Dalton Utilities, a full-service municipal utility serving 50,000 customers across the City of Dalton and portions of Whitfield, Murray, Gordon, Catoosa, and Floyd counties in Georgia, reported a 150% increase in paperless enrollment in October 2023 since going live with InvoiceCloud’s automated pay-by-phone Interactive Voice Response (IVR) solution in February 2016. Within that same time period, Dalton Utilities also experienced an increase in self-service options like e-payment adoption and AutoPay, with 68% and 64% customer adoption rates, respectively.

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Burdened with a high volume of manual transactions and payment obstacles that discouraged self-service, Dalton Utilities wanted a better way to accept and process customer payments. These inefficiencies strained staff resources and frustrated customers. After evaluating various integrated payment platforms, Dalton Utilities determined InvoiceCloud’s complete digital billing and payment solution to be the ideal fit for both meeting its needs and integrating with its Customer Information System (CIS), NorthStar.

In addition to a range of seamless and accessible digital features, InvoiceCloud’s IVR payment option allows customers to make payments via phone or text when and where they want, encouraging customers to self-serve. Additional benefits of IVR include saving credit and debit card information for future use, and even enrolling customers in AutoPay and paperless billing via text message.

“InvoiceCloud’s user-friendly solution has enabled us to provide a world-class experience where it counts,” said Keri Barton, Accounts Receivable Manager at Dalton Utilities. “A good day is when we receive no customer complaints—because that means the system just works. And we’ve had more good days than ever before since implementing InvoiceCloud!”

Dalton Utilities also experienced a 4x increase in automated phone payments as of October 2023—and with fewer payment-related calls to field and fewer paper bills to process, employees now have more time to focus on other critical business needs. Dalton Utilities reported that their customer satisfaction levels also increased as a result of this new user-friendly payment experience.

“NorthStar is proud to partner with InvoiceCloud to provide utilities like Dalton the modern payment experience customers not only deserve but expect,” said Jerry Rahon, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at NorthStar. “Our best-of-breed CIS software seamlessly integrates with InvoiceCloud’s online payment solution to ensure people have the smoothest and most convenient payment experience possible.”

“Our goal at InvoiceCloud is to simplify customer engagements to drive real, quantifiable results for our clients. The positive results Dalton Utilities continues to experience is a testament to the strength of our technology and our team’s relentless focus on innovation to drive better business outcomes,” said Kevin O’Brien, CEO of InvoiceCloud.

Through IVR technology, companies, especially within utilities, now have an additional resource to help meet more customers’ payment preferences and empower self-service in the process. In fact, a recent survey by InvoiceCloud on digitally reluctant billpayer preferences and behaviors (focused on four distinct populations: those who are aged 55+, non-English speakers, those who primarily write checks, and the unbanked), found that:

• 73% of respondents 55+ and 74% of check writers would be likely to use IVR to pay their bills if one was offered.
• 92% of non-English speakers would be likely to use IVR for bill payment if the option was available in their primary language.

To learn more about Dalton Utilities' experience with InvoiceCloud, check out their customer story here.

About InvoiceCloud

InvoiceCloud provides modern digital payment, customer engagement, and outbound disbursement solutions. The company services more than 3,250 customers across the utility, government and insurance industries and is a leader in the electronic bill presentment and payment (EBPP) space. InvoiceCloud's SaaS platform enables continuous enhancements to the customer experience resulting in higher digital payment, autopay, and paperless adoption rates. By switching to InvoiceCloud, clients can improve customer engagement and satisfaction while lowering costs, accelerating payments, and reducing staff workloads. To learn more, visit www.InvoiceCloud.com.

About Dalton Utilities

Dalton Utilities, in operation as a public utility since 1889, provides potable water, electrical, natural gas and wastewater treatment services to the City of Dalton and portions of Whitfield, Murray, Gordon, Catoosa, and Floyd counties. Beginning in 1999, Dalton Utilities branched into telecommunications with broadband services to large industrial/commercial customers. With the 2003 launch of its OptiLink family of services, the company now provides broadband, cable TV, telephone, and internet services to area residents and businesses. Dalton Utilities serves approximately 78,000 customers and employs over 300 area residents. For more information, visit www.dutil.com.

About NorthStar

Since 1976, NorthStar has provided utilities with cost-effective solutions for real-world challenges. Offering customer information & billing systems, customer engagement solutions, mobile workforce management and more, NorthStar proudly serves over 200 diverse utility providers and municipalities across North America and the Caribbean. As the original business unit of Harris Computer systems, a division of Constellation Software (CSI), NorthStar stands as a testament to enduring innovation and strategic excellence; with a team dedicated to providing solutions that empower communities. To learn more about NorthStar’s comprehensive suite of industry-specific solutions, please visit www.northstarutilities.com.

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