CONTACT INFORMATION

Scientech
Jon T. Brock
Director, Strategic and Competitive Intelligence

Puget Sound Energy
www.pugetsoundenergy.com

Puget Sound Energy has chosen to deploy Par3 Communications Intelligent Response PlatformT. Par3 released the Intelligent Response PlatformT at Upside's Launch! 2000. The software enables companies to Deliver preemptive, highly detailed and response-enabled alerts via virtually any telephony or Internet device the customer prefers, including telephone, email, pager, fax, hand-held web or wireless devices.

ANALYSIS: 
Another acronym! First we had Customer Information Systems (CIS).  Then we had to deal more effectively with the customer by creating a personalized service and so the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) acronym was introduced.  Now, Par3 is "coining" a new term, Customer Participation Management (CPM).

Par3 has roots in both the CRM and the phone center technology arena.  Their new software, Intelligent Response PlatformT, seems to be bridging the gap between the phone center and the customer. In the early days of CRM, which was just a few years ago, the solutions were separated by their expertise.  Phone center applications interacted well with phone switching equipment and agent software. A few of these applications were Clarify and Vantive.  Sales force personnel and marketing departments utilized software that was better suited for their needs such as marketing campaign development  and remote sales tracking/fulfillment. Such applications included Siebel on the large end, Pivotal, ONXS in the mid-range, and Goldmine, and ACT!  (now InterAct) on the smaller end of the market.

The Par3 solution is powered by an Extensible Mark-up Language (XML)-based technology component that integrates with data systems including relational database systems, CRMs, client-server systems, HTTP servers, mainframe and legacy systems. This is an important feature as it will allow companies running legacy or new software to utilize the "automated alert" feature.

When pre-defined conditions are met, information is extracted from the data sources and delivered to the customer how and when they prefer to receive alerts. It will allow for a two-way communication to take place so the customer can respond to the alert, hence the Customer Participation Management (CPM) term. This technology can be used by a customer via laptop, cell phone, or hand-held computing device.

Puget Sound has been known for its savvy customer service, especially in the technology arena. Puget Sound Energy spun its customer care and billing systems into a separate business known as ConneXt several years ago. The result was a large scalable CIS system that ConneXt in turn took and modified by building interfaces toothier best of breed software such as the CRM giant Siebel.

ConneXt attempted a run at the deregulated marketplace for providing billing services to the newly formed retail companies but met fierce competition from companies such as SCT, Enlogix, Peace Software, Excelergy, Orcom, and SPL WorldGroup. ConneXt re-focused on the T&D utilities and fared better with their interfaces to real-time meter reading systems. It appears that ConneXt also has made good use of the XML architecture (reference press
release dated 11-5-99 "ConneXt Speeds Customer Information System Implementation
Via Extensible Mark-up Language (XML) APIs").

The XML technology has been adopted by several of ConneXt's competitors and is also being pursued by working groups in several states as the way to communicate between utility T&D companies, the Markets, the Generation Companies, and the Retailers (as opposed to the more common EDI protocol).

So what does the future hold? I can see a day where electricity is deregulated and load control devices are prevalent and integrated into everyday use at the commercial/industrial and residential level. A price spike may result in an "alert" being issued to my pager, cell phone, or PalmPilot. I review the "spike" and respond to curtail load at my residence or business. With this technology, I could even be in Europe while deciding to curtail my load in the United States. This technology coupled with yet to be widely accepted load control technology may provide some of the price transparency that California needed earlier this summer. I believe the acronyms in use today are real-time-pricing and energy management. I wonder what they will be called tomorrow.

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