CONFERENCE SESSIONS

Each agent makes a tremendous difference in a caller’s experience with the One Call organization with the efficiency, quality, and accuracy of the call having huge implications. The agent also has a big impact on the operation of the center simply by adhering to planned work schedules and being in place on time. In this “train-the-trainer” workshop, call center leaders and managers will learn about the components of a “power of one” program and how to communicate these components to call center staff. Attendees will identify ways to communicate the value of the agent/caller interaction as well as how to communicate to call center staff the difference that each person makes in terms of speed of answer to callers, staff occupancy and productivity, and bottom-line costs.

Attendees will learn to:

• Identify the impact each individual can have by delivering quality and accuracy during each call.
• Identify and communicate the implications of less than acceptable service and quality.
• Outline ways to communicate the power of one related to service, occupancy, and cost.
• Develop an internal “power of one” presentation to deliver to all call center staff.

The Utilities Protection Center takes Damage Prevention seriously, but has fun delivering the message to future Georgia excavators.  UPC’s mascot Digger Dog sees over 12,000 elementary school children during the school year.  Visiting both public and private schools across the state, he shares the importance of digging safely, being safe around overhead power lines and what to do if you smell gas.  But how does he do it?  Come see Digger’s 35-minute interactive show – complete with power town and find out how he gets invited to do presentations.  Digger, and the UPC staff, will also share how he’s found additional opportunities to spread the damage prevention message at corporate meeting and community events meeting over 450,000 people. 

This session will provide an overview of some of the projects that GTI is working on to help advance the cause of damage prevention.  

• 1. Keyhole and Coring as it relates to damage prevention 
• 2. Highway project planning using RFID, GPS and GIS 
• 3. Improved mapping using high accuracy GPS for GIS conflation 
• 4. Development of a pipe depth measurement tool 
• 5. Excavation damage risk model 
• 6. GPS-based excavation encroachment notification (VUPS Phase 3) 
• 7. New locating technologies

Ask contact center professionals what their top concerns are and staff turnover will likely be at the top of the list. Most would agree that a contact center manager’s biggest challenge these days may be getting and keeping good employees. This session takes a look at the turnover problem running rampant in today’s centers. We will discuss the main reasons employees leave (as well as the reasons they list for why they stay) and which of these are actually under management’s control. Through a case study exercise, see how to calculate the true cost of turnover in a typical contact center and receive a free spreadsheet for calculating the costs of turnover in your own center. Finally, you’ll hear fifteen proven ideas and tips for how to improve motivation and morale to further employee retention.

Attendees will learn to:

• Calculate the hard and soft costs of turnover to the business.
• Identify the main reasons employees leave and why they stay.
• Identify specific actions supervisors can take to improve morale and retention for their teams.
• Describe the key elements of an effective retention program and motivation program.
• Outline fifteen different strategies for improving morale and retention within a work team.

Join a panel of leading industry experts for a stimulating discussion on the key issues related to gas and oil pipeline integrity and public safety. Including: 1) Online training to efficiently reach emergency official and excavator audiences that you can't meet with face to face; 2) Reports to help you show the Effectiveness Measurement and Continuous Improvement of your Public Awareness Program; 3) Easily reach out to Emergency and Public Officials to identify non-structured, seasonal locations where people congregate; 4) How to make use of existing survey data for a cost effective way to determine what your stakeholders know about pipeline safety

In this presentation and discussion format session, the audience will see firsthand examples of how One Call Ticket Management and GIS can work together to increase efficiency and accuracy in the Damage Prevention process.  Real world examples will be provided.  The session will then turn to a discussion concerning the sharing and creation of new ideas with fellow attendees about bringing together resources to improve locating. 

Workforce management is the process of getting the “just right” number of staff in place every hour to maximize service and minimize cost and it’s one of the most important planning and management functions in the call center. In this session, you’ll learn the implications of getting the numbers wrong, as well as the step-by-step process of effectively forecasting calls, calculating staff requirements, creating staff schedules, and tracking daily service and performance. You’ll hear about the critical tradeoffs between staffing, service, and cost and how each of these tradeoffs affects the final staff count. Attendees will also learn the impact that each and every person can make in terms of achieving service goals for the day.

Seminar attendees will learn to:

• Define workforce management and its implications on cost and service.
• Describe why call center staffing is such a unique kind of problem.
• Outline the step-by-step process of forecasting calls, calculating staff, and creating workforce schedules.
• Identify the impact that every single individual has on meeting service goals and balancing workload.
• Outline ways to improve attendance and schedule adherence.

Roundtable Discussion

Roundtable Discussion:  In this session the discussion will focus on how current economic trends are impacting one call centers. This will be a participative discussion where the audience can share their ideas, successes and failures in addressing how reduced call volumes, utility bankruptcies and other economic pressures are changing the historic ways in which call centers are financed and how they operate.

The evolution of the CGA in Canada is unique and the manner in which buried utilities are governed has played an influential role in its short history. Come hear our neighbor's challenges and how the CGA and the CCGA are working together to bridge solutions and fulfill collaborative damage prevention goals.

Virginia has continued to expand the Pilot Program.  Attendees will learn the status of these pilots including:

• Phase I – “Electronic white-lining”. Virginia has increased the number of users and subsequent use of the electronic white-lining application through a joint market seeding program with Williams Gas Pipeline.
• Phase II – “Electronic manifests”.  The field testing of the electronic manifest application is underway.  Attendees will find out the lessons learned from this pilot.