Company: Kansas City Board of Public Utilities
Nomination Submitted by: DSC Communications LLC
Company Description: KCBPU is a municipal utility that has provided electric and water service to residents of Wyandotte County, KS for more than 100 years. It serves a diverse community that deals with some of the highest levels of unemployment and poverty in the state. Unlike investor-owned utilities, BPU is community-owned and all of its 650 employees live in the community where they live, work, and play.
Nomination Category: Web Achievement Categories - Industry
Nomination Sub Category: Utilities
 Nomination Title: emPowering Customer Service, Access, and Efficiency thru Website Refresh
- If you are providing a written essay of up to 525 words about your nominated web achievement(s), provide it in this space:
Total 497 words used.
The Kansas City Board of Public Utilities is a non-profit municipal utility, providing electric and water services to 65,000 residents in urban/suburban Wyandotte County, KS for more than 100 years. The most diverse county in the state, 32% of the population is Hispanic and 22% African American – with 21% of persons living below the poverty level. This underserved community was hit hard by COVID and subsequent fall-out, requiring closure of the utility’s Customer Service Lobby among other things – and increasing reliance on digital (e.g. website) and other platforms to assist customers in managing their day-to-day accounts, paying bills, asking questions, etc.
BPU refreshed its website to ensure the best possible user experience to customers, helping them with key programs and services, monitor their utility usage, and access other important utility-related and account information. A website heat map behavior analytic tool was used to understand how visitors interacted with the website pages. Based on this data, the site was refreshed with technical improvements and creative enhancements to help increase the visibility of important content and overall user engagement. This includes extensive design and functionality improvements to make it easier for customers to find the information they need and complete tasks online.
Major website enhancements included:
- Mega menu improvements with new buttons and callouts added for highly trafficked content.
- Multiple pages were added to highlight BPU’s board meetings. Video recordings were uploaded along with meeting minutes and a form for customers to sign up to speak at a board meeting. Improved user experience for customers to contact board members was also included.
- The site content was enhanced with 10 plus new videos developed to reflect the way today’s customers prefer to consume information.
- Not only were some of the web pages rewritten to enhance the content and partially redesigned with iconography but 20 plus new pages were added to make the BPU website a content hub for its customers.
- With a large Hispanic population, BPU made it a priority to make website content available in both English and Spanish.
The results speak for themselves! Since the website’s enhancements were made, there have been dramatic increases in website visibility, viewership, and user engagement with the content:
- More than 3 million page views since in last two years.
- User sessions have increased by 21.61%.
- New visitors to the site increased by 42.62%.
- BPU had over 1.7 million clicks to: videos, banners, sliders, PDFs, account login, outage map, phone calls, and forms. More than half of the total traffic engaged with an element on the site.
The refreshed website is a testament to BPU’s commitment to providing the best possible customer experience and ensuring customers have the information they need to make informed decisions about their energy and water usage – assisting ratepayers while promoting water conversation and energy efficiency.
The website has received rave reviews, and previously been recognized nationally for its usability and functionality. Experience the updated website at http://www.bpu.com.
- Which will you submit for this nomination, an essay of up to 525 words describing the nominated achievement(s), OR a video of up to five (5) minutes in length describing the same? CHOOSE ONE:
Written essay of up to 525 words
- If you are submitting a video of up to five (5) minutes in length, provide the URL of the nominated video here, OR attach it to your entry via the "Add Attachments, Videos, or Links to This Entry" link above, through which you may also upload a copy of your video:
- Optionally, list the appropriate creative and production credits for the nominated achievement(s) you are nominating, such as the following: Advertising Agency/City: Client: Art Director: Cinematographer: Creative Director: Designer: Director: Illustrator/City: Music Producer/City: Photographer/City: Printer/City: Producer: Production Company/City: Programmer: Writer: Web Development Firm/City:
Chief Communications Officer David Mehlhaff oversees the development, redesign, and day-to-day management of BPU's website. He coordinates with staff and enlists the input of internal and external subject matter experts (SMEs) to create content that is timely and informative.The site’s refresh was managed by The Frank Agency in Overland Park, KS.
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