Customer Service Representative III - Owensboro, United States - Owensboro Municipal Utilities

Description

All applicants of this position will be required to complete an online Civil Service exam after the application deadline. Applicants will receive the exam invitation via the email address used on their application.

Job Code: 087

Exempt: No

Civil Service: Yes

Random Drug Screen: No

Residency Requirement: No

Department: Customer Service and Shared Services

Reports To: Customer Service and Billing Supervisor

Location: Main Office

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF POSITION

The intent of this description is to provide a representative summary of the major duties and responsibilities performed by employees on this job. Employees may be required or assigned other related activities, projects, or tasks other than those specifically presented in this description. The requirements are representative of the knowledge, skill and/or ability needed. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Under the moderate supervision of the Customer Service Supervisor and the Billing Supervisor, performs a variety of routine clerical and customer service tasks including typing, filing and recordkeeping. May require extensive customer contact and problem solving. Requires judgment in applying well-established procedures and methods, such as completing detailed forms and recording complex data.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Prepares, types/enters and files reports reflecting daily billing activity.
2. Create and scan reading and billing exception lists, monitoring for technician notes, hi/lows, equipment issues, and billing errors. Creates service orders based on OMU parameters and user's own judgment to ensure billing accuracy.
3. Makes and receives telephone calls to customers regarding payments, deposits, billing concerns, outages and service interruptions. Offers payment or adjustment solutions adhering to OMU guidelines and standards. Provides general information.
4. Schedules and assigns routes to meter readers based on billing parameters. Loads and unloads meter reading handhelds with their daily routes and ensures proper maintenance of handhelds.
5. Transfers account balances from inactive to active status as needed.
6. Processes phone and mail-delivered bill payments.
7. Bills sanitation and sewer miscellaneous charges from respective entities as well as process credits and calculates adjustments.
8. Talks with customers by phone, in person, or email and receives requests for installation, turn-on, disconnection or change in service(s).
9. Completes complex bill corrections utilizing OMU parameters as well as their own discretion in situations related to equipment failure, human error, as well as theft of services.
10. Processes service orders completed by field technicians relating to account changes as well as billing such as account transfers, security light billing, installation or removal of electric and water meter services, installation or removal of fiber or phone services, special reads, and trouble orders.
11. Processes account maintenance on equipment change-outs/replacements, rate changes, tax changes, and taps on fire hydrants.
12. Balances accounts daily.
13. Types general internal correspondence, reports and forms as well as external customer communication.
14. Duplicates any necessary forms and documents using computer or photocopier.
15. Completes collection activities including compiling accounts to be courtesy called, disconnected for nonpayment and accounts to be closed.
16. Generates and proofs combined billing statements and disconnect notices for errors before mailing.
17. Ensures distribution of service order tasks are properly assigned to the respective groups.
18. Submits, reviews and transfers automatic checking/credit card accounts and verifies with bank.
19. Processes documents through imaging equipment, and indexes accordingly.
20. Process accounts that need to be written-off due to failure to pay, interacts with third party collection agency, and updates accounts when payments are received. Also handles write-offs that occur due to bankruptcies and complete court documents related to the filing.
21. Properly set up, assign and maintain tax status to services on accounts. Audit these tax assignments yearly.
22. Assist customers with fiber internet services from assessing availability, scheduling installation following up with potential fiber customers and troubleshooting connection issues.
23. Generate refund checks for deposits, overpayments and credits. Also performs any follow up required on refund check related to customer inquiries, reissues, or returned checks.
24. Works directly with area builders and landlords to complete requests associated with new installations, service transfers, and other account requests in a timely and accurate manner.
25. Perform any other related duties as required or assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty mentioned satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required.

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE

Mental alertness and adaptability to office and field area work routines. Equivalent to four years high school or GED, with particular emphasis during high school in office skills, shop skills, or others, plus 12 to 18 months related experience and/or training, or equivalent combination of education and experience.

COMMUNICATION SKILLS

Ability to effectively communicate information and respond to questions in person-to-person and small group situations with customers, clients, general public and other employees of the organization.

MATHEMATICAL SKILLS

Ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals. Ability to compute rate, ratio, and percent and to prepare and interpret bar graphs.

CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS

Ability to utilize common sense understanding in order to carry out written, oral or diagrammed instructions. Ability to deal with problems involving several known variables in situations of a routine nature.

REQUIRED CERTIFICATES, LICENSES, REGISTRATIONS

Valid Driver's License

PREFERRED CERTIFICATES, LICENSES, REGISTRATIONS

Not indicated.

SOFTWARE SKILLS REQUIRED

Basic: Accounting, Spreadsheet, Word Processing/Typing

INITIATIVE AND INGENUITY

SUPERVISION RECEIVED

Under immediate supervision, performs general assignments of work, with periodic check of performance by supervisor.

PLANNING

Limited responsibility with regard to specific assignments in planning time, method, manner, and/or sequence of performance of own work operations.

DECISION MAKING

Performs work operations which permit infrequent opportunity for decision-making of minor importance and which would only affect the operating efficiency of the individual involved to a slight degree.

MENTAL DEMAND

Light mental demand. Operations requiring intermittent directed thinking to carry out predetermined procedure or sequence of operations of limited variability. Operations requiring intermittent attention to control machine or manual motions.

ANALYTICAL ABILITY / PROBLEM SOLVING

Repetitive. Activities or duties using a pre-determined set of processes or directions coupled with nearby supervision. Learned things in situations where choice is simple or patterned.

RESPONSIBILITY FOR WORK OF OTHERS

Responsibility for work of others: Not indicated.

RESPONSIBILITY FOR FUNDS, PROPERTY and EQUIPMENT

Occasionally responsible for the organization's and/or associated organization's property where carelessness or error would result in only minor damage or minor monetary loss. Ordinary care and attention is required when handling this property in order to prevent loss.

ACCURACY

Probable errors of internal scope should ordinarily be detected within the department or office in which they occur, but may affect the work of others within the unit, requiring additional expenditure of time to trace errors and make all necessary corrections. Errors would require a moderate amount of time to correct.

ACCOUNTABILITY

FREEDOM TO ACT

Defined. Semi-repetitive prescribed processes and procedures with nearby supervision.

ANNUAL MONETARY IMPACT

The amount of annual dollars generated based on the job's essential duties / responsibilities. Examples would include direct dollar generation, departmental budget, proper handling of organization funds, expense control, and savings from new techniques or reduction in manpower.

None. Job does not create any dollar monetary impact for the organization.

IMPACT ON END RESULTS

Modest impact. Job has some impact on the organizations end results, but still from an indirect level. Provides assistance and support services that facilitates decision making by others.

PUBLIC CONTACT

Regular contacts with patrons, either within the office or in the field. May also involve occasional self-initiated contacts to patrons. Lack of tact and judgment may result in a limited type of problem for the organization.

EMPLOYEE CONTACT

Contacts occasionally with others beyond immediate associates, but generally of a routine nature. May obtain, present or discuss data, but only as pertains to an immediate and specific assignment. No responsibility for obtaining cooperation or approval of action or decision.

USE OF MACHINES, EQUIPMENT AND/OR COMPUTERS

Regular use of complex machines and equipment (desktop/laptop computer and software, road and production machines and equipment, driver's license/cdl, etc.)

WORKING CONDITIONS

Normal working conditions as found within an office setting, wherein there is controlled temperature and a low noise level, plus a minimum of distractions.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS

The following work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the functions of this job, the employee is occasionally exposed to work near moving mechanical parts. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.

PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES

The following physical activities described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions and expectations.

Semi-repetitive, low physical. Semi-repetitive type work which requires periods of concentration for varied time cycles as prescribed by the tasks.

While performing the functions of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit, talk or hear; frequently required to use hands to finger, handle, or feel, reach with hands and arms; and occasionally required to stand, walk, stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 10 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision; distance vision; color vision; and ability to adjust focus.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Knowledge and Abilities

High school diploma or GED equivalent required. Ability to operate basic office equipment such as typewriter, calculator, personal computer, phone system and photocopier. Knowledge of general office procedures and with recordkeeping procedures, customer service courtesy and related standard office operating procedures.

Experience

Two years clerical and customer service experience required including customer interactions, typing, filing, recordkeeping and data entry functions.