ATLANTA, Oct. 1, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Apogee Interactive this week introduced three impressive new customer experience applications, each with potential to radically change the way customers engage with their utility company. The announcements were made at the firm's 21st Annual User Group Meeting, INNOVATIONS, held in Denver in conjunction with the E Source Forum, which attracted more than 650 attendees.
Introducing the new offerings, Apogee's President, Susan Gilbert, referenced JD Power's 2014 Consumer Engagement Study finding that almost one quarter of a utility's customers are not aware of any program offerings available from their utility company. "That matters because utilities care about customer satisfaction, and this research indicates there is a 60 point increase in satisfaction from customers who know of no program offerings to customers who are participating in 5 or more programs," she noted. That combined with utilities' need to achieve energy efficiency goals has driven Apogee to perfect methods of engaging customers in ways that educate and motivate them to take actions that lower their bills, reduces their carbon footprint, and causing them to enroll in multiple utility programs.
Introducing the first application, Apogee Web Services Manager, Brian Jackson, explained that most customers don't like to read; they prefer short video clips personalized to contain just what they want to know. "Personalized Video Messaging solves that by delivering a customer-specific, one-minute movie explaining the customer's latest bill in terms of impacts due to weather, days of service, rate changes, and other behavioral changes occurring in the home. It's engaging, it's informative, and it's visually appealing," Jackson continued. "It's also automated, accurate, and personalized for each customer using their billing data." The video messages can be delivered by the utility through eBills, personalized emails, embedded in the customer portal and ultimately on mobile devices.
Using the most engaging subject on the planet, the weather, Apogee Business Manager, Jon Scott, showcased the second new engagement application: WeatherInsights. With it on their homepage, utilities provide a weather forecast that builds traffic and can educate customers about the cost to operate their home each day because of that weather. "We are finding customers like it because there are no distracting advertisements, and this weather app lets customers see what impact changing their temperature setting by a few degrees will make on their bills."
Culminating the meeting, Apogee Chief Software Architect, Joel Gilbert, P.E. shared the firm's groundbreaking new concept and technology, Precision Temperature Monitoring. Similar to the way an EKG can monitor heart health, Gilbert demonstrated how inexpensive, USB-size temperature loggers with GPS and Bluetooth communicating capabilities could determine the integrity of a building's shell and the operating characteristics of its HVAC system. Fully explained in his most recent publication, It's The Thermostat, Stupid!, Joel shared a glimpse into the future as this precise temperature sensing technology is adopted and applied to home weatherization, building automation, program targeting and evaluation, enabling demand response, and supplementing HVAC contractor services.
The half-day meeting is being repeated in Orlando on October 20th in conjunction with Chartwell's EMACS – The Customer Experience Conference. Information is available on Apogee's website.
APOGEE Interactive Inc. (www.apogee.net) is the leading provider of online energy analysis, website and mobile applications to 650 electric and gas utilities across the US, reaching more than 56 million customers. Apogee was founded in 1993 and pioneered electronic applications designed to increase a utility's customer engagement and energy efficiency. Today its predictive energy analysis software consistently ranks highest for accuracy and usability. Apogee's clients include leading investor-owned, municipal, and cooperative energy companies such as Con Edison (ED), American Electric Power (AEP), Entergy (ETR), Southern Company (SO), NSTAR (NST), Marietta Power and Water, Salt River Project, and Jackson EMC.