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For utilities, customer communications have become just as critical as the services they provide.
Customers expect timely updates during outages, safety events, and planned service work. They want information delivered through channels they use every day, and they expect utilities to communicate quickly, clearly, and consistently when something impacts their service.
For City Utilities of Springfield, a community-owned utility serving more than 115,000 electric, water, and natural gas customers, meeting those expectations required a new approach.
By partnering with Convey, City Utilities transformed its communications strategy from a largely reactive model into a proactive engagement program built around SMS and voice messaging.
Before implementing Convey, City Utilities of Springfield relied on a combination of email, social media, IVR robocalls, and door hangers to communicate with customers.
While these channels played an important role, they created several challenges:
These gaps became especially apparent during outages and emergency situations, when customers needed information immediately.
As a multi-service utility, a single event could affect thousands of customers across electric, water, and natural gas services. City Utilities needed a communications strategy that could scale quickly while remaining targeted and relevant.
The utility evaluated customer communication channels based on one simple question: Which channel reaches customers fastest?
The answer was clear.
SMS consistently delivers industry-leading engagement rates and enables utilities to reach customers within minutes. Unlike social media or email, text messages do not require customers to actively check an application or website.
For City Utilities of Springfield, texting also provided a more equitable communication channel.
The utility serves a community where broadband access varies, and many customers rely primarily on their smartphones for digital communications. SMS offered a direct way to reach customers regardless of internet connectivity or social media usage.
City Utilities of Springfield selected Convey to provide a unified platform for SMS and voice communications.
Using Convey, the utility gained the ability to:
The result was a single communications workflow that could support both emergency and operational use cases.
Rather than only communicating after an outage occurred, City Utilities began using messaging throughout the customer journey.
This included planned maintenance notices, restoration updates, safety communications, conservation requests, and other proactive outreach designed to keep customers informed before confusion started.
The value of the program became especially clear during a major windstorm that caused widespread outages across Springfield.
Within minutes of the event, City Utilities of Springfield delivered community-wide text notifications to customers. As restoration efforts progressed, the utility used feeder-boundary segmentation to provide localized updates and restoration estimates.
Instead of relying solely on press releases or social media updates, customers received timely information directly on their devices.
This approach helped reduce uncertainty during the outage while improving transparency and customer confidence.
Since implementing Convey, City Utilities of Springfield has achieved measurable improvements across both operational performance and customer experience.
Key outcomes include:
Perhaps most importantly, the utility has established a foundation for long-term customer engagement that extends well beyond outage communications.
Many utilities initially adopt SMS for outage notifications and emergency communications.
However, City Utilities of Springfield demonstrates that the greatest value often comes from expanding communications into everyday customer interactions.
Proactive outreach helps utilities:
When customers become accustomed to receiving useful information from their utility, they are more likely to trust and engage with future communications.
For City Utilities of Springfield, that shift has helped transform customer communications from a reactive necessity into a strategic advantage.
Open a shareable PDF version of the case study, ready to download and circulate across your teams.
SMS offers one of the highest engagement rates of any customer communication channel. Messages are delivered quickly, read almost immediately, and reach customers directly on devices they use every day.
Utilities may be able to send certain emergency and operational communications under TCPA exemptions. Utilities should work closely with legal and compliance teams to determine the requirements that apply to their specific communications programs.
Utilities can segment customers by service territory, feeder boundaries, or outage areas. This allows organizations to send relevant updates only to customers affected by a specific event rather than sending broad notifications to the entire customer base.
Not every customer prefers or can receive text messages. A combined SMS and voice strategy helps ensure utilities can reach smartphone users, landline customers, and customers with varying communication preferences through a single workflow.
Common use cases include outage alerts, restoration updates, planned outages, boil water advisories, gas safety notifications, conservation requests, payment reminders, appointment notifications, and program enrollment campaigns.
Trust is built through consistency, transparency, and relevance. Providing timely updates, setting clear expectations, and communicating proactively before customers need to ask questions helps strengthen customer confidence and improve overall satisfaction.
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