Customer Service Support Specialist I

Position Summary

This position has primary responsibility  for all District customer inquiries, relationships, and satisfaction of contacts made through the Retail Customer Service Center locations via Virtual Lobby interactions, email and/or phone communication, while providing support to the Centralized Customer Care Center. Detailed administrative processes are required to create service notifications and customer requests necessary to dispatch customer service work and the interface and coordination of the work management, financial, or logistical information (SAP) and customer contact/billing systems - Customer Information System (CIS). This includes support of all District Retail customers and corporate customer inquiries by providing quick identification of customer needs, resolution to inquiries, requests, and complaints based on knowledge of the organization. Incumbents provide outsource call answering and emergency monitoring services to multiple partnering utilities. Incumbents are responsible for significant system monitoring and emergency management of information where detailed processes and procedures must be accurately followed to ensure efficient handling of situations. Detailed reporting and financial review of the customer billing system is completed daily along with extensive collection management and account reviews.

The Support Specialist will support the business units' responsibilities of maintaining excellent public relations and supporting associated District operations.

In each geographic location, Support Specialists may be cross trained to back up other business units within a geographic region, such as Operations and Retail Billing.

Assignment to this position and a condition of continued employment will be the ability to arrive from your residence to the reporting office location within 30 minutes of notification of a call-out. 
 

Education, Training and Experience

Education

High school diploma/GED plus two years of experience in customer service or operational support is required. Excellent keyboarding skills (minimum of 35 WPM), completion of written and grammar skills test, and the ability to present oneself in a professional manner is required.

Must successfully pass the Specialist progression program requirements, as outlined in the program.

Prior Related Experience
Experience working with customers through operational support, retail business, sales, or a utility-specific company is required. Experience in Windows-based software  including, but not limited to, Excel, Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, and Teams applications is required.
 

Licenses and/or Certifications

Not Applicable

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

Interface with internal and external customers professionally and provide a high degree of customer satisfaction through knowledge-based solutions using established policies and procedures to ensure the best interest of the customer and the District are met. This may include, but is not limited to, service order requests, new services, billing/payment/rate inquiries, maintaining/updating customer account information, and a variety of service-related issues including outage reporting, new products and services, account review of meter exceptions, account deposit, budget review, review customers consumption history, respond to usage history request by external and internal customers, and a variety of miscellaneous services and information for the District.  Establish and maintain customer accounts and records, including but not limited to, determining security deposits, completing payment processes (i.e., assistance agency payments, urgent payments, contribution in aid of construction payments) and daily financial reporting, ensuring confidentiality of customer‘s private data and customer education to prevent scams and fraud related to their account, and correct billing rate.  Investigate abnormal meter readings and determine necessary action to ensure proper billing, including estimating consumption. This includes utilizing SAP (CIS) in addition to the MDMS (Meter Data Management System)  to determine former consumption to aid in estimation.

Responsible for the collections process from customer delinquency through reconnection of the meter or final billing. This includes account review (ensuring payments were applied correctly, checking for payments or payment arrangements, etc.), placing deposits/additional deposits on accounts, assigning/completing disconnection of the meter for non-payment, monitoring accounts for payment, and ensuring a final bill is issued if no payment/response is received from the customer. Responsible for identifying gaps in customer's orders or accounts where balances are questionable based on normal monthly billing totals and ensuring complete correspondence and follow-up with customers. Maintain collection process from the time customer becomes delinquent until payment is received or disconnect order has been generated. This includes, but is not limited to accounts receivable, reviewing delinquent accounts and contacting customers, generation of cut for non-payment (CNP) service orders, process requests for reconnect, and must have a working knowledge of different types of metering equipment across the state. In coordination with Account Management and the Customer Services Leader, contact large Commercial and Industrial (C&I) customers regarding past due balances and create arrangements to pay.

Responsible for analyzing multiple technical reports, which ensure the integrity of the billing system and various other systems. Ensure the integrity of financial transactions by following daily payment handling processes and completing necessary daily reporting of financial processes.  Act as remote agent of the Centralized Customer Contact Center by logging into the call queue daily, allowing for customer interaction and helping to maintain sufficient staffing. This may include weekend/holiday coverage in addition to regular working hours when necessary for outages and other high call volume events.

Administer and maintain emergency customer data including life-support, disconnect for non-payment, load management, and key accounts. Monitor and document information for District compliance in accordance with established criteria. Completion of various other duties including, but not limited to, community solar, Health and Human Service requests, non-sufficient fund payment processing and additional responsibilities as assigned.

Accountable for other duties as assigned.

Core Competencies