The City of Hot Springs, Arkansas, is seeking proposals for an answering service for the Utilities Water and Wastewater Departments. The city offers water and wastewater services to more than ninety thousand (90,000) customers. It operates two (2) water production facilities and two (2) wastewater treatment plants, both of which are staffed and functioning twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week (24/7). The answering service will be receiving calls from utilities customers with water or wastewater emergencies, and employee safety calls. The City's Water Plant and Wastewater Treatment Plant have minimal staff after hours, weekends, and holidays; as a safety protocol we require the employee at each plant to report in every two (2) hours to the answering service. In the event that a safety call is not received from an employee, a call flow chart will be provided for proper personnel to be notified of a possible issue. Our average after-hours customer calls are three hundred fifty (350) per month, with the length of the call varying depending on the nature of the emergency. The average employee safety calls are six hundred fifty (650) per month, with the length of these calls being less than twenty (20) seconds each. Monthly average is eleven hundred (1100) minutes per month for all calls.
