Atmos Energy 2003 Annual Report Download - page 11

Richard Herrera,
Customer Service,
works in waist-deep
sorghum near
Plainview, Texas.
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Our substantial investment in information and telecommunications technology helps us continually improve our
customer service while it lowers our operating costs. Starting in 1997, Atmos Energy undertook a massive conversion
to advanced data processing technology. Today, information is accessible from mobile computers in our service
trucks. Our telecommunications systems support one of the best customer call centers in the industry. Meters on
remote farms are read from an airplane. Service routing will soon be handled by a satellite network. And new field
technologies will enhance the safety and efficiency of our construction and maintenance work.
Handheld computers now
being tested will give
field staff full access to
our utility mapping,
engineering specifications,
job cost data as well
as our other information
systems as part of
our Enterprise Asset
Management project.
Second to our
employees,
technology
is the smartest
worker
we have.
Satellite-based commu-
nication between field
and office staff is very
efficient—dispatching
is text-based, allowing
our service technicians
to read, click and go.
Technology can
save time,
save space,
cut costs,
boost productivity,
reduce errors,
improve
communication
with customers
and employees,
and automate
virtually any
control system. Efficiency from out
of the blue. Reading
1,200 transmitter-
equipped meters
attached to natural
gas-powered farm
irrigators takes one
pilot one day—
saving over a week
of work by a field
crew. And that’s how
we work for you.