Page 3 - Tennessee 811 Magazine 2017 Issue 3

from the desk of
William “Bill” Iurner
rs summertime in Tennessee. summer equates to kids being
out of sehool, holielay eelebratioiis, warmer weather and family
vaeations. The older l get, the more I luok forward to spending
time with family and ii-iends. As my kids get older and are
beginning to establish themselves in their lives, I realize that times
will eontinue to change.

CHANGE is a daily reality at Tennesseetm There are so many

iaeets to our business that ohange is inevitable Notiiieation

volume, as you have read, is eonsistently rhanging we have
experieneed rerorel volumes and there appears to be no reliei in
sight. The Tiber proieets have expanded statewiele, with all the
providers working to rearh the home bziom the next guy The
good eronomy has contributed to the growth with more buileling
activity and expansion proieets.

CHANCE in how people elo business More and more of our
eallers are ronverting to our remote entry applieations. Yes, we still man our call eenter 24/7 but
more people are seeing the value in remotely entering their laration requests utilizing our Mublle
app anel web Portal. otir usage has inereaseel 107:, over the last several months. The produets
are easy to use and eustomers have found them to be heneiieial to their operations. For more
lniozmatlon on remote tieket entry contacl Indy Deidiker at ]d('ldlI<('l'(rU[etil1essccB1l.(LIm.

CHANGE in laws. several laws went into effnct on July 1st of 2017. one notable law change was
the lmprovement Aet that provieled more iuneling for road proieets in Tennessee. The intention
is to better our roads anel make them saier for travel This will result in more cxtavallnn activity
anel will likely eontribute to an inerease in notification volume to our member utilities. The
Broadband Aeeessibiliry Aet was also passeel and went into effect Iuly lst. This enables eleetrie
eoops to proviele hroaelband serviee to eustomers outside of their eleetrie iootprint The goal is to
provide any anel all einzens of Tennessee with intemet aeress. You have read about Tcnnes~v:n:811

‘ legislative rhanges that were made in 2015, anrl I am happy to report that the Enioreement Board
is eloing very well and making great progress in proeessing alleged violations of the underground
utility Damage Prevention Aet (UUDPA). in this issue, you ran see how many violations have
been reported, investigated anel presented to the Exncullve committee of the Enioreement Board

1 ln aeldition, Tennesseesll has begun periormlng violator training and the response has been
outstaneling. The representatives who have undergone training have found the lniormatlon to be

‘ iniormative and helpiul in keeping their employees sate.
we hope you find this magazine to be heneiieial and eneourage you to eireulate it throughout your
organizations we thank you for your eontinued support anel eledieation to damage prevention
Hope you and your family have a great summer.

Missinn statement

1 To Pm!/ld: the

1 Best ctminiiivieatilm, Ediieat/on and Notifimtiuri Scrvlrc

‘ fu raeir/me Darriiiye pvemmav to uvdergmiiitd lltilities.

,* william ”Bill” Turner

Prevldent
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2017, issue: Termesseesll .1