Atmos Energy 2008 Annual Report Download - page 21

Download and view the complete annual report

Please find page 21 of the 2008 Atmos Energy annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.

Page out of 38

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • 18
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • 22
  • 23
  • 24
  • 25
  • 26
  • 27
  • 28
  • 29
  • 30
  • 31
  • 32
  • 33
  • 34
  • 35
  • 36
  • 37
  • 38

Another program, Sharing the Warmth, assists those who
need help paying their gas bills by putting them in touch with
local energy-assistance agencies.
Call Centers at
Break the Mold
Our call centers are dierent for many reasons. First, they are
right here in the United States. Second, they’re staed by
full-time Atmos Energy employees—not outsourced to generic
centers handling calls for multiple businesses. And, third,
every call we receive is recorded as we continuously strive for
resolving issues with one call. is approach has greatly
improved the quality of our service. As we solve issues for our
customers, we build those solutions back into our processes
to improve continuously.
correct it. If not, we can ask the customer about usage on a
certain day. For example, a spike in usage might coincide with
heating up a pool for a backyard birthday party or hosting vis-
iting family members who took lots of showers.
More Ways to Pay
We have expanded our customers’ payment options. Besides
accepting checks by mail, we take online payments by credit
cards and electronic funds transfers from checking, savings
and other accounts. We also have an extensive network of
authorized local merchants that can transact bill payments in
person. In some communities, automated kiosks can accept
payments 24 hours a day.
We oer our Budget Billing plan to make bill amounts
more predictable and to level out monthly payments.
Customers come in all shapes and sizes and with all kinds of needs,
including those of the State Fair of Texas, symbolized by Big Tex. Atmos
Energy serves the giant exhibition, which attracts more than 3 million
visitors and ranks as the largest state fair in the country.
Atmos Energy is expanding its Advanced Metering Infrastructure pilot project
in Louisiana and Texas to read customers’ meters by wireless radio technology.
is state-of-the-art metering system measures a customer’s hourly gas usage.
Atmos Energy’s innovative customer service delivers creative
solutions, such as using natural-gas-heated water in underground
pipes to melt snow o streets and sidewalks in Colorado.
ATMOS ENERGY 2008 SUMMARY ANNUAL REPORT | 19