and they have a private well. Occasionally if this customer receives a problematic well water test, they immediately transfer to the City's system.
This user can pull 30,000,000 gallons in a month. Without being able to view metrics for a particular zone, this situation can appear to be a leak on the order of 1,000,000 gallons per day.
"The water plant will call public works to confirm that it's really a customer drawing water. Providing this information in a real-time dashboard view would be advantageous."
Wooster would also like to integrate AquaHawk's Mapping and Group Messaging modules. This integration would enable employees to draw a polygon on a Google Map and select a group of accounts. Staff could then send proactive notifications about service outages, maintenance issues, and other useful information to customers. AquaHawk is working with the City to implement this functionality.
Summary
"We would definitely recommend AquaHawk to other utilities," affirmed Mr. Moser. "We like that it's a hosted, Web-based application that our IT department didn't have to install, and they don't have to support. The system is very accurate when it comes to identifying abnormal consumption issues."
"We are working to expand our marketing and communication efforts so that more of our customers take advantage of this valuable solution," he added.
About AquaHawk Software
AquaHawk™ is an affordable Web-based, customer portal solution that helps water utilities improve customer service and build stronger client relationships. By presenting useful data and actionable information, utility customers have more control over their water consumption and can save money. Utility employees benefit through a reduction in support calls, easier resolution of high bill complaints, and improved operational efficiencies.
- End -
Add a comment
AquaHawk Helps City of Woodland Water Customers Understand their Consumption
The City of Woodland has released an easy-to-use online tool to help people and business owners better understand and manage their water use at a time when summer temperatures are rising.
This free service, AquaHawk, allows Woodland water customers to view their hourly water use, receive alerts when there is abnormal use on their account, and more, according to Jordan Power, city water conservation coordinator.
Add a comment
City of Redmond Improves Operational Efficiency with AquaHawk
Service Connections: 10,000 | Population: 30,000 | Meter Reading System: Aclara AMI
Highlights
- Implemented an automated past due notification program that reduced the number of customer shutoff visits by 30%
- Launched a community outreach program to meet State-mandated water conservation requirements
- Expanded the tools available to employees enabling them to perform day-to-day tasks more efficiently.
|
Case Study: City of Redmond, OR (PDF) |
City of Redmond - The Heart of Central Oregon
Redmond is a mid-sized community nestled in Oregon’s High Desert Plateau just east of the Cascade Mountain Range. Known for its progressive and innovative leadership, Redmond enjoys a statewide reputation for its ability to undertake and implement projects and programs that benefit its residents.
The City is located in Deschutes County, one of the top ten fastest growing counties in the U.S. The water utility currently serves a population of 30,000. This is expected to grow to 46,000 by 2025.
Redmond's public works department employs 134 people and provides safe, cost-effective, high quality facilities and services for water, sewer, storm drainage, streets and parks. The City has been using Aclara's fixed base, Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) system since 2006. They host their own Network Control Computer (NCC) and maintain seventeen (17) Data Collector Units (DCUs).
In early 2015, Redmond deployed AquaHawk™, a user-friendly customer portal application for the purpose of:
- Meeting the community outreach and water conservation requirements mandated by the State
- Enabling customers to directly access and benefit from the data generated by the AMI system
- Helping employees complete routine tasks more quickly and efficiently.
Streamlining the Shutoff Notification Process
One problem AquaHawk helped tackle related to managing the shutoff notification process for delinquent accounts. In the past, each month, the City would contact more than 300 customers who had not paid their water bills. Staff members would spend hours manually calling these individuals notifying them that non payment would lead to service suspension.
The process was laborious and employees didn't enjoy doing it. If the customer didn't pay prior to the cutoff date, the City dispatched field staff to turn off the water.
AquaHawk's Group Messaging module offered an alternative that helped automate this process. Now, utility billing provides a list of past due accounts every month and telephone contact information. AquaHawk calls each customer, speaks a utility-customized message, and outlines payment options.
What previously took hours for employees to administer, is now accomplished in minutes, automatically, by the application. Employees are also relieved they no longer have to manage this not-so-enjoyable activity.
Josh Wedding, City of Redmond's Water Operations Manager commented, "This capability has been huge for us and probably reduced the number of customers we actually have to visit, by 30%. Reducing 'truck rolls' not only saves the City money, but it allows us to utilize employees for preventative maintenance and higher value water work."
Interestingly, many customers have responded positively. "City Hall routinely receives calls from customers saying 'thanks for the notice, I simply forgot to pay,'" noted Mr. Wedding.
|
|
Finding meters that are missing reads or are running backwards is much easier in AquaHawk.
|
|
| -- Josh Wedding, Water Operations Manager, City of Redmond | |||
|
Simple Efficiency Improvements Add Up
AquaHawk provides a comprehensive set of time-saving tools that improve staff members' abilities to conduct daily operations. "Finding meters that are missing reads or are running backwards is much easier in AquaHawk," said Mr. Wedding. "And prior to using the system, we had no idea how many short and long term leaks our customers were experiencing. Analytic processes in AquaHawk find problems we might otherwise miss. Through the built-in notification system, we have sent thousands of text messages and e-mails, and made automated calls alerting our users, in the communication mode they prefer."
Mr. Wedding described a very unique leak situation they recently discovered. "One of our customers operates a pizza parlor, and we alerted him to high usage. The owner wasn't able to find the problem so we made a 'house call.'
Our crew discovered a broken shutoff valve in an asphalt area near the business. The owner wouldn't have been able to locate the leak because there was no visible surface water. It was a bizarre occurrence and the owner was thankful we found it."
Another feature employees use regularly is called "QuickLinks." If a staff member is reviewing an account in AquaHawk and wants to cross check information in the Aclara NCC (headend), he simply clicks a button titled "Star" and is transferred to that customer's account.
Links to other software systems such as utility billing, meter data management (MDM), Google Maps, and work order management can be configured too.
Adapting AquaHawk to Meet Redmond's Needs
One valuable attribute of the AquaHawk system is that it has been architected to support the addition of new features and capabilities. The Redmond team wanted to reduce the amount of time it took their field staff to notify the utility billing department when a meter had been changed, and to eliminate manual data entry errors.
AmCoBi collaborated with the City to define and develop a new Meter Change Out module. Employees can now enter data about the meter swap directly into AquaHawk, the use data is updated immediately, and utility billing is notified automatically.
Meeting State Sponsored Conservation Requirements
One of the main reasons Redmond started exploring consumer engagement solutions was to meet community outreach requirements mandated by the State of Oregon. As part of its Water Conservation Plan, the City had committed to making water usage data available to customers.
"It's very important to get information into the hands of consumers," Mr. Wedding pointed out. "When they have access, they can see how much water they're using and they're more likely to engage in conservation and efficiency efforts. It also enables customers to benefit directly from our AMI investment."
Tracking conservation results is a simple process in AquaHawk. Mr. Wedding explained, "I can easily see who our largest water users are and trend their consumption. I can quickly view water consumption totals for all residential or commercial accounts, and a variety of subgroups. The utility dashboard closely fits how our organization manages data."
Evaluating Customer Portal Solutions
When the City considered deploying a consumer engagement solution, several characteristics were important to their organization. "Customer usability and security were big factors for us," explained Mr. Wedding. "Price was important too."
"All the vendors we reviewed offered solid products. What made AquaHawk standout is that it more closely aligned with the way we manage system data. The application was able to integrate data from: utility billing, the AMI system, and radios that store either hourly or six-hour reads."
"During our reference checks, we heard very positive feedback from AmCoBi's existing clients. We had high expectations going into this project. And our staff has been very impressed with the level of responsiveness and attentive support that the AquaHawk team has delivered…during the implementation and afterwards."
Evolving AquaHawk Capabilities
"We appreciate the way AmCoBi listens to ideas from its clients and incorporates those suggestions into the system so that all utilities can benefit," Mr. Wedding acknowledged. "As far as new features, we'd like a mapping capability where we can visually see the status of meters and data collectors in the field. If we could use this map to select a group of accounts and send them an alert when there's a main break or a service outage, that would save us a lot of time. Our staff wouldn't have to physically knock on doors and hang door hangers."
AmCoBi expects to release this capability in the next few months.
- End -
About AquaHawk Software
AquaHawk™ is an affordable Web-based, customer portal solution that helps water, electric, and gas utilities improve customer service and build stronger client relationships. By presenting useful data and actionable information, providers can reduce routine support calls, easily resolve high bill complaints, and give customers more control over how they use utilities.
Add a comment