EMACS, hosted by industry analyst Chartwell, Inc., is a forum for utilities to discuss best practices in customer service. More than 250 representatives from over 100 utility providers such as Progress Energy and Florida Power & Light attended the four-day conference.

Dave Good, Director of Customer Support for Atmos Energy, shared findings from a case study on the impact of Virtual Hold at the Atmos call center. VHT’s virtual queuing solution has reduced toll costs by 93%, call handling times by 10%, and staffing requirements by 17 FTE. “We’re always looking for strategies that work for the benefit of our customers. To find a solution that also improves our operations is a win-win. Virtual Hold does what they say it does,” remarked Good.

“The utility market is a natural fit for Virtual Hold’s queue management solutions because it experiences both seasonal peaks for heating/cooling and unplanned peaks during outages and other weather-related instances. In these situations, matching staff to call volume is difficult if not impossible, so a callback solution is the most cost-effective way to provide a high level of service,” explained Eric Camulli, Director of Technology for VHT.