Dive Brief:

• Energy services provider Tendril this week rolled out a new mobile platform called Tendril MyHome, a "unified, personalized, mobile-first application" that Duke Energy and other utilities will be offering to their customers.
• The app will unify existing utility programs and mobile offerings in a single interface, Tendril said, with personalized content, push notifications and an artificial intelligence chat functionality designed to boost engagement.
• The system will leverage Tendril's "TrueHome Simulation Model" to analyze the customer and their home, collecting and processing 300 data elements including the home’s footprint, local weather conditions, and what motivates a customer to make changes to their energy use.

Dive Insight:

Tendril yesterday launched a new customer engagement platform designed to streamline demand response and efficiency offerings into a single platform, alongside chat functionality, alerts and other features the company hopes will entice customers to use the platform.

“A unified mobile application is an important tool in meeting the constantly evolving needs of our customers,” said Kevin Bright, managing director of customer efficiency programs at Duke. 

According to Tendril, by integrating with any utility engagement program, regardless of vendor, Tendril MyHome is the single application framework "from which energy providers can spur consumer engagement."

 “Energy providers recognize the value in delivering a unified, personalized mobile experience to their customers,” Tendril CEO Adrian Tuck said in a statement. “But until now they have been faced with the stark choice of building it themselves or outsourcing it to expensive, monolithic enterprise software vendors."

Tuck said the MyHome app leverages a utility's current investments and integrates existing systems into a singular experience. "We have dramatically reduced the risk, cost, and time-to-market for utilities wanting to offer class-leading mobile solutions to their customers.," he said.

Tendril also issued a white paper focused on how utility's can boost customer engagement.

The company said that a recent survey of more than 200 utility stakeholders found 45% indicated that
they offer a variety of customer service and information delivery channels—but only 7% have channels
that all maintain continuity across processes. 

"This inconsistency most commonly plays out with separate mobile applications for outage notification,
billing, and energy efficiency," the paper says. "Users expect to access these resources in one place. If the digital age has taught us anything, it is that customers crave simplicity."