How One Utility District Overcame Customer Service Delays and Revenue Loss Using Modern Voice Technology
Public utilities lose thousands annually to late or unpaid utility bills and outdated phone systems that struggle to support remote workers. Madison Suburban Utility District (MSUD) faced these exact challenges - until they modernized their voice technology. The results: seamless remote operations during a public health crisis, reduced past-due accounts and improved response to residents.
Watch as Madison Suburban Utility District’s Elizabeth Bolling and Scott Thorsen of Network Solutions Group (a local HostMy agent) recount MSUD’s initial difficulties and subsequent triumphs:
Supporting Remote Workers During a Health Crisis
The ability to rapidly enable remote work became critical for MSUD during the pandemic. As Elizabeth Bolling explained: “We were able to get everything up and running, send our staff home, and work safely from home during the pandemic. That was a huge accomplishment”.
Providing a smooth transition for Madison Suburban Utility District during this critical time helped the HostMy team build trust with Elizabeth Bolling and momentum that led to additional voice technology enhancements for her organization.
Agent Scott Thorsen described how the switch to HostMy caused Madison Suburban Utility District to take a new approach: “HostMy has been a great solution for them simply because they had an onsite hosted PBX system… when they moved offices, they would have to reprogram phones. Now they simply plug the new phone into the new jack and their offices are moved. From that standpoint, HostMy has been a fantastic solution to offer them much more flexibility.”
Improving Responsiveness & Preventing Revenue Loss
As team operations became more flexible, MSUD added HostMy’s automated payment reminders and call management technologies to improve efficiency and results.
According to Elizabeth Bolling: “This service goes out to customers who are past due, just as a friendly reminder to pay their bill. HostMy’s robo dialer is such an amazing tool for me in being able to track, collect data, and also to input it in our system so that we can see how many times we've contacted people. The amazing thing about it is it's so simple.”
“One of the things that I like about HostMyCalls is that it’s a great management tool. Knowing how many calls are coming in, how often they’re coming in, and the flow of traffic is so very important as far as when it comes to staffing our employees, making sure that everything is covered, all questions are answered, and we can be on the job if need be, at any given time,” Elizabeth Bolling continued.
Eliminating Support Delays
Beyond enabling remote work, reducing unpaid utility bills and improving response to residents, HostMy’s real-time support for MSUD’s staff is having a big impact. Now, any phone problem is addressed right away by responsive, local experts. No more incessant delays or unresolved technology problems that obstruct calling operations. And no more endless phone trees and time spent trying to reach a foreign call center for support.
“With HostMy, [the MSUD team] picks up the phone, they dial an extension, and they’re directly connected to someone who can actually help them out at that moment. It’s been a fantastic transition for them. They primarily love you guys because the system works. They don’t have to call Support very often,” explains Scott Thorsen.
Modernize Your Communication Infrastructure with HostMyCalls
Ready to let go of your outdated and unreliable phone system? Discover how HostMy’s award-winning hosted voice solutions deliver flexibility, reliability, and expert support so your team can focus on what matters most.
Visit our Get Started page and reach out to our team for a no pressure consultation.