Cooperative Response Center, Inc. (CRC) is pleased to welcome Coles-Moultrie Electric Cooperative of Mattoon, Illinois, to its membership. Coles-Moultrie Electric Cooperative is a member-owned electric distribution cooperative serving over 9,500 meters in east-central Illinois.

CRC offers utilities across the country seamless contact center and alarm monitoring solutions, including call management, line crew dispatch, AMI/CIS/OMS integration, CRCLink® outage communication software, and alarm monitoring. CRC also offers outage texting services, video monitoring of substations and a Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliance solution which utilizes live agents for billing calls. From outage calls to billing calls, disconnects to emergency locates and more, CRC is there for its membership 24/7/365. By partnering with CRC, members find peace of mind as well as a cost-effective solution to their call handling needs.

Coles-Moultrie Electric Cooperative joined CRC’s membership in February 2016, subscribing to CRC’s contact center dispatch services which include inbound call management as well as dispatching of line crews. Kim Leftwich, president and CEO at Coles-Moultrie Electric Cooperative, appreciated CRC’s experience with call handling for electric utilities when looking for a new after-hours service provider for the cooperative.

“Coles-Moultrie had relied on a local after-hours/weekend call service for many years,” he explained. “A small service, they were unable to manage call volumes during outages, resulting in dissatisfaction among our members as they could not readily know if their outage was known nor the status of restoration.

“Our switch to CRC has hugely changed our normal after-hours and major-outage responses,” he said. “Now, hundreds of additional calls are answered during major outages. Front-end messaging notifies members that we know of their outage and hundreds of calls are shed quickly because they are confident that the cooperative is aware they are out of power.”

Leftwich also complimented CRC on the smooth process that occurred when Coles-Moultrie Electric Cooperative moved to CRC’s services. “Transitioning to CRC from our former provider was smooth and competently accomplished,” he said. “CRC’s agents picked up on our overtime call-out procedures quickly and appropriately applied the procedures for after-hours callout of personnel. They also quickly integrated with NiSC, providing a seamless transition for our members.”

In addition to the improved service and easy transfer of services, Leftwich noted there was little difference in pricing in service providers. “We replaced the local provider with CRC at virtually the same cost, yet greatly improved and enhanced response capability,” he added.

Chris Holt, CRC’s president and CEO, is pleased to partner with Coles-Moultrie Electric Cooperative to meet the needs of its membership. “We have been working with electric utilities for nearly 24 years,” Holt said. “Formed by cooperatives, CRC understands the importance of working together to offer service excellence. We appreciate the opportunity to partner with Coles-Moultrie Electric Cooperative to serve their members.”

About CRC
CRC is a nationwide, cooperatively owned, 24/7 contact center and alarm monitoring center. Founded in 1992, CRC has steadily increased the size and scope of its operation with offices in Austin, Minn., Dunlap, Tenn., and Abilene, Texas. CRC serves over 410 members and associate members in 44 states, representing nearly 7 million consumers. Visit CRC on the web at www.crc.coop.

For more information about CRC’s services, contact Dan Otteson, senior regional business manager, at 800-892-1578, ext. 2137, or danotteson@crc.coop.