GridFirst Appoints Former US Congressman Glenn English
as an Advisory Board member
Mr. Glenn English, a former US Congressman from Oklahoma and the former CEO of the
NRECA for 19 years, has agreed to join Grid First as part of its Board of Advisors.
GridFirst is proud to announce Mr. Glenn English appointment as part of its Board
of Advisors. Mr. English served 10 terms in the U.S. Congress representing Oklahoma's
6th district. He served on the House Agriculture Committee and as chairman of the
House Agriculture Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, and Rural Development beginning
in 1989. As chairman, Mr. English worked directly on legislation affecting rural
development programs, including rural electrification and telecommunications, and
pursued an aggressive agenda to revitalize the economy of America's rural communities.
Mr. English also was a senior member of the Government Operations Committee and
Chairman of the Subcommittee on Government Information, Justice, and Agriculture
from 1981 to 1989. During that period, the subcommittee monitored the Rural Electrification
Administration (REA) – now the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) – an agency of the
U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Upon his departure from Congress in 1994, Mr. English became the fourth CEO of the
National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA). NRECA is the national trade
association for the Nation's 900-plus locally owned, consumer-controlled, non-profit
electric cooperatives, which currently deliver electricity to 42 million Americans
in 47 states.
As CEO of NRECA, Mr. English chaired Consumers United for Rail Equity (CURE), a
national coalition representing captive shippers. He also served on Agricultural
Energy Work Group's "25 by 25″ Steering Committee, a group dedicated to increasing,
by 2025, renewable energy resources that use agriculture and forestry products.
On May 5, 2010, after serving as chief executive officer for NRECA for 16 years,
English was inducted into the Cooperative Hall of Fame at the National Press Club
in Washington, DC.
"We are very happy to have Mr. English on board and help take the products to the
next level. He will be working with the GridFirst board to launch the GridFirst
products into the Rural Electric Cooperative markets and also help strategize the
GridFirst business solution offerings. " said Kartik Kakarala,
CEO/Co-Founder of GridFirst."
GridFirst, LLC has a line of Smart Energy Management Systems products that benefit
utilities and their customers. The GridFirst product line includes Mobile Access
for Utilities (MAU), providing a mobile application allowing utility customer to
view their metered services through their mobile device and, Outage Notification
Management (ONM), a messaging functionality allowing utilities to reach their customers
directly through their mobile device. For more information and to participate in
the Gridfirst Webinar please register at http://www.gridfirst.com/webinar_registration.aspx
Media Contact :-
Bruce Bjerke
VP Business Development
http://www.gridfirst.com
972-815-1554
info@gridfirst.com
GridFirst Partners with Professional Computer Systems (PCS)
to Launch Smart Energy Management Solution
GridFirst, a subsidiary of Halcyon Consulting, is pleased to announce partnership
with Professional Computer Systems to launch Mobile Customer Access (MCA), which
will be showcased at the NRECA Tech Advantage utility Conference and Exposition
in New Orleans, LA, from February 18th to the 20th.
GridFirst Partners with Professional Computer Systems
(PCS) to launch Smart Energy Management Solution
"The utility customer now has secure access 24/7 to their customer information.
Customers now can view their energy information using their mobile device including
base account information, current and past due balances, make a payment, view past
statements and payments, and view consumption history in both grid and graph form." said Kartik Kakarala, CEO and Co-Founder of Halcyon."
Consumers are becoming increasingly savvy with technology. They use their mobile
devices for shopping and banking, why not manage their energy usage as well? GridFirst
offers Energy companies the opportunity to meet their customer's mobile needs and
help to reduce their operating costs. Cost reductions are a result of reduced labor
costs in sending out bills and reminders, chasing down delinquent payments and making
online payment available.
GridFirst has partnered with PCS to provide them with a customized private label
application. MCA is a "cloud" based application that is seamlessly integrated with
the utility customer information providing real-time access for the customer. There
is no need to generate an interface file or copy data to a third-party solution.
An example of this, is when a payment is made it is instantly posted to the account.
There is no extra work for the customer or for the utility staff.
GridFirst Mobile Solutions are customized to the Utility Company Name, Branding
and Marketing Schemes. Mobile applications are available for the Apple, Android,
Windows and Blackberry platforms.
One of the most important aspects of the Mobile Customer Access module is the ability
to communicate instantly to the customer. Our world- class Notification system is
a key feature of the module and is capable of:
♦ Notifications providing updates on power outages and restoration
♦ Payment and delinquency reminders
♦ Load control events
♦ Utility communications and notifications
♦ Emergency messages and more
♦ Enhance traditional marketing communications
The Customers mobile application communicates to their utilities database through
a secure web service. The application acts as a mobile interface allowing the customer
to access information, receive messages, allow payment entry and communication to
the utility. All information is protected from the moment data is received or transmitted
by using industrial- grade encryption and authentication.
The server- side solution is tablet or phone- agnostic. Like most phone applications,
setup is straightforward and simple and in most cases does not require technical
support.
To Schedule a Demo or request more information http://www.gridfirst.com/RequestDemo.aspx
Media Contact :-
Bruce Bjerke
VP Business Development
http://www.gridfirst.com
972-815-1554
info@gridfirst.com
GridFirst Launches Mobile Smart Energy Solution for Utility Companies at
TechAdvantage 2013
Halcyon Technologies, announces the launch of Smart Energy Management solution "GridFirst"
for utility companies. The product will be showcased at the NRECA TechAdvantage
utility Conference and Exposition in New Orleans, LA, from February 18th to the
20th.
GridFirst - A Revolutionary Smart Energy Management
System for the Utilities
Halcyon Technologies, announces the launch of Smart Energy Management solution "GridFirst"
for utility companies. The product will be showcased at the NRECA TechAdvantage
utility Conference and Exposition in New Orleans, LA, from February 18th to the
20th.
" Halcyon is proud to introduce GridFirst, a Smart Energy Management Solution which
will change the way the utility companies have been doing business with their customers.
Communication and Awareness are the key factors for retaining and getting new business,
and GridFirst provides a medium for utility companies to communicate effectively
with their customers and see a real ROI in marketing dollars spent. GridFirst with
the current and upcoming releases will revolutionize the utility industry by being
able to offer state of the art mobile solutions for effective Energy management,
" said Kartik Kakarala, CEO and Co-Founder of Halcyon."
In a release, the Company noted, with GridFirst, Energy companies can provide their
consumers the tools to monitor and manage their energy consumption from their mobile
device, or through online Web Portal. GridFirst offers the opportunity to review
usage, and payments, project your next energy bill based on past consumption.
Consumers are becoming increasingly savvy with technology. They use their mobile
devices for shopping and banking, why not manage their energy usage as well. GridFirst
offers Energy companies the opportunity to meet their customer's mobile needs and
help to reduce their operating costs. Cost reductions come from lower employee labor
sending out bills and reminders, chasing down delinquent payments and making online
payment available.
" The last few years have reshaped the Utility retail space. This new competitive
landscape truly requires a different, more analytic approach to effective Usage
and Bill management solutions. With Halcyon's GridFirst solution, today's utility
companies are in a far better position to make the right decisions in regards to
Demand – Response and Outage Management, by being able to communicate with their
customers directly. Plus we'll be embedding the real-time Alert features making
it that much more powerful, " " says Kartik."
GridFirst Mobile Solutions are customized to the Utility Company Name, Branding
and Marketing Schemes. Mobile applications are launched in Apple, Android, Windows,
Blackberry platforms.
A key feature of the GridFirst application is the notification and messaging capability.
Leveraging state of the art technology, GridFirst provides Energy companies the
opportunity to reach their customers directly via their mobile device. GridFirst
is a true response to the need for real-time communication with utility company
customers; the goal is to give Utility companies a powerful, integrated suite of
tools that will eliminate redundant, time-consuming tasks while helping to save
money spent in communication with customers through mail. We are excited to announce
GridFirst mobile platform, giving utility customers the information they need, when
they need it.
Our application is currently focused on Utilities, but we are working hard to extend
the functionality to cover more than just electric usage.We are looking at opportunities
to expand into other areas of Energy, including management of smart devices.
To Schedule a Demo or request more information http://www.gridfirst.com/RequestDemo.aspx
Media Contact :-
Bruce Bjerke
VP Business Development
http://www.gridfirst.com
972-815-1554
info@gridfirst.com