Case Studies Guelph Hydro
The Challenge
Guelph Hydro takes pride in keeping customers powered up 24/7. But when their emergency phone service went down on a busy holiday, their telecom provider wasn’t answering.
The Solution
Guelph Hydro called Eclipse, on the off chance they might be able to help. And that’s exactly what they did.
The Result
Guelph Hydro dropped their provider and switched to Eclipse. The service they get makes all the difference.
How we helped
The team at Guelph Hydro is responsible for keeping homes, businesses and public services powered up 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, serving more than 47,000 customers in Guelph and Rockwood.
The utility has one of the highest reliability rates in the province. Last year, the time that any area was without supply was just 35 minutes.
When things go wrong, Guelph Hydro acts fast. And as a public utility, keeping up communication with customers is crucial.
On Thanksgiving weekend 2007, thunderstorm activity interrupted power to more than 15,000 people. Guelph Hydro’s emergency hotline was flooded with calls. And then quite suddenly, the calls stopped. Their Octel voice mail system – which handled incoming calls and provided callers with updates on repair progress – was failing.
The Eclipse Difference
Guelph Hydro Network Administrator Raymond Schade did what anyone would do in the situation: he immediately called their service provider. To his dismay, he couldn’t get through. Worse, he couldn’t even leave a message. Scrambling for options, he remembered a call he’d recently had with Pat Bonello, an account manager with Eclipse. She’d provided a quote on a systems upgrade a few weeks before.
“I thought I’d try her, on the off chance she’d answer. Thankfully, she did – and with a turkey in the oven on a Sunday afternoon.” Raymond outlined the problem. Pat explained that Octel wasn’t a system Eclipse supported, but that she’d do everything she could to find a work-around. She contacted the Eclipse technical support team right away.
Going Above and Beyond
“A short while later, Dan, one of Eclipse’s technical support experts, contacted me and provided a solution which we implemented later that evening. With the work-around in place, emergency calls were once again being routed to our answering service.”
Their service provider finally responded on Monday – and that was simply too late for Guelph Hydro. “Apparently, their phone system went down on the weekend, and that’s why no one was answering the after hours calls. For us, that’s simply unacceptable. We’re grateful to Pat and the Eclipse team for helping us through this crisis. They went above and beyond and really helped us in a pinch.”
Guelph Hydro was so impressed that they switched to Eclipse for all their telecommunication requirements almost immediately. Now, two years into the relationship, they couldn’t be more impressed. “Their pricing is very competitive, but their service is the reason we keep them on as a key supplier,” says Raymond. “Pat keeps an eye on what we’re trying to accomplish and helps us make good decisions. She’s quick to follow up on any issues and keeps us well informed. Simply put, I give them a call and they always do their very best to find a solution for me.”
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