Has the Energy Sector Embraced Industry 4.0?

In the space of just 20 years, technology has advanced dramatically. Clunky mobile phones have become internet-enabled pocket computers, dial-up internet has given way to super-fast broadband and the advent of apps has revolutionised how business is done.

With increasingly fast internet speeds came the need for better websites that need to be eye-catching and user-friendly. Many energy supply companies were quick to adopt them as they are now a necessity in this increasingly online world. A poorly designed or poorly functioning website can sometimes be a major deciding factor as to whether someone wants to use your business for their energy supply needs.

Websites that look dated, busy or just cheap are often seen by consumers that the company in question is one that’s likely to provide poor customer service or lack innovation.

Most businesses now provide websites that are consumer friendly and understand the need for good design. They also now provide a wide array of their services via their websites allowing the freeing up of manpower and (hopefully) reducing the waiting times or stress faced by a customer.

In simple terms, the Cloud is just another metaphor for the internet. The Cloud allows increased storage and security as data is stored and accessed over the internet rather than on a computer hard drive. In the early 2000s the Cloud was hailed as the next big thing. Today there are countless Cloud services available.

The biggest innovation that cloud computing has enabled is Software as a Service (SaaS). In the energy sector companies such as Dyball’s Customer Service Management system play a big part in the effective running of an energy supplier. Our CSM supports both electricity and gas supplies through the same interface and links via API’s to our market messaging products REGMAN and GASMAN. This provides an energy supplier with data views and functionality as well as allowing the management of both domestic duel fuel customers and SME energy supply customers. For more info click here

SaaS allows companies full management of their customers’ needs via secure and configurable web-driven platforms.

With the government and Ofgem pushing for Smart Meters to be installed in every home in the country, the importance of SaaS and the cloud is increasing.

Increasing numbers of smart meters will increase the amount of data items collected per month and per meter. If an energy supplier doesn’t have the correct tools in place how are they supposed to use that information correctly?

SaaS platforms unlock the ability to access and use that data, in real-time, with no lag. No waiting hours or days for a report to be batch-processed analysed, with little human-error.

Thanks to the huge popularity of the apple smartphones first released in 2007 apps have become a major tool used by all kinds of businesses. All the largest (and most medium-sized) energy suppliers now offer apps to their customers that allow them to manage their accounts from their phones. Most now offer the ability to:

• Register for a new account
• Submit gas and electricity meter readings
• Pay bills and view account details
• Change direct debit payments
• Monitor your energy usage month to month
• Book an engineer

Apps make the customer experience a lot more streamlined and gives them greater control of their accounts and energy usage. Many now offer the ability to switch supplier further reducing the stress and complexity of making such a move.

With increased competition in the energy supply sector, businesses need every advantage over the competition when it comes to providing excellent customer service.

Whether it’s a query on a utility bill, updating customers on the status of a service outage, or responding to other service requests, chatbots are being implemented by utility providers in their contact centres to improve the customer experience while lowering the costs of service delivery. Bots also enable customers to contact their supplier and be supported 25 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Machine Learning or (A.I as it’s often called) is the practice of using algorithms to view large volumes of data, learn from it, detect patterns, and make decisions or predictions based on these patterns.

Machine Learning is often in the headlines as the technology of the future, but it’s already being used by some areas of the energy sector. For example, Google’s Deepmind is working with the National Grid to help predict increases in supply demands and aims to reduce the UK’s energy usage by 10%.

Other uses for Machine Learning include the creation of virtualised assistants such as smarter chatbots to provide customer insights and provide support.

Cybersecurity is (or should be) at the heart of all the technologies listed above. With new developments come increased risks from cyberspace.

With the increase in the use of internet-connected technology comes increased risks from cybercriminals and malicious nation-states. Internet of things (IoT) devices when first released a few years were notorious for having poor cybersecurity in place as manufacturers rushed to market. Cyber attacks are unfortunately still occurring daily as companies of all shapes and sizes continue to fail to implement the security basics. The energy sector is an appealing target due to the wealth of data supply companies hold.

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With the energy sector facing huge challenges such as climate change and increasing energy efficiency, it will be technology that will lead the charge in tackling them. The use of electric vehicles and renewable technologies are all forecast to increase over the coming years and as consumers become increasingly more tech-savvy and demanding for technological solutions and services the onus will be on energy suppliers to keep up.

Busting the Cybersecurity Myths in the Energy Sector

Energy Price Forecast 2020

Add your Customers to the Priority Service Register with Dyball’s CRM