Contact Lens

A Closer Look at USP’s Contact Centre Operations 
January 2024

By Josef Rosenberg - Contact Centre Manager - Utility Safety Partners

New year, new U…SP! 

The holidays are done and gone, and we’re all back to the grind. Last year, we saw a pretty relaxed and mild winter (from a Contact Centre perspective — the weather was actually so cold that we fielded very few calls!), but in 2023-24 we’re seeing a yo-yo of a winter, with weather being extremely warm in December, to being devastatingly cold in January (and then back to warm again)! The Contact Centre has been buzzing along as a result, and we’re busy as Ds! (D…PAs that is). 

On Jan. 24, we launched a brand-spanking new version of our primary ticket-taking software, Pelican. This is the culmination of years of coding, research, and meetings (also lots and lots of meetings). The new Pelican NextGen (as it’s known) is a huge leap-forward for all USP users. The new update will allow users to have more precise control over their tickets, and introduces a number of quality-of-life features that will enhance and expand the ticket management process for both agents and excavators alike. 

I’ve mentioned previously that we (once again) took a long hard review of our performance management program for qualifying and evaluating agent performance, and the early reviews are in. It’s a hit! Personally, I believe we absolutely knocked it out of the park this season, and the feedback we’ve received so far has confirmed this. Agents are over-the-moon about seeing their goals and challenges articulated clearly and concisely, and with visible evaluations available at the click of a button. This should readily translate into improved performance and better morale for the 2024 digging season. 

Once again, we are faced with another year of intense promise, and boy, we are just getting started!