Management Empowerment
Since implementing SevenX, DataCol have assumed responsibility for data analysis, this has meant a cost saving for customers because they now require less staff to fulfil this function themselves. This also means that DataCol can identify and resolve issues without the customer even being aware there was an issue. DataCol have also been able to significantly increase performance standards, to the point where they are now operating at considerably higher levels than their contractual requirements and competitors.
DataCol validate data prior to release to the customer using internally developed estimation algorithms. These result in greater accuracy being achieved in determining if an entered reading is within acceptable parameters. These parameters are generally much tighter than those provided by the retailer, ensuring that any read accepted by SevenX will be within the acceptable range in the billing system.
With the availability of historical reading data in SevenX, DataCol can interrogate performance down to individual readers or individual meter level. DataCol can also identify problem reading routes and optimize those routes within the system without having to wait for the retailer to update their system. This means that a process which used to take up to two months to get completed now takes moments.
- SevenX has provided greater clarity, with DataCol’s management able to see what is happening in the business in real-time from one console. This has allowed DataCol to grow without substantially increasing staff. Overheads have thus remained low and profitability has been improved.
- Customer satisfaction levels are high due to the service standards DataCol is able to deliver. This will ultimately translate into greater contract security and opportunities to grow laterally into new fields with the same customers.
- SevenX has allowed DataCol greater control over its destiny. Because the system is owned by DataCol, and not provided to it by its retailer customers, they are not subject to the discretion of the different retailers that they contract to. DataCol are able to read for multiple retailers on each network and hence gain the maximum revenue possible.
- The intelligence built into SevenX has encouraged customers to come to DataCol with different enquiries to satisfy other business needs. For one customer, DataCol have been asked to undertake digital photographic recording of their meter assets. With another they are undertaking GPS logging of the meter assets. Customers now see DataCol as an innovative service provider with multiple capabilities rather than simply a “meter reading company”