As part of National Customer Service Week, Oct. 3-7, ComEd announced several important customer service improvements, including a reduction in the average duration of outages, an increase in the popularity of the utility's Online Convenience Center, and enhancements in ComEd's automated phone features.

This year ComEd has:

• Reduced the average outage duration for its customers by 10 percent compared to the same period last year (ComEd is restoring power in less than half the time it took in 1998).
• Increased the number of customers who use the ComEd Online Convenience Center by 120 percent by promoting the ease and convenience of completing simple transactions with the utility on the Internet.
• Improved ComEd's Interactive Voice Response system (IVR) to give customers quicker access to outage information, fewer menus, less prompting, and clearer questions. The IVR also allows Spanish-speaking customers the opportunity to use the automated phone features.

During National Customer Week, ComEd held a series of employee appreciation meetings to raise awareness about the importance of customer service, and reward staff for recent achievements in customer satisfaction. The utility has seen its customer satisfaction score -- determined by an independent organization -- improve over the last year.

To encourage exemplary customer service, the company established the Excellence in Customer Service Award, which is quarterly to employees who demonstrate a strong focus on customers. During National Customer Service Week, Joliet resident and ComEd Overhead Crew Manager Brian Sims was the latest recipient of this award. Sims and a crew member were recognized for going beyond their assigned duties to help an elderly customer locate and hire an electrician to repair her damaged electric meter.