Cooperative Response Center, Inc. (CRC) is pleased to welcome Holston Electric Cooperative (HEC) of Rogersville, Tennessee, to its contact center membership. HEC is a member-owned electric distribution cooperative serving over 30,000 meters in a 525 square-mile service area in northeastern Tennessee.

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 dynamic greetings, outage texting services, video monitoring of substations, a Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliance solution which utilizes live agents for billing calls, and English proficiency translation services. 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.

HEC joined CRC’s membership in February 2019 and subscribed to CRC’s customer care services, meaning CRC assisted with member calls ranging from general assistance to reports of electrical outages. With regard to outage calls, CRC immediately sent all outage reports to HEC’s dispatchers who then coordinated the restoration of the outage. Two months later, HEC upgraded to CRC’s energy dispatch services which include inbound call management as well as dispatching of line crews.

Like many of the utilities that join CRC services, HEC chose to not only partner with CRC to help provide their consumers with good customer service, but to relieve office staff of certain duties so they can focus on what they do best.

“HEC has chosen to join the CRC family for several member support functions,” said Jimmy Sandlin, HEC’s general manager. “As of April 2019, CRC is performing call overflow, taking payments, and energy dispatch. Formerly, HEC performed these functions with in-house and part-time staff and it became clear in 2018 that using part-time dispatchers working onsite at the HEC main office was not sustainable. Additionally, with the construction of our broadband fiber network and the rollout of broadband services through our subsidiary, HolstonConnect, it was obvious that outsourcing these functions was necessary.”

“For nearly 27 years, CRC has worked with cooperatives across the country to assist with operations and often provide services they couldn’t efficiently offer themselves,” said Chris Holt, CRC’s president and CEO. “By streamlining process and procedures as well as developing new products and services to meet the needs of our membership, our goal is to provide a seamless transition and a positive experience for callers. We’re happy to meet the needs of Holston Electric Cooperative and look forward to years of partnership with them.”

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 480 members and associate members in 46 states, representing nearly 9.9 million consumers. Visit CRC on the web at www.crc.coop.

For more information about CRC’s services, contact Cheryl Haney, regional business manager, at 800-892-1578, ext. 8707, or cherylhaney@crc.coop.