Birmingham AquaHawk Water Utility Customer Portal
Population: 10,000+
Between 2010 and 2012, the City of Birmingham undertook a $2.6 million city-wide water meter replacement program, including the integration of a fixed-base Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) system. The upgraded metering system provided a number of functional benefits to the city including automated remote reading, increased meter accuracy and a reduction in revenue loss. It also provided utility billing staff access to hourly meter usage data and an alert dashboard that helped to quickly identify potential leaks, saving residents money and reducing staff time spent responding to high water bill complaints. In an effort to innovate service delivery and extract additional value from the original investment, the City of Birmingham explored options to make the same detailed usage data accessible to water customers from their home computers.
Many Michigan municipalities provide some form of online access to utility data, but is often limited to cumulative usage totals and bill history. Birmingham’s system – AquaHawk – offers an easy-to-use graphic interface that displays hour-by-hour data and accurate bill projections. The most popular feature, in terms of customer service innovation, is the ability for customers to set customized alerts deliverable by email, text message, automated phone call, or mail if usage exceeds or is projected to exceed a certain quantity of water over a defined time span, or a specified dollar amount.
Any resident who has ever been surprised by a high water bill can appreciate the value in identifying potential leaks early. Utility billing employees, too, can appreciate fewer calls from upset customers.
