Trouble-call Management: An application solution

Abstract
One of Tacoma City Water’s goals is to respond to all incidents of water quality problems within the same business day. To support this goal — and to respond to other types of trouble calls — the utility needed to improve the processes for dispatching trouble crews, providing uniform incident response, tracking responses and collecting data for statistical analysis.

A trouble-call management database was developed that streamlined the paper and radio dispatching process and provided on-line help so customer service representatives and dispatchers could provide uniform responses and track response activities. The on-line help program provides response instructions for various types of incidents, and time-stamps each step in the incident handling process, enabling the response time to be captured. Additionally, crew work details are captured to record who did what and when. The type of water condition and location of the problem also are recorded, so information can be analyzed to identify problem areas in the system.

Introduction
Tacoma City Water has a strategic goal to respond to all water quality complaints by the end of the business day. The paper-based system of assigning work to trouble crews was not doing a foolproof job and allowed some complaints to languish at someone’s desk while the problem remained unattended. To further complicate matters, a particular type of call could be handled differently depending on which person handled it. To alleviate these problems, and to capture statistical data to support future decision-making, City Water decided to automate the trouble call recording and response process with a computer-aided dispatch database developed by an in-house programmer.

This database helps track the status of water quality complaints and records. the timelines and crew work details performed on the job. A custom on-line help system contains procedural guidelines and policies for handling the different types of incidents and system problems that may arise. As a result, managers can expect office and field staff to respond in a more uniform manner, rather than “flying by the seat of your pants.”

The purpose of this paper is to look at the processes involved in developing the database and application, including:

Strategies employed to meet the work requirements.
Window navigation and design techniques.
Capturing the appropriate data for statistical analysis.
Improvements to existing paper, phone and dispatch processes.