HECO is outsourcing calls as it tries to improve system

By June Watanabe

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Nov 07, 2012

~~Question: Why has Hawaiian Electric switched from an automated trouble call response system to one using outsourced live operators? We live in Maunawili, where six or more power outages a year are not unusual. For decades HECO has used an automated system that worked fine. Last month, during another outage, I was switched to an operator in Georgia. The call got off to a bad start when she asked for my account number. After figuring out that I did not have that 12-digit number handy — it was about 6 a.m. and my house was pitch black — she asked for my address. I had to spell my street name for her. She asked if power was out only in my home. I told her that all the lights in my subdivision were out. A few questions later, she asked if I had checked my circuit breakers. That was a completely inane question because if all of the lights in my subdivision were out, why would I check my circuit breakers? If HECO wants to improve customer service, switching to their outsourced operation is a step backward. The call took much longer than in the past and was annoying at best.
Answer: HECO changed “the configuration of our outage reporting several months ago” so that it no longer is set up for automated reporting, said spokesman Darren Pai.
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Question: Why has Hawaiian Electric switched from an automated trouble call response system to one using outsourced live operators? We live in Maunawili, where six or more power outages a year are not unusual. For decades HECO has used an automated system that worked fine. Last month, during another outage, I was switched to an operator in Georgia. The call got off to a bad start when she asked for my account number. After figuring out that I did not have that 12-digit number handy — it was about 6 a.m. and my house was pitch black — she asked for my address. I had to spell my street name for her. She asked if power was out only in my home. I told her that all the lights in my subdivision were out. A few questions later, she asked if I had checked my circuit breakers. That was a completely inane question because if all of the lights in my subdivision were out, why would I check my circuit breakers? If HECO wants to improve customer service, switching to their outsourced operation is a step backward. The call took much longer than in the past and was annoying at best.

Answer: HECO changed “the configuration of our outage reporting several months ago” so that it no longer is set up for automated reporting, said spokesman Darren Pai. Login for more...