Last year, Midwest Energy Cooperative hooked up its electric ops field staff with mobile technology that allows them to access a program called iVue®. After a training and support period, the co-op collected input from them on how the technology could be more efficient and effective in their daily work, and then submitted requests for changes to the program provider – the National Information Solutions Cooperative (NISC).
The program’s long-awaited new release, called iVUE Appsuite, is now available. This means member account numbers and meter and contact information will all be on the tablets available for tasks assigned to field staff. “There are a few other items that are being worked on, but this is a BIG step in the right direction!” says Patty Nowlin, Midwest marketing & communications director.
NISC is an information technology (IT) company that develops and supports software and hardware solutions for utility co-ops and telecommunications companies nationwide. Besides iVue, their programs include SmartHub®, a member information program now used by several Michigan co-ops (Cherryland, Cloverland, HomeWorks, Midwest, Ontonagon) that allows members to pay their electric bills and view energy use history online and report outages through mobile devices.
