Reduce costs, maximise staff productivity and lift customer satisfaction when the pressure is really on
What is it?
Avalanche is an easy-to-use browser-based solution for managing all your Un-planned and Planned outage communications channels, instantly, and simply.
It’s not the sort of generic “IVR” solution you’ve seen before. Avalanche was designed and has been battle tested over many years specifically for utilities. Avalanche minimises call centre ‘fire-fighting’, allows the Control Room to focus on the Network, and ensures essential resources are directed towards fixing the outage, reduces management costs, and helps to maintain customer goodwill throughout.
It gives your customers and other key stakeholders the instant assurance they need that you’re aware of the problem and its cause, and are working to restore supply as soon as possible.
Avalanche is the auditable, ‘single source of truth’ your customers and other important stakeholders need, and want.
Benefits at a glance
- A fully managed, consistent, auditable and professional outage communications process.
- Consistent, high-quality and professional messages, irrespective of the channel used.
- A greatly simplified notification process, removing the burden on dispatchers.
- Faster identification and restoration, with reduced SAIDI and CAIDI stats.
- Reduced pressure and greater focus for dispatchers and restoration staff – improving operational efficiency.
- Reduced management oversight, overhead and risk.
- Professional image maintained at a time of intense customer scrutiny.
- Reduced cost of inbound calls (by promoting alternative channels).
- Reduced cost of post-outage analysis and remedial PR required to protect your brand.
- Never a busy signal, and all caller activity is logged and can be reviewed post-event.
- Reduced regulatory impacts and risks.
What does it do?
Using Avalanche, it takes an operator less than six mouse clicks in 30 seconds to create and update outage information across multiple inbound, outbound and on-demand communications channels.
When SCADA sounds the alarm, or customer reports of an outage start to flood in, Avalanche comes into its own.
The operator simply:
1. Opens Avalanche in their browser.
2. Clicks on a map where the outage has occurred.
3. Selects the feeder breaker responsible.
4. Enters the actual or likely cause of the problem.
5. Enters the expected time of resolution and any other essential details
Avalanche does the rest!
The system generates a pre-recorded, location-specific audio message that callers hear when they phone in. All calls are answered within two rings, with no busy tones, overloaded lines or disconnects – even when thousands of calls arrive simultaneously. And every call is logged.
Most callers hang up with their outage query resolved, while those with valuable new information are placed on a priority queue.
Outbound notifications
At the same time, Avalanche proactively delivers notifications to affected customers and stakeholders by email, text/SMS, voice callout and web services interfaces – enabling, for example, major client intranets to be updated automatically.
Notifications are based on user-defined and changeable templates, and can direct customers to alternative channels to get outage information.
On Demand
Avalanche integrates with popular online communications channels, including social media (Twitter, Facebook), RSS feeds, and fixed/mobile web services, enabling stakeholders to view latest outage updates in real time via their preferred channel.
Avalanche also integrates with OOM Data’s Outage Reporter app, which lets your customers report outages and view updates on their smartphone.
Integrates with SCADA
A secure, simple, direct feed of trips and closes from SCADA allows even faster updating of outage information. A feeder breaker lockout will result in an immediate update of outage information across all channels, simultaneously, within seconds.
What’s included?
- Web and mobile apps branded to your utility.
- A complete distribution system modelled to your ZoneSubs, feeders, reclosers and localities.
- A library of customised studio-recorded outage messages delivered by professional voice talent.
- Full training for your staff.
- A full maintenance and configuration suite enabling your staff to manage and customise notifications, templates and users.
- 24/7 support.
- Fixed fees that cover massive call and messaging capacity.
Book a demonstration
Ask about country-specific Avalanche packages that exist for call handing and text messaging. Book a 60-minute interactive online demonstration via Zoom or Teams.
