ESP’s Notify integrates with ESRI Technology to create significant efficiencies for Lehigh County Authority.

“Notify continues to be an integral part of our customer notification process by seamlessly integrating Portal for ArcGIS and our ERP. It functions without issue for internal staff, as well as field staff, across multiple platforms and device types.”

Christopher Moughan, Director of Service & Technology

CHALLENGE

Lehigh County Authority (LCA), a public water and wastewater utility, was using a system called Rapid Response that had no geospatial component and lacked an efficient method of communicating with customers. If there was an emergency in the northernmost end, staff would have to drive back to the office, define the area, manually extract phone numbers, and then launch the campaign to communicate with the affected customers.

SOLUTION

Based on LCA’s needs and ESP’s Notify capabilities, the team chose to implement Notify, an advanced, high-speed alert notification system, to replace Rapid Response. Notify is designed to deliver location-based voice, text, and email messages within minutes to public and private entities.

One of the major selling points for LCA was that Notify utilizes Esri’s® ArcGIS Online and Portal for ArcGIS platforms, providing intuitive, comprehensive mapping and analytics capabilities. Integration with Esri’s system architecture gives LCA the ability to seamlessly integrate countless Esri maps and applications with Notify, providing them with a solution that can grow with the organization.

Because of the power of Notify and integration with ArcGIS, LCA uses Notify as their primary customer and employee communications platform for the entire organization. This web-based solution leverages existing customer, employee, and GIS mapping information to distribute critical information quickly and securely during an emergency.

KEY RESULTS

• Eliminates almost 800 hours of wasted time annually, from miscommunication with customer care team to lag time from field to office.

• Saves approximately $100,000 per year from efficiencies with driving, communication, time, referencing GIS, and more.

• Integrates with Cityworks, keeping the customer care team up to date on scheduled preventive maintenance.

• Notifies customers in advance of future capital projects with ability to add projects into system.

• Reduces the number of customer questions and complaints related to water service interruptions.