The Personal Touch

We provide our clients with a single point of contact for all aspects of solution delivery, covering software implementation, product management and change analysis. Our Client Solutions team enable the smooth transition of projects providing you solution expertise and value to each stage of the project lifecycle.

  • Provide support and advice to Utiligroup Clients on processes that are supported by our software and services, and on how the software and services enable and interact with those processes;
  • Provide insight and advice internally and externally on current and future change programmes;
  • We monitor the industry (energy & water) to keep track of all industry change to ensure our products and services stay compliant and our clients are kept up to date with the latest developments;

Make dealing with energy easy. Talk to Utiligroup.

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16 Box Model Framework

We can provide diagnostics, analysis and insight to identify challenges and opportunities across your operational activities, supported by subsequent change and project management services. We use our consultancy toolkit to undertake expert practitioner analysis to identify quick wins, challenge business readiness, uncover compliance gaps, create process improvement plans and support more detailed cost to serve business improvement programmes.

Click on a section for more information…

Customer Acquisition
 Change of Supplier
(Gain)
 Reads Management
 Billing
Payment Management
(Credit)		 Payment Management
(Prepayment)
 Asset Management
 Debt Management
Change of Occupier
 Change of Supplier
(Loss)
Complaints
Management		 Contact
Management
Settlements
 Trading, Forecasting,
Hedging
 Revenue Assurance
 Regulation &
Compliance
  • Onboarding
  • Servicing
  • Retention
  • Support Functions

  • Prepayment Impact

  • DCC (Smart Impact)

 

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Customer Acquisition:

Industry structure and regulatory requirements relating to customer acquisition and registration involves careful orchestration of data flows across multiple participants. We realise that acquiring customers and ensuring they are 'fit to bill' is vital for all suppliers. We enable proactive adoption to help suppliers review their acquisition processes to identify quick wins and recognise recommendations for improvement. We guide clients through acquisition processes influenced by leading Industry programmes including the Smart Meter rollout and Project Nexus.

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Change of Supplier Gain:

With customer switching on the rise there is continued focus on enabling faster switching, controlling costs, improving customer satisfaction and complying with regulatory requirements. By providing a complete view of the registration processes and the changes resulting from major industry obligations, we enable customers to efficiently recognise potential areas for operational and compliance improvement.

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Reads Management:

Obtaining and processing accurate meter readings and understanding the criticality of obtaining these reads in your upstream processes is vital. The Smart Metering rollout is set to transform the sector, unravelling new opportunities for the types of reads you can obtain and the services you can offer as a result. We have years of unrivalled industry knowledge, expertise and experience across a full spectrum of business processes within the Retail Supply Industry and work closely with the majority of Meter Reading Agents. We will partner with you to improve your meter reading and processing related activities across all meter types, providing an independent view to help identify quick wins.

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Billing:

Generating and issuing timely and accurate bills is fundamental to a Supply business and dependent on several other processes surrounding Reads Management and the accuracy of EAC’s and AQ’s. Smart transformation is set to revolutionise these processes and we are ready to guide you and advise you on ways to capitalise on these changes to bring maximum benefit to your business and customers.

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Payment Management (Credit):

Ofgem requires Suppliers to offer a wide variety of payment methods as per Supply Licence Condition 27 which means all Suppliers are obliged to take reasonable steps to ascertain the status of a customer and the occupants of any affected domestic premises before initiation of debt collection or disconnection proceedings. To meet these obligations Suppliers must provide not only the means to receive payments from a wide range of channels but they must also be able to allocate payments received to the correct accounts and investigate any instances of unallocated and misdirected payments. As effective payment-processing impacts customer experience, it is essential that Suppliers have effective strategies in place.

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Payment Management (Prepayment):

Managing gas and electricity prepayment or Pay-as-you-go customers requires additional activities to those required for credit customers, yet these activities vary significantly between Legacy and Smart prepayment. For Legacy prepayment there is a fundamental requirement to manage specific prepayment flows and forms to third party providers (PPMIPs) to enable interaction with the meter. For Smart prepayment the role of the PPMIP is removed and new methods of interacting with meters operating in prepayment mode are introduced. We are experienced in both Legacy and Smart prepayment and closely linked with PPMIP and Smart prepayment service providers. Together we will help you explore practical realising benefits during smart transformation.

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Asset Management:

A Retail Supply business is responsible for reliably managing assets, meters and smart devices in a customer premise, alongside third party contracts to finance and maintain these assets. With the requirements of the Smart Metering Implementation Programme (SMIP) requiring replacement of all meters by the end of 2020, it has never been more crucial to adopt a proactive and customer-focused approach to managing metering activity. It is important to manage associated data flows to ensure a smooth interaction between the DCC and legacy processes. Through the integration of our market leading AFMS platform with our DCC platform, uSmart - we can ensure we support you through all the changes required to your business to manage the replacement of your metering assets over the next few years.

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Debt Management:

Regulatory focus has put the spotlight on collection practices to ensure fair and reasonable treatment of customers. The approach to debt collection continues to evolve suggesting effective collection operations are no longer based on a ‘one size fits all’ collection. Suppliers need to be flexible and pay attention to customer fairness to support those customers facing difficulty.

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Change of Occupier:

With an increasing numbers of people renting properties, there is likely to be a rise in the level of occupancy changes. This impacts Suppliers when it comes to managing costs, improving customer satisfaction and complying with regulatory and data protection requirements. It is important that Suppliers adopt a customer-focused, integrated and efficient approach that operates within legislative requirements. We can help Supplier’s evaluate their Change of Occupier processing capability as a result of the Smart Metering Implementation Programme (SMIP), developing a model that works best for their organisation.

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Change of Supplier Loss:

Whilst the Change of Supplier Gain process must be a suppliers ‘preferred’ process, the reality is that customers will most likely switch again and the Loss process should also be supported. For many reasons including the potential to regain that customer in the future, the customer journey to support Loss must be accurate and efficient as any other process including the timely production of a final bill based on accurate reads and for Smart meters the relevant re-setting of any specific tariff data. We can advise you on the regulatory obligations supporting this and review any processes you have in place.

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Complaints Management:

It is in a Supplier's best interest to review their Complaints Handling capability and design a model that works best for their organisation. Managing complaints accurately and fairly is vital and we can help you evaluate your complaints and dispute handling practices.

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Contact Management:

The ability to manage customer contacts is fundamental to operating efficiently and providing excellent customer service. Suppliers could face an increasing amount of customer queries and complaints, so we recognise that managing customer contact is an issue for all suppliers. We will help you review your account query and maintenance related activities to provide an independent view on potential areas of process improvement to minimise contact.

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Settlements:

Suppliers must realise the value of a robust Settlement imbalance position and the effect it can have on the whole retail business. We understand the complexities surrounding Settlement processes and BSC Audits to help you evaluate your Settlement related and identify process efficiencies and regulatory non-compliances in readiness for future BSC audits.

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Trading/Forecasting/Hedging:

Suppliers are expected to offer competitive customer tariffs, while managing significant risks of wholesale price volatility, customer demand uncertainty and customer churn. Implementing robust Trading, Forecasting and Hedging strategies and managing risks without driving up base costs is a core competitive challenge. We offer a range of tools spanning energy trading to customer demand forecasting to enhance and extend your competitive position.

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Revenue Assurance:

Unavoidable errors and inaccurate data can lead to incorrect bills, excessive settlement charges and customer complaints. The resulting settlement gap then becomes a drain on company revenue, impacts reputation and disrupts operations. As a company grows, manual activities which were initially feasible become ineffective requiring more sophisticated processes. We can proactively support you in mastering the complexities and efforts required to effectively protect gross margin.

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Regulation and Compliance:

Industry changes will impact all market participants as well as inviting an extensive set of new and changed processes and data flows for your business. We can assist you in the translation of industry changes into a business and software context through your own monitoring activity and responses to Industry consultations or more generally by providing advice to address forthcoming industry developments and how they can impact your internal systems and processes.

Meet the team...

In his role as Lead Consultant for uSmart, Dan now provides knowledge and expertise to clients regarding how Utiligroup’s DCC solution works and keeping up to date with industry changes relating to smart and he heads up a small team of consultants primarily focused on uSmart.

Dan’s role includes…

  • Maintaining knowledge of industry change, in partiular those around the SEC and the DCC.
  • Presenting our uSmart solution to clients, informing them how to integrate with our solution and advising on their responsibilities as a DCC User.
  • Feeding industry change and requirements from clients into the uSmart Programme to drive change and improve the solution.

Karen has over 25 years experience in IT within large and small utility organisations, involving project  management, analysis, design, development and testing of systems for the electricity and gas industries.

Karen joined Utiligroup from Smart DCC where she was Industry Consultant within the Smart Metering Implementation Programme.

Karen’s role includes…

  • Leadership of team of consultants undertaking client engagement and delivering client value
  • Customer needs analysis &business processes review
  • Consulting toolset – 16 Box Model, Operational Process Development Tool
  • Stakeholder engagement & Client Relationship management
  • Strategic performance reviews
  • Influencing colleagues in IT, Operations and Strategy

Heather is an accomplished and enthusiastic Business Analyst with over 15 years experience across a range of sectors.

Heather is proficient in requirements gathering and process design and has experience in both business readiness and operational acceptance.

With excellent interpersonal and people management skills and experience of working with both operational teams and system developers, Heather builds and maintains solid relationships with clients and stakeholders at all levels.

Heather’s role includes…

  • Stakeholder Engagement & Client Relationship Management
  • Requirements Gathering
  • Work Stream Management
  • People Management and Mentoring
  • Workshop Facilitation
  • Process Mapping and Reengineering
  • Test Assurance & Support
  • Process Mapping and Reengineering
  • Requirements Gathering
  • Work Stream Management
  • Stakeholder Management
  • Testing and Test Assurance
  • People Management and Mentoring
  • Utility, Financial, Private and Public Sector Experience

Patricia has 20 years experience as a business analyst and operational manager in the utilities sector for some well-known clients.

Patricia’s proven track record was in the delivery of projects, Service Approvals, testing, 3rd party engagement, Change Management, Change of Supplier processes, Audits and Disaster Recovery.

Patricia applies her knowledge and experience to support new entrants into the market whilst adapting her skills to drive performance and focus on the clients long term benefits and values.

Patricia’s role includes…

  • Change of Supplier Processes
  • Billing Processes
  • Project Life Cycle
  • Training and Training Documentation
  • Audits
  • Supplier in a Box – Providing Industry Guidance to New Market Entrants
  • Settlements
  • Disaster Recovery
  • PARMS

Diane is an experienced test analyst, bringing a working knowledge of the electricity and gas energy industries into the Client Solutions team.

Diane’s background in software testing and operating as lead test analyst for many of Utilisoft’s products means she can provide exceptional support across all business areas.

In addition to assisting with the delivery of our products to a wide range of national and international clients.

Diane’s role includes…

  • Business & Requirements Analysis
  • Stakeholder Engagement & Client Relationship Management
  • Business Process Reviews
  • Industry Change & Impact Assessment
  • Industry & Process Training
  • Workshop Facilitation
  • Customer Support
  • Test Assurance & Support
  • ISTQB Intermediate Software Testing Certification