REPORT TO COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
Action on an Agreement with Smart Energy Systems LLC dba Smart Energy Water, for a Customer Self-Service Portal for Utility Services
Report
BACKGROUND
The City entered into an agreement with NorthStar Utilities Solutions to provide a "Customer Connect" My Utilities Customer Self-Service portal in 2015. This portal allows basic scheduling of utility service orders, e-mail notifications, online bill payment and e-billing services.
The current software that supports the customer service portal is outdated, lacks modern functionality, is not compatible with new versions of Windows operating system, and no longer meets the utilities and/or customer needs. In addition, the current software does not facilitate a user friendly interface for the public which has resulted in criticisms such as the account set up page is not intuitive, there is not a log off/ shut down function shown on the screen, and separate fields for street numbers and street address are required.
An upgrade to the City's utility customer self-service portal is necessary to modernize the system for purposes of compliance and functionality to meet the public's expectations. These expectations include an intuitive, mobile-friendly user interface(s) for billing, payment, and real-time display of advanced metering utility information.
On December 6, 2016 the City contracted with TMG Utility Advisory Services (TMG Consulting) to assist with the process and effort to prepare and launch a set of Requests for Proposal (RFPs) in pursuit of a new billing system and customer self-service portal. In response to the highly critical customer feedback surrounding the existing customer self-service portal, the project team prioritized the Customer Self-Service Portal RFP.
DISCUSSION
An RFP for a Customer Self-Service Portal was issued on December 4, 2017, and eight highly competitive proposals were received. The responses were evaluated by the City's consultant, TMG Advisory ...
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