May 2022 - the Busiest Month in our 38 Year History

May 2022 - the Busiest Month in our 38 Year History

Without fail, May has always been the busiest month for locate requests at Utility Safety Partners (formerly, Alberta One-Call Corporation), and May 2022 was the busiest ever.

Our system and our Agents processed 60,651 locate requests!

What’s even more amazing is the percentage of locate requests made over the web – the ClickBeforeYouDig requests. An incredible 83.5%! And for those who choose or need to call-in their locate requests, the average wait time to connect with an Agent keeps getting lower.

"There’s no doubt that members and contractors across the province have embraced the web,” says Sher Kirk, Operations Director. "Not only are these two stakeholder groups’ web percentages extremely high (98%), their understanding of the ticket management process by attending our webinar series allows them to manage and control their engagement with the Contact Centre, the locate request process and ticket follow-up.”

With close to 100% of all locate requests from the digging community and our members on the web, homeowners – a stakeholder group that might need a locate request once every ten years or so – are also shifting from calls to clicks. "Homeowner engagement on the web is shifting continually higher with every passing year,” continues Sher. "The web process is obviously a little more involved than ordering a pizza online but that’s where all services are migrating to and homeowners are no different. Last month, almost 50% of all homeowner locate requests were submitted over the web.”

"The high web percentage of web requests from all stakeholder groups means our Agents are predominantly assisting homeowners who are generally more unfamiliar with the locate request process,” says Sher. 

For people calling-in with a locate request, you might have to wait a few minutes to speak with an Agent and if you’re calling on a Monday, your wait time will be longer than Wednesday afternoon through Friday. Most people choose the queue callback function which allows you to keep your place in queue while you go about your day. When your place in line comes up, the system calls your number and within a few seconds, you’re speaking with an Agent.

"We’re always working to improve the system and the experience,” Sher concludes. "But in an age when a googolplex of information is available in the palm of your hands at the click of a button, we’ll probably never be fast enough.”

Mike Sullivan - President - Utility Safety Partners