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from the desk of
Brent Saltzman
I mentioned to our Board of Directors at our last board meeting that we don’t celebrate our successes enough. No, it’s not boasting about Louisiana 811 but merely pointing out that we have a lot to be proud of with our organization.
We attend several regional meetings and national conferences throughout the year to gather information from our peers on how we can enhance our program to make it better for all our stakeholders. We also share our successes at these meetings/conferences and the exchange of information is priceless.
I thought I would use this column to share some of the successes we’ve achieved thus far in 2023. Listed in no particular order, they are as follows:
• LA811’s price per ticket for our members remains one of the
lowest nationwide. We have a lean organization that manages our investments wisely while providing all the services that are expected of us. We continually monitor our expenses closely and look for innovative ways to be efficient with our dollars.
• We have outstanding software for excavators to use that is superior to software used by many other centers thanks to our long-term partners at One Call Concepts. I have personally heard from excavators who work in multiple states and from other facility notification centers (811 centers) that our software is precise, easy to use and has many features not offered elsewhere.
• Related to the above mentioned point, we have the highest online ticket entry percentage than any other southeast state (89.88%). Statistics indicate that the higher the online ticket percentage, the lower the damage rate because online tickets tend to have more precise areas of excavation.
• We have more LA811 members than any other southeast state (1,091) even though we don’t have mandatory membership like many other states! I think this is a testament to the value we provide for our members.
• Our average speed of answer (time it takes to speak to a customer service representative/operator) remains very low as is the abandonment rate (number of callers who hang up because of long wait times). One Call Concepts does a great job of monitoring these metrics for us and keeping well-trained personnel.
Although we do a lot of things very well, we will never stop pursuing perfection. We welcome constructive criticism and positive feedback and are always willing to listen to those who use our services.
In closing, I hope to see you at our upcoming Damage Prevention Summit that will be held January 23-25 at L’Auberge in Baton Rouge. Find out more about this informative, educational and fun event at www.LA811.com.
Until next time, keep safe and God bless!
Brent Saltzman Executive Director Louisiana 811
2023, Issue 4
Louisiana 811
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