Aclara Program Promotion
Getting the right options to the right customers
Customers are flocking to utility customer portals to understand their bills, pay their bills, identify options to increase efficiency and lower bills, initiate a move request, and much more.
They expect to be able to easily find all of their options – just as they can on the web sites of phone companies, cable companies, and banks. And, they expect this to be a seamless process.
Too many utilities, however, have built their portals along departmental lines – separating billing, payment, rate, and efficiency options. Many provide limited guidance to which programs are right for that particular customer. And, most only offer on-line forms, providing no real-time program enrollment and confirmation.
Aclara's Program Promotion is an extension of the Aclara's Customer Care solution suite that leverages whatever information is available on the customer – including rate class, usage levels, home profiles (methods of heating and cooling, age of appliances, etc.), and current programs the customer is already enrolled in. Throughout the the Aclara Customer Care solutions suite, one-to-one personalization logic is created based on any of these attributes to promote the programs that make the most sense – for the customer and the utility. Aclara's Program Promotion also provides the pages and analytic tools required to communicate program benefits and help customers determine if they want to enroll.
For example, a customer considering a time-of-use rate would have the ability to do “what-if” analysis to determine potential savings from switching to the new rate. If the customer has an AMI meter he or she can also study the historic usage in the context of the rate, and get tips for reducing their "on-peak" usage.
Aclara's Program Promotion allows customers to consider and enroll in a full range of programs best suited to their needs, including but not limited to:
- paperless billing
- e-billing
- time-based rates
- demand-response programs
- payment arrangements