METROPOLITAN EDISON COMPANY - Pennsylvania Public Utility ...

Pennsylvania electric distribution companies (EDCs) increased from an average of 78%in 2005 to 80% in 2006, then declined to 76% in 2008 and 2009. However, the panelaverage (excluding Allegheny Power) in 2008 and 2009 was 81% and 80%,respectively.Exhibit XI-1FE-PA Companies Compared to a Panel of Pennsylvania EDCsPercentage of Calls Answered Within 30 Seconds2005-2009Company 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009UGI-Electric 71% 72% 80% 87% 80%Duquesne Light 80% 81% 77% 80% 78%PECO 76% 82% 79% 80% 81%PPL 80% 79% 83% 76% 81%Allegheny Power 83% 85% 88% 58% 60%Panel Average 78% 80% 81% 76% 76%FE-PA Companies* 64% 80% 79% 81% 78%* Met-Ed, Penelec, and Penn Power use the same call center and are combined under FE-PACompanies.Source: PUC Bureau of Consumer Services 2007-2009 Customer Service Performance ReportsThe fluctuation in the percentage of calls answered within 30 seconds is primarilydue to FirstEnergy’s attempts to balance call center costs with customer satisfaction.The Reading Contact Center handles customer service related calls (i.e., reportingoutages, starting or stopping service, billing inquiries, etc.). Out-Sourcing Solutions(OSI) and National Collection Office (NCO) have also been used for credit related calls.OSI and NCO have consistently lower performance compared to the Reading ContactCenter. FirstEnergy stated that the diminished performance is likely due to economicconditions because these two companies handle FirstEnergy’s credit related calls. Thenumber one area of growth in call volume is in the credit area. The percentage ofcustomer calls answered within 30 seconds by each contact center for 2006 through2009 is shown in Exhibit XI-2. Although the Reading Contact Center answered 80percent of calls within 30 seconds in 2009, OSI and NCO achieved just 72%, resultingin a combined rate of 78%, which is below the 80% level agreed to in the SettlementAgreement.Since 2003, FirstEnergy has invested $10 million in technology at the ReadingContact Center in the form of an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system, call routing,virtual hold, and customer service representative training. These initiatives haveallowed the FE-PA Companies to increase the percentage of calls answered within 30seconds from 76% in 2004 to 78% in 2009. FirstEnergy states that the IVR system hasincreased customer satisfaction by enabling more self service utilization. FirstEnergystates that 40% of calls are virtual (i.e., without connection to a CSR), using the IVRsystem or the virtual hold system. Nonetheless, the FE-PA Companies are notachieving the goal of answering 80% of incoming calls within 30 seconds as set in the- 74 -