A year on from the launch of its innovative Power Track app, Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) is encouraging even more customers to download the user-friendly system to their mobile phones and tablets.
The simple-to-use app enables SSEN's customers to alert the electricity distribution network operator to a power cut through their mobile devices, instead of having to phone the customer services team on 105. As the report from the Power Track app goes straight to the team who will send engineers to the fault, the restoration of customers' power supplies can be carried out as quickly as possible.
In addition to faster fault reporting, SSEN's Power Track app was also the first of its kind to be developed by a network operator that allows members of the public to take photos of any damage they see to the electricity infrastructure and to send them directly to SSEN's teams. The images - combined with GPS signals - alert engineers to the exact location and potential cause of any problems, minimising the time taken to locate faults and begin repairing any damage to the network.
Lisa Doogan, Head of Customer Service and Stakeholder Strategy at SSEN said: "We developed the Power Track app to suit our customers' needs after listening carefully to their requirements and how we could make interaction easier for them.
"Our key aim is improving the resilience of our networks and doing all can to minimise the risk of disruption to our customers' supplies. We know though that, in the unlikely event of power cuts, our customers want to be kept informed, so we want to make sure we provide them with all they need to keep in touch and report directly to our teams, in whichever way they feel most comfortable; Power Track has enabled that two-way communication through a simple system that our customers find easy and quick to use."
Since Power Track's launch a year ago, almost 32,000 SSEN customers have downloaded the app, accessing it nearly 700,000 times and helping SSEN work faster and more efficiently, as Lisa explains: "In the past twelve months, by using the app, over 4,000 of our customers have been able to inform us of power cuts and on 88 separate occasions have reported damage to our network."
"It's these interactions that show the development of the Power Track app has filled a potential gap in customer communications and we'd ask as many of our customers as possible to take advantage of the free download and access the Power Track app whenever they need."
The Power Track app has been developed to enhance features enabling customers to view faults and subscribe to updates, with the increased functionality of reporting power cuts, network damage and also providing customers with general advice and information on SSEN's Priority Services Register. It can be downloaded on the App Store, Google Play Store and Windows Phone Store.
For more information, please visit ssen.co.uk/powertrack.