Time flies when you’re having fun – 2025 is halfway complete, and it seems like we just began.
I had the pleasure of moderating one of the recent Town Halls hosted by the team at ACTS, with the topic being “Defining the 811 Centers’ Role in Damage Prevention, just a Call Center or More?” The panel included Jim Collins from Duke, Craig Hardin from Congruex, Annette Bowman from Alabama 811 and Tim Vaughn from Kentucky 811. We asked questions like, “Is 811 designed to just take calls and notify utility members or does the industry need it to be an advocate for reducing damages?” The panel, including excavator and utility representatives, agreed that 811 plays a very important role in damage prevention beyond just taking calls. Our public outreach and education are important and encourage the use of 811 by not only professional excavators, but also weekend diggers and homeowners. While other stakeholders help promote this messaging, they have other responsibilities that take up their time, but it’s a key part of the mission of 811 and we have the luxury of devoting significant time to the effort.
As you know, legislation plays an important part in damage prevention. The panel was asked what role 811 plays in passing and enforcing legislative efforts. Tennessee 811 has always been an active participant in the legislative process when it comes to damage prevention. Through our Damage Prevention Committee, legislative suggestions and changes are created and vetted with all stakeholder input. The panel agreed that 811 should be involved in the legislative process and can act as a neutral body and collaborate with all utilities and excavators. When asked if stakeholders trust 811 to act in this capacity, all agreed that 811 is trusted to lead legislative efforts while coordinating communication and reducing conflicts.
Beyond legislation and public education, 811’s technology offerings are another important resource that not everyone recognizes. Our GIS department spends countless hours updating our base maps for each county so the location of a caller’s dig site can be pinpointed to deliver correct information to our member utilities. Technology changes day by day, and Tennessee 811 has recently deployed an AI model that quality checks remotely entered notifications to ensure that our customers receive a quality ticket that provides accurate info while conforming with ticket-entry policies.
None of these offerings to the industry would be possible without the hard-working and dedicated employees at Tennessee 811. I thank them all for the passion they have in following our purpose: Customer Experience.
Thank you for your continued support and efforts to make Tennessee a safer place.