Observed Signal · Feb 19, 2025 · Case Study · Source: CMSWire · Impact: 2/5 · Sentiment: Positive
Clearwater Utility CS Manager on Hurricane Crisis Tech and AI Plans
Amy Sessions, Utility Customer Service Division Manager for the City of Clearwater, discusses how her team manages 117,000 residents and 14 million visitors under crisis conditions like back-to-back hurricanes. By implementing Genesys callback features and automatic call routing, they improved their 60-second answer rate to 86.75% and cut average wait time to 33 seconds. Sessions highlights the importance of agent experience, plans to introduce AI-driven agent assist and a chatbot, and advocates for cloud migration to enable hybrid work and business continuity. The interview underscores the role of technology in enhancing municipal customer service.
Relevant to customer service technology and AI adoption, but not industry-shifting.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- Clearwater utility CS team serves 117,000 residents and 14 million visitors.
- Implemented Genesys callback and routing, raising 60-second answer rate to 86.75% and avg answer time to 33 seconds.
- Plans to add AI agent assist and a chatbot for common queries.
- Advocates for cloud-based systems to enable remote work and faster recovery after hurricanes.
- 70% of interactions are via phone; moving toward digital self-service.
Connected Companies & Entities
1 Entity mapped“Then we brought in the new system with Genesys, and I think last year our total calls answered within 60 seconds was 86.75%....”
Ontology Mapping & Concepts
Related Market Signals & Shifts
Recent verified developments and strategic activity across this market segment.
Meta, Walmart, Sierra launch personal agent protocol
Meta and Sierra, led by chairman Bret Taylor, have announced the Personal Agent Protocol (PAP) for AI-agent interactions with businesses, with initial partners including Walmart, Shopify, Stripe, Genesys, Rocket, and Instinct. PAP defines three access levels (guest, read-only, and write access) built on OAuth and places businesses in charge of vouching for consumer AI agents, differentiating it from rival designs by Visa, Mastercard, and AI platforms. The protocol aims to control customer data and liability in agentic commerce, with future implications for agentic payments. However, PAP is still in early stages: no specification, license, or governing body exists, and payments are not yet supported. Version 0.1 is expected this month, with payments and fine-grained permissions planned later. Notably, Amazon, Google, and OpenAI are absent, reflecting Meta's competitive positioning, especially after Amazon blocked Meta's Muse agent. The protocol competes with OpenAI's Agentic Commerce Protocol and Google's Universal Commerce Protocol.
Bidgely launches agentic AI CX suite for energy providers
Bidgely, a provider of AI-powered energy intelligence, has launched Agentic CX, which it claims is the energy industry's first agentic AI customer experience suite. The suite uses five specialized UtilityAI agents trained on over a decade of behind-the-meter data to provide appliance-level insights to utilities. It integrates with existing CCaaS and enterprise AI platforms, offering chat, IVR, and CSR co-pilot channels. The agents address high-bill calls, home energy audits, solar and EV impacts, and rate plan optimization. Bidgely reports significant client results, including a 50% reduction in high-bill calls and a 15% reduction in CSR churn. The launch aims to help utilities manage rising operational pressures and regulatory mandates.
Amazon Blocks Meta's Muse AI Agent from Shopping
Meta's AI shopping agent Muse, which launched on iPhone and Android in September and as a dedicated iPad app on October 7, has surpassed 6.6 million installs and topped Apple's App Store with over 900,000 downloads, boosting Meta's stock over 20%. However, Muse faces increasing barriers as sites like Amazon block or restrict AI agents due to policy violations, security concerns, and unauthorized access, threatening ad revenue and Meta's monetization through transaction fees. To address these challenges, Meta, Walmart, Stripe, Sierra, and others are developing an open standard for agent-to-business communication, while Cloudflare's crawler changes and airline restrictions also affect AI agents. Despite these obstacles, Meta has partnered with major retailers including Walmart, Best Buy, Gap, Sephora, Wayfair, Expedia, Instacart, Ticketmaster, and more, and recently expanded connectors to small business tools. Regulatory and legal challenges, including a $17 billion settlement over child safety, persist.
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