American Water Customer Service Center Named ‘Best in Class’ in 2012 Call Center Excellence Awards

VOORHEES, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--American Water (NYSE: AWK), the nation’s largest publicly traded water and wastewater utility company, today announced that its Customer Service Center (CSC) was awarded the 2012 Call Center Excellence Award for Best in Class Call Center, in the category of over 200 staff. American Water’s CSC, which has dual locations in Alton, Ill. and Pensacola, Fla., recently received this global recognition from the International Quality and Productivity Center (IQPC).

This Best in Class award recognizes companies that provide outstanding customer service while controlling costs and managing complex operations. The award also honors call centers that set a vision of excellence and work collaboratively within their organizations to achieve their goals.

“American Water places a high value on providing exceptional customer service,” said Walter Lynch, President and Chief Operating Officer of American Water's Regulated Operations. “We are honored the investments we have made in our people and our systems to assure outstanding customer service have received independent recognition. This award is not only a testament to the dedication of our company, but to our employees who take great pride in what they do for the nearly 15 million people we serve across the country."

In 2011, American Water worked collaboratively with Information Technology Services, as well as other departments and functions, to implement near real time integration of customer payment information with pending service orders to improve overall customer experience and operational efficiency. This process improvement, as well as other customer service enhancements, provided strong value for the organization.

American Water’s CSC operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, every day of the year. The Alton location opened in April 2001, and the Pensacola location opened in February 2005. Each CSC location handles customer calls from all American Water service areas.

The IQPC’s Call Center Excellence Awards recognize the most innovative call center solutions and individuals over the past year. With awards given in eight categories, the winners are selected by a panel of call center experts who look for superior thinking, creativity, and execution across all call center functions.

Founded in 1886, American Water is the largest publicly traded U.S. water and wastewater utility company. With headquarters in Voorhees, N.J., the company employs approximately 7,000 dedicated professionals who provide drinking water, wastewater and other related services to an estimated 15 million people in more than 30 states and parts of Canada. More information can be found at www.amwater.com.

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