November 11, 2015

Electrical District No. 3 Chooses FuturaOMS

Arizona weather experiences a variety of extremes – cold, wet, hot, or dry. Every extreme can affect electric service for Electrical District No. 3 (ED3), which in turn affects customer satisfaction ratings. ED3 is aware of this correlation and has implemented FuturaOMS to aid in managing outages. Now all departments in the utility stay abreast of the latest outage information as events occur, helping customers stay better informed too.

“We needed a solution that would integrate not only with SEDC, but with our AMI provider, Aclara, as well,” said Larry Yates, Director of Engineering and Operations at Electrical District No. 3. “Futura is the best in the business for integrations.”

ED3 was already a user of Futura software, so there were no surprises on what to expect from the trend-setting developer. FuturaGIS, which is built on the Esri ArcGIS platform, offers users the ability to update and correct map info in the field or the office, making data integrity easy to maintain and improve. The need for double entry of information is eliminated, increasing work efficiency. By combining Futura’s tools with the utility’s SEDC-powered accounting, CIS and work management systems, ED3 has the most efficient and comprehensive mapping system available.

Now ED3 takes advantage of the latest two way integrations to route outage calls by customer location. Calls are instantly analyzed for new or existing outage information and categorized accordingly. Automated prediction capabilities help reduce future outages. Network tracing, switching, and input from multiple data sources give ED3 the ability to dispatch crews more accurately and quickly, further reducing outage durations.

All aspects of ED3’s distribution system, with customer data applied, are easily viewed and updated in a real-time setting. Now, any employee looking at the map has outage information as it occurs. Management can view spatially organized data on the map, simplifying the administration of outages. Just as important, Customer Service has up-to-date, accurate information to share with customers concerning their outage. With the capability to offer Outage Maps directly from their website, Electrical District No. 3 is truly giving their customers the best information possible.

ED3 understands enhanced communications with customers directly correspond with customer service ratings and by using FuturaOMS, Electrical District No. 3 is improving the entire cooperative’s response during the most difficult service time: an outage.

About Electrical District #3

Electrical District No. 3 is a nonprofit utility established as a political subdivision of the State of Arizona. Formed in 1926 as a Special District by the Pinal County Board of Supervisors, ED3 serves both rural and urban electric customer needs in western Pinal County. Electrical District No. 3 has two offices in Maricopa, Arizona. Learn more at: www.ed3online.org.

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