EWEB picks ARCOS to standardize and computerize calls for restoring water and power

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Sept. 11, 2017 -- ARCOS^® LLC has implemented its Software-as-a-Service  ARCOS CallOut® and Scheduling solution at the Eugene Water & Electric Board (EWEB) – Oregon’s largest publicly owned water and electric utility – to expedite the restoration of water main breaks and power outages.

“Before ARCOS, any report of a broken water main or electric outage after normal business hours came to our Operations Control Center,” said Larry Longworth, the transmission and distribution dispatch supervisor for EWEB. “We constantly kept track of which water troubleshooter was on call, and once notified, the troubleshooter would pull a paper list of crews and spend 45 minutes or more calling crew members to assemble a team to fix a water main or lateral break.”

EWEB now relies on ARCOS to automatically track all available water troubleshooters and the crews able to respond to and restore service interruptions. Water troubleshooters carry tablets in their trucks to access ARCOS. With the ARCOS app, they make an automated callout to assemble a crew from a list of available workers, while deciding which valves to shut off or throttle down.

“With automated callout, our water troubleshooters have more time to gather equipment from the yard or study maps to restore service in the quickest, safest way,” added Longworth.

According to Longworth, the flexibility of the ARCOS solution is its strength. Until ARCOS, EWEB’s electric operations relied on 21 paper lists indicating which crews across in which groups were available for after-hours work. Each group’s list owner regularly called and emailed the EWEB Operations Center to update crew members’ availability. By recreating these lists in the ARCOS platform, EWEB’s dispatch desk has given the list owners control to electronically update and change crew status. The ARCOS solution automatically tracks these changes, including the callouts. Longworth says electronic tracking eliminated workers’ complaints about missing a call or being skipped over to work additional hours.

“I can report on and analyze anything that’s happened with a callout,” said Longworth. “Until you have ARCOS, you don’t know what you can measure.”

According to EWEB, automated callout has saved labor every step of the way. While the utility acknowledges it is tougher to measure the impact on CAIDI, Longworth estimates it is conceivable EWEB has reduced that number by five to 10 minutes with ARCOS.

“ARCOS customer support is exceptional, too,” added Longworth. “Around the clock, people are there who can answer our questions about the system and get us back on track quickly.”

About ARCOS LLC
ARCOS is the North American leader in delivering resource management SaaS solutions to the utility industry. ARCOS automates crew assembly and resource management daily and during emergencies, ultimately helping to restore energy faster, yet safely, to communities. The award-winning solution helps utilities save time and money, while improving customer satisfaction. Learn more about ARCOS resource management software at www.arcos-inc.com.  ARCOS CallOut® and ARCOS Crew Manager® are registered trademarks of ARCOS LLC.

Media contact:
Bill Perry
Mobile: 614-975-7538