Analysis

Analysis

Elizabethtown Gas is a private regulated company with many purposes. Their number one priority is safety and customer satisfaction. 5 years ago ETG worked with many systems, all to provide one service. ETG tried to save on their customer care facilities by sending the customer care department to India. Noticing customers were having a difficult time communicating, ETG decided to bring the CCC back to the US. ETG placed two customer call centers, one in Atlanta, Georgia (headquarters) and another one in Union, New Jersey. Once open, the customer care representatives had a huge volume. ETG then invested in Citrix Host (CIS) and Customer Management Application (CMA) to replace their previous systems to help customers in a rapid manner. This would be realted to an ERP approach. Elizabethtown Gas provides natural gas services.

Collaboration

With Elizabethtown Gas many departments are dependent on CIS and CMA. CIS is a mainframe system that holds all information. CMA is the face of CIS. The billing department utilizes both systems. CIS is used for correction of bills and other specific functionalities. CMA is used more for sending out letters and placing field orders. Major problems with any account goes to backline to be processed properly. Payment centers have very minimal access to both. Mission control handles all orders and collections. Energy Assistance uses CMA to send out information about energy assistance programs. Once any department or person has touched an account, it is all recorded automatically. The CCC needs to be able to answer any question the customer has in regards to their account. CMA does not let you exist an account unless a notation is posted why account was accessed. Any changes or updates are all recorded and by whom it was made. Since, safety is a huge priority customers need to be attended as soon as possible in case of any gas leak or any other emergency.

Information Silos

Information silos does not allow one system to communicate with another. There can be many reasons why management may not find it beneficial to share information. Elizabethtown Gas holds all employees and customers personal information. Customers do not have access to any of our systems. ETG retains security procedures to make sure the appropriate staff has access to CMA and CIS. All employees have access to the same systems and are all under the same network. That allows ETG employees to have better communicate with each other.

System Components

ETG's CIS and CMA systems include Hardware, Software, Data, Procedures and People. It is a set of related components that collects data, process data and provide information. It has a huge involvement with providing updates for our customers.

Hardware

Elizabethtown Gas utilizes computers and laptops as their hardware. All departments except the payment centers have laptops. Each laptop is assigned to a desktop computer and only works once the desktop computer is in locked status. All offices have wireless printers. Most departments have cameras to keep hardware in sight. In addition, each office has a room with all wires and networks to provide service to employees in that area. Higher end employees have wireless internet air cards to have internet access at all times. Every office has a phone that allows communication. The CCC has a phone designated for each representative and all calls are recorded.

Software

With the hardware component each computer has Microsoft pro installed. Microsoft also has Outlook that gives an email to each employee. Email is one of the main forms of communication. All computers get updated to current form of windows to keep software running at an accurate speed. The main two systems used in ETG would be CIS mainframe and CMA. CMA gives the application a softer and modern look. All software works with internet access only. Assuming most employees do not work weekends. The IT department does all its upgrades on Sunday’s. The CMA server gets backed up daily and all data is stored in the plant company headquarters. It follows a disaster contingency recovery plan. In case the headquarters blew up, there is a backup server located in Philadelphia that is replicating all data.

Data

CIS and CMA holds all kind of customer information. Customer service center uses CMA primarily. For any changes done on either system, both systems update automatically. CMA holds all past orders and all customers related to one premise and/or an individual customer and all related premises to that one customer. Typical information is stored such as phone numbers, social security numbers, secondary account holders, different mailing address, etc. CMA is where all new accounts are created and where new account numbers are generated. In CMA’s home screen one can view the customer’s paying grade and current or past usage. In addition, one can view the rate of the account, the location and status of the meter, start date of the account, and any recent notations. Elizabethtown gas main goal is to have one system to have multifunction’s and assist customers as fast as possible with any inquires and major problems with appliances and/ or their pipelines.

Procedures

Since ETG is a regulated company controlled by the Board Public of Utilities (BPU), there are many procedures the company has to follow before an employee can have full access to all systems. All employees get a full background check, drug test, and 3 step process before being officially hired. The company’s goal is to protect customers and employees personal information. Employees gets access to systems depending what systems are used in that specific department. All employees have courses to take based on code of conducts, business goals and policies. Training is required for the systems that are going to be used for 2 weeks before gaining access. An employee needs admin rights before using any desktop in any office if using for the first time. All systems and computer have a security password for each individual employee and needs to be changed every 3 months and passwords cannot be repeated.

People
Elizabethtown Gas depends a lot on the people that work with the company. The company would not be able to survive without their workers and especially without their customers. ETG has to depend on their employees to work the different information systems that run the company. The company also focuses a lot on their customer service. Within a gas company there are many different emergencies that could happen. Customers depend on the service of ETG workers to come in case of an emergency and solve the problem as soon as possible. Customers also find comfort in hearing another humans voice when dealing with asking questions and solving their problems. Gas companies also depend on employees to come to customer homes and set up the gas or to turn it off.