What To Expect From JCPB's Social Media Websites

The Johnson City Power Board is committed to offering its customers the best customer service possible. In today's highly technological society, excellent customer service is often equated to instant, on-demand information. Recognizing this trend, JCPB began utilizing social media websites in November of 2009. As luck would have it, just a couple of hours after the launch of our Twitter and Facebook pages, a violent wind storm blew through Washington County causing a wide-spread power outage. Taking advantage of this new means to keep our customers apprised of the situation, we jumped in head first posting bits of information and responding to new friends and followers as they reached out in the dark searching for information.

Since that first day, JCPB's social media websites' audiences have grown significantly. We appreciate having an open avenue to communicate messages of importance to our utility and community while we respect our followers' wish to not be berated by an endless onslaught of pointless postings. In an attempt to help our friends and followers have appropriate expectations of our staff's engagement, we have refined our social media policy to define when JCPB staff will monitor and respond to messages and requests on JCPB's Twitter and Facebook pages.

• JCPB staff will monitor and respond to questions and comments via Twitter and FaceBook during JCPB call center's normal hours of operation: 8:00 AM-5:00 PM Monday-Friday.
• JCPB staff will increase its frequency of posting and responding on Twitter and FaceBook during outage events as time and resources allow.
• Power outages should always be reported via phone at (423) 282-JCPB (5272).

JCPB hopes to maximize the potential of its social media websites for the convenience and peace of mind of our customers. However, these additional resources are in no way meant to replace our traditional means of reporting outages via telephone. Please be patient during such times as they often present significant strain on our staff and resources. Thank you for your comments and participation.