ComEd to offer text alerts to customers
ComEd is seeking about 10,000 customers to sign up for its text messaging alert pilot program that launches Feb. 1.
You could sign up today at www.comed.com. Click on the Outage Alerts box on the lower right side, which takes you to a page that explains the program and gets your information.
The program is free, but you will be charged text messaging fees based on your service provider's plan, said Frank Scumacci, manager of customer containment center in Oak Brook.
"If your lights go out at home and you're at work or on vacation, you can get a text message on your PDA or mobile phone," Scumacci said.
The pilot program is expected to run about three months, or longer, depending on customer response. Customer feedback will help determine whether the program moves ahead or ends.
"Customers have told us that they want more online and proactive services," said Scumacci.
ComEd has been trying to update its service to meet the demands of a more tech-savvy customer base. That led to an online map of outages that launched on its Web site in December.
Of course, if you're in an outage, you'll know it and may not be unable to access the Internet, let alone ComEd's outage map.
But the map lets customers know how their friends and family are doing, or how the situation is in comparison to other areas.
Now, text messages will provide information about an outage and an estimated times for restoration directly to customers.
No more than seven alerts will be sent during a 24-hour period and only from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
If the program expands, that could change based on what customers request.
In the future, customers could get the capability to reply to the text message if a response is needed, he said.
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