Billing Services Group

When states began deregulating their energy markets 2 decades ago, the goal was to reduce energy costs for consumers by adding competition to the market.  The latest state to enter the world of deregulation is Pennsylvania.  Last month, that fully open market concept became available to ratepayers in the Keystone state.  Lawmakers there actually passed legislation deregulating the energy market there back in 2000, but legislators at the time put in place a 10-year rate cap – allowing utilities to recoup investment costs and giving suppliers time to ramp up their operations.

On December 31, 2010 the rate caps expired, giving Pennsylvania consumers far wider options than they’ve ever had before.  While the majority of the players are reputable companies, already there are grumblings in the media about problems with slamming, where consumers’ utility services are switched to a new company without their consent.

These issues again drive home the importance and value of Third Party Verification.  Having an unrelated outside party walk through the process with the consumer to ensure they understand the terms of the switch and that they do in fact want to make the move is invaluable – offering peace of mind to the consumer and consumer groups, of course, and providing critical sales verification information to utility companies themselves.  By utilizing automated call recording, scripted recording, scripted TPV with quality control, speech recognition, or live operator services.

We know of instances where energy providers have come under fire for alleged unscrupulous sales tactics either by their own employees or contracted sales partners.  Having TPV in place would allow energy suppliers to monitor their sales teams and ensure that best practices are adhered to across the board.  Its good public relations. . .and just good business.

To learn more about Third Party Verification and the state of the art services offered by VoiceLog, visit www.bsgclearing.com/voicelog.