COLUMBUS, OH--(Marketwired - Apr 26, 2016) - With the ARCOS Callout and Scheduling solution, the Upper Peninsula Power Company, UPPCO, has centralized and automated the process by which it calls out utility crews for after-hours restoration. UPPCO, which serves about 54,000 customers throughout Michigan's Upper Peninsula, began launching automated call outs for approximately 100 employees in February.
"While establishing new corporate and operations processes at UPPCO, we began implementing about a dozen IT platforms. We were looking for one that would be a 'quick hit' for us, something that would make an impact immediately," said Bill Nelson, director of Engineering for UPPCO. "Due to our past experience, we weren't starting from scratch by choosing a system like ARCOS because we knew its capabilities, and it's an industry standard."
When a transformer blows or other trouble happens after hours, it falls to the UPPCO system operation center to launch call outs. According to Nelson, the ARCOS solution maintains the callout lists in a central database and eliminates what was a laborious job for operators -- hand dialing up to 20 numbers to put a two-man crew together for restoring power. UPPCO workers can, in turn, review, accept or decline a call out from their mobile phones.
"Giving crews a way to see their callout status and manage their response via a mobile device has made a remarkable difference in the way we handle call outs," said Nelson.
The software records and clarifies what happens as part of a call out and eliminates much of the time it would take to investigate an issue by sorting through paper-based records.
"Without ARCOS, we could spend hours determining who was called out," added Nelson. "Now, we use ARCOS to bring up the dispatcher's call log, and in seconds have the data we need to show what happened."
UPPCO also owns seven hydroelectric generation facilities and two combustion turbines. If these locations have an alarm or unit trip, then the utility turns to the ARCOS solution to call out workers via email, text and phone.
About ARCOS LLC
ARCOS is the North American leader in delivering crew callout and crew management SaaS solutions to the utility industry. ARCOS automates crew assembly and management daily and during emergencies, ultimately helping to restore energy faster, yet safely, to communities. The award-winning solution helps utilities save time and money, while improving customer satisfaction. Learn more about ARCOS emergency resource management software at www.arcos-inc.com.
ARCOS and Crew Manager are registered trademarks of ARCOS LLC.
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