The company, which is part of U.K.-based water utility operator South Staffordshire Plc, has launched what it calls a “next-generation customer information system,” or CIS, in this country. It debuted the tool at utility customer service conference CS Week this month.
“We understand that globally, including in the U.S., customer expectations are changing, and many water utilities are currently operating legacy CIS solutions,” Monica Mackintosh, managing director at Aptumo, told Government Technology via email. “These systems are hindering the ability to deliver the standard of service that customers now expect from all of their suppliers, which includes options for quick and convenient self-service, and an experience that better meets their own needs.”
The company’s tool is built on Salesforce cloud technology — that firm’s technology is increasingly powering a variety of state and local government tasks — and is designed so that water utilities can automate manual processes while also boosting customer service and otherwise encourage digital advances, according to a statement from the company.
Aptumo launched in 2018, and Mackintosh said the technology is strong enough to stand out from competitors as the company seeks U.S. market share — a market that is undergoing various types of digital advancements that deal not only with billing and customer management but smart meters and other gear.
“Future proofing is a given through the ever-green nature of updates, and clients can reduce their reliance on their software vendor by being able to implement around 50 percent more configuration changes in-house when compared to legacy solutions,” Mackintosh said. “Finally, an inbuilt configurable reporting and analytics tool will help water utilities to truly unlock the power of their data to better service their customers, manage credit and collections and drive forward change.”
She added that Aptumo is “currently building” features specific to the U.S. utility landscape, tools that could appeal to municipal- and investor-owned operations.
Aptumo’s launch in the U.S. comes as another U.K. company — transit tech and analytics provider Route Reports — uses new investment and the promise of federal infrastructure spending to expand here.
