App Makes Reporting Power Outages In Bentonville Easier

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

BENTONVILLE -- City residents can now report power outages through a mobile phone application.

The application is available through the Apple app store and Google Play. People can find the free app by searching "Bentonville Outage."

At A Glance

About The Application

City residents will receive a flier about the new application where they can report power outages with their next utility bill. The app was released in Google Play about a week ago and in the Apple app store on June 11.

Source: Staff Report

It is now the quickest and easiest way to report a power outage, said Travis Matlock, engineering director of the Electric Department.

Users can register their addresses by either using the phone number that is connected to their utility bill or by using the last six digits of their account number. The application will save those settings. To report an outage, all users have to do is open the app, hit "report outage" then confirm the submission, Matlock explained.

"There's no waiting, no customer service rep, no busy signal, no nothing," he said, comparing it to the situations people could experience when trying to call in an outage.

Phone lines still will be available to report outages.

The application also allows users to save multiple addresses, which is great for those who may have a house and business on different meters or landlords who own multiple properties, Matlock said.

Electric Department officials also will be able to send residents push notifications to confirm an outage and also notify them when power has been restored, he said.

Residents are encouraged to still notify the department about an outage even if they already have received a notification through the app about it.

"The more people we have reporting the outage, the more chance we have of narrowing what is causing (it)," Matlock said.

The application also allows those reporting an outage to include additional information, such as hearing a boom or seeing a spark. That information could assist officials with finding and repairing the problem quickly, he added.

The app was developed so that notifications could be sent to specific areas of the city so the whole city isn't notified about outages that affect a small area, said Jonathan Rogers, information technology manager.

The app was developed by dataVoice International, the same company that developed the software for the city's outage management system, which allows notifications to be so specific, he added.

Mass Enthusiasm, the same company that redesigned the city's website, is working on an application that will focus on the Parks and Recreation Department.

Its main function will be to put city maps, parks and trail locations in a mobile format, said Layne Moore, parks and recreation specialist.

There also will be a calendar of events. The Parks Department also will be able to send out push notifications, Moore said.

Mass Enthusiasm is still in the coding process of that application so there isn't a time frame on when it will be released to the public, Rogers said.

City officials haven't seen the first beta code yet, he said.

NW News on 06/17/2014