Case Studies > Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corporation Deploys Cireson to Enhance Usability of Service Manager

Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corporation Deploys Cireson to Enhance Usability of Service Manager

Customer Company Size

Mid-size Company

Region

America

Country

United States

Product

Cireson Portal
Self-Service Portal
Outlook Console

Tech Stack

Microsoft Outlook
System Center Service Manager

Implementation Scale

Enterprise-wide Deployment

Impact Metrics

Cost Savings
Productivity Improvements
Customer Satisfaction

Technology Category

Functional Applications - Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERP)
Functional Applications - Remote Monitoring & Control Systems

Applicable Industries

Utilities

Applicable Functions

Business Operation
Facility Management

Use Cases

Remote Asset Management
Remote Control

Services

System Integration
Software Design & Engineering Services

About The Customer

Founded in 1949, Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corporation (AECC) is a member of Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas. AECC generates and supplies wholesale electricity to 17 distribution cooperatives. Together, they provide power to over 500,000 homes, farms, and businesses in over 60% of Arkansas. AECC generates electricity in a number of natural gas and oil plants, coal-based plants, and hydroelectric generating stations. The company employs around 450 people and is based in the United States.

The Challenge

For years, AECC did not have a formal help desk solution. The users would call in or email with questions or service requests to get help from the IT department. With every request being processed manually, it was a very inefficient system, resulting in long wait times for the end users. AECC took steps to resolve this issue and selected their first help desk solution, System Center Service Manager was originally deployed a year prior. For the first year, the IT team worked with the platform exclusively, with no add-on solution to simplify the daily management process. While using Service Manager, they realized the need for a more user-friendly, intuitive interface to help workers manage everyday tasks, while retaining the agile backend automation capabilities. After conducting significant research into their options, the AECC team selected Cireson to help resolve their pressing Service Manager needs.

The Solution

AECC chose to deploy Cireson’s Business Management Solution. Through Cireson’s intuitive technology, the IT department ended up doing all the work in house while deploying the apps. The work was completed in a timely manner, with full support and guidance from the Cireson team. The Cireson Portal currently stands out as the most game-changing implementation for AECC. As one of the first solutions deployed, it created a great starting point for the adoption of the entire Cireson Platform. By seamlessly integrating with Service Manager, the solution provides users with the flexibility to manage their daily activities from anywhere, not just their workstation. With the help of the Portal, incidents became much easier to create, as well as transfer between departments. Another time-saving app used extensively by AECC is the Self-Service Portal. Enabling end users to not only report issues, but also access the knowledge base to find help with common problems, the app allows users to track the progress of the submitted claims, as well as resolve simple issues autonomously. It keeps both the end users and the IT department automatically updated on the status of each claim. The Outlook Console has also helped boost the department’s productivity, while simplifying daily interactions with Service Manager. Enabling the AECC IT users to manage their daily tasks and activities from Microsoft Outlook, it further cut down on the time spent accessing various databases and apps from multiple screens. For AECC, the Cireson Platform was instrumental in providing the IT team with the right tools to do their job easily and quickly, using automated features that not only speed up the resolution process, but also eliminate a significant number of human errors.

Operational Impact

The Cireson solutions provided 360-degree visibility into each incident, preventing time wasted in extra clicks and allowing streamlined access to resolve requests quickly.
The IT staff was able to fully utilize the options offered by Service Manager, allowing them to focus on providing excellent support to the employees.
The deployment of Cireson apps significantly improved the overall productivity of the IT department through fully automated tasks.
The Self-Service Portal enabled end users to report issues, access the knowledge base, and track the progress of submitted claims, thus resolving simple issues autonomously.
The Outlook Console allowed AECC IT users to manage their daily tasks and activities from Microsoft Outlook, reducing the time spent accessing various databases and apps from multiple screens.

Quantitative Benefit