The City of Fort Smith Utility Department launched a call center Tuesday (Jan. 15) to help residents with their utility bill.

Six newly-reassigned Utility Department staff members specially-trained to address specific issues arising after December’s deployment of a new, citywide accounting and billing system will man phones to help customers from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, a media release on the call center said.

“Rather than calling, though, if possible, customers with questions, concerns or needing personal assistance are asked to email [email protected] This dedicated email address allows an even larger number of staff to address the volume of customer needs and requests, responding individually, with more time and other flexibility as they fulfill other of their job duties,” the release said.

Expanded staff in the new call center will handle the inquiries of those who do call Utility Billing at (479) 784-2262. There is no additional cost to the city for the call center as the six employees were already water department employees, the center is located in a room at the Fort Smith Utilities offices on Carnall Avenue and the equipment is city equipment being repurposed for the center.

At the center, there are more dedicated phone lines, and staff are focused “squarely on answering phone inquiries and meeting customers’ needs related to their new utility bills.”

In instances where all six of the employees are busy with customers, overflow calls go to staff who normally answer utility customer calls, the release stated.

Though specially trained for this new job, the six staff members in the call center are able to work on their normal jobs when calls are slow and will return to their original positions when there is no longer a need for the call center, said Karen Santos, Fort Smith’s communications director.

“About half our customers—so we’re talking 17,000 people or more—pay their water bill in person, the old-fashioned way,” said Finance Director Jennifer Walker. “We’ve had six to 10 staff, at any given time, struggling to meet the demands of a sharp and constant call volume and continuous flow of foot traffic, customers face-to-face, while processing mail and other payments, and everything else. It’s been difficult,” she said.

The new call center is saving the city funds by eliminating the overtime hours some employees were having to work since the new billing system.

Call center staff can handle all utility customer requests but they have been specifically trained to deal with: Problems with successfully setting up an online payment account; questions and concerns about their water bill; questions about payment options; and service requests.

“Residents all tried to set up their new accounts at once on the first day the new system was available,” said Fort Smith City Administrator Carl Geffken, reflecting on the spike in customer service demand.

The high number of calls crashed the telephone provider’s lines causing customers to reach a recording instead of a live person, Geffken said

“Of course, customers calling had no way of knowing what was going on—they just knew they couldn’t get an answer or got a recording. That’s maddening! Enormously frustrating! Believe me, it was also frustrating and aggravating for city staff. We leaned on our phone service provider, and now we’ve expanded the number of lines. We think this new call center will help, allowing us to resolve customer issues faster, relieving everyone’s frustration,” Geffken said.

A big concern over the weeks since the new system went online the first of December has been that some customers have not received a water bill. The utility department said that as of Tuesday (Jan. 15) all of the approximate 35,000 customers had been mailed a bill.

Dealing with customers’ issues over the last several weeks, here’s the latest information and direction from staff dealing directly with customers’ and their new utility bills:

“To the remaining few customers who have not yet received their new water bill: If you do not get your bill by Monday, January 21’s mail, please contact Utility Billing by emailing [email protected] or calling 784-2262. (Please make sure to check your January 21 mail first, though),” the release said.

Some customers have said via social media that they have received bills with a $0 total due. Santos said if that has occurred, the customer could go ahead and pay what there average due would be or wait until their new bill and see if extra is owed for the previous month. She said the utility department has not noticed that has happened, but if it does, the department would work with the customer so they would not have to pay an extremely large bill at one time.

“There are some kinks that have to be worked out (with this new system),” Santos said. “We will not levy penalties or cut off service because of this (new system.) We will work people.”

To date, no water service has been cut off due to lack of payment in the new billing system, she said.

Those who in the past have had their bill paid by automatic draft will need to set up their accounts in the new system to have this continue, Santos said.

“Look at your bill. If your bill indicates it is to be paid by automatic draft and you don’t want that to happen, you should email Utility Billing immediately at [email protected] or call 784-2262,” the release said.

The majority of customers calling and emailing the city have sought individual assistance to help with their account information. To set up online payment, either directly with the city or through a customer’s financial institution, customers must have and must correctly input customer-identifying information about their utility account, the release said.

“Careful attention is required when inputting customer and account number fields — the order is reversed and not all digits, such as a series of zeros, are needed and aren’t accepted. Hundreds of customers have needed individual staff assistance to retrieve their customer/account numbers and input the number fields correctly, as instructed,” it said.

Along with the billing software switchover, the Utility Department is in the process of replacing hardware—old, aging water meters—in various neighborhoods, which is also causing some bills to be higher or lower than normal.

“The old, outdated meters did not always measure accurately the water used. The new meters are manufactured, calibrated, and tested so they read the exact amount of water usage. Customers surprised by bills that may be significantly different from what they’re used to also have flooded customer service lines, windows, and other service channels,” the release said.

If a customer is concerned about significant difference in their bill, they should contact the utility department. The meter will be checked, and if the problem is on the city’s end, it will be corrected and the bill will be adjusted, Santos said.

“They test the accuracy of the meter. If it is on the customer’s side, they will let them know,” Santos said, noting 75 to 80% of the time, the problem is on the customer’s side.

If a home plumbing problem is causing the change, the bill can escalate quickly. A running commode can waste 200 gallons a day, or 6,000 gallons a month, Santos said. That equates into 8 cubic feet. The average customer in Fort Smith uses 5 cubic feet a month.

The average Fort Smith residential water bill, which includes sewer and sanitation, is $79.59 a month, Santos said. The added 8 cubic feet of water can raise that same bill to $91.35.

Whether the customers concern is the amount of the water bill, how payments can be made or another issue, city administration and staff are committed want to work with customers to resolve the problems, the release said.

“We know there have been some growing pains as we’ve moved to update both our hardware and software,” Geffken said. “We sincerely apologize for the problems and appreciate people working with us as we work through this.”