A new online outage map that provides pertinent outage information including: the general area, number of customers affected, estimated duration of the outage and probable cause is now available to Entegrus customers on the company website at www.entegrus.com/outages.
“The outage map uses smart grid technology to highlight a particular area on a map where multiple service interruptions have occurred,” stated Jim Hogan, President and CEO of Entegrus.
“This process occurs without any human interaction. This is just one example of the benefits the smart grid can bring.”
In order to increase access to information 24/7, Entegrus’ Operations Department will update the map with additional information when it is safe to do so.
“Safety of our employees is our top priority,” stated Hogan. “Once our crews have assessed the situation and have secured the area of the outage, employees are able to drop an ‘information pin’ at the particular area they’re working on. This information pin allows crews to add an estimated restoration time and a probable cause of the outage.”
The map was built with a responsive design, to ensure customers can view the map on mobile devices.
“From the time an outage occurs, to when it is reflected on our outage map is less than ten minutes,” stated Matthew Meloche, System Planning Engineer.
“We’re continually improving our systems to increase access to information, this is a significant milestone in relation to outage communications.”
Currently, customers will call into the call centre to receive access to outage information, or will look to social media – both of which are not available 24/7. The outage map aims to meet customer communication needs in regards to service interruptions.
