Call Center Electrical System Needs Help to “Weather the Storm.”

A large nationwide retailer operates a network of call centers as the point of contact for thousands of incoming customer service calls. The service associates at these call centers are networked through the company’s computer system, giving them the ability to quickly handle most customer concerns.

One call center, in Alabama, includes 800 workstation personal computers and accesses 20,000 customer accounts per day. This facility experiences tumultuous thunderstorms that have caused frequent voltage sags plus occasional outages. The continuous voltage sags resulted in numerous computer and telephone system problems and costly downtime.

A dedicated UPS provided protection to the computer server and to the telephone switch. But the individual workstation computers, air conditioning and lighting had no such protection.

Costly Boot-ups Must Get the Boot

The call center manager estimated that each short-term power quality problem costs upwards of $8,000. She pointed out that “a computer reset can take 15 to 30 minutes . . . time that we are not servicing our customers. Hundreds of service associates can do little except wait for their computers to reboot.” The intangible cost of customer inconvenience, dissatisfaction, and possible loss of business associated with these power quality problems called for an immediate answer.

An S&C PureWave UPS™ System provided that answer, but not before a variety of alternative solutions were evaluated.

S&C’s PureWave UPS System

The local electric utility had recently formed an energy solutions division to deal with power quality problems. They suggested several possible ways to resolve the call center’s problems. One involved installing a small UPS at each workstation PC. But that idea was quickly rejected due to the cost and complexity of installing the large number of units needed. A large conventional UPS system was also considered for protecting the PCs. That solution was also rejected because of the cost associated with expanding the computer room. The third possibility considered was an S&C PureWave UPS System, which would be installed outdoors and protect the facility’s entire load.

Technical and Financial Considerations

After considering the costs and benefits of each solution, the call center chose the S&C PureWave UPS System. A 250-kW unit was subsequently installed at the incoming service point. The PureWave UPS System not only offered the lowest initial cost and best performance, but its ability to be installed outdoors saved valuable floor space in the computer room. The PureWave UPS System provided the additional benefit of redundant UPS protection for the servers and the phone system and has been integrated with the existing backup generator serving the facility to provide 100% protection from extended power outages.

Results:

Sags and Outages Eliminated, Calls Answered, 100% Satisfaction
Within the first five months of its installation, the PureWave UPS System protected the call center from over 50 power disturbance events and the total installed cost of the system was paid back. On one particularly stormy day, the system saved over $30,000 in computer downtime and related losses. The PureWave UPS System reacts quickly to power disturbances. It normally transfers from the utility source to battery power in 2 to 4 milliseconds . . . fast enough to prevent costly computer shutdowns. The PureWave UPS System provides enough energy for 60 seconds of backup power at full load.

S&C Electric Company offers the broadest range of power quality solutions in the industry, including the PureWave UPS™ System, PureWave DSTATCOM® Distributed Static Compensator, and PureWave AVC® Adaptive VAR Compensator.