NEWS RELEASE

OWASA has installed new telephone software for its Customer Service office that enables customers to check account balances and payment due dates by telephone at any time of day.

To get account information by telephone, a customer can dial 537-4343 and follow the recorded instructions including entering the customer's account number, which is listed on the front of monthly OWASA bills.

Customers who speak Spanish can also access their account information in Spanish by selecting the Spanish language option after calling 537-4343. (The Spanish version of this information is available here.)

OWASA officials emphasized that for security reasons, it is necessary for a customer to have her or his account number in order to access account information through the OWASA telephone system.

If a customer does not have his or her OWASA account number, this information is available by calling OWASA Customer Service at 968-4421 between 8:00 am and 5:00 pm on a business day.

Kevin M. Ray, OWASA's Director of Finance and Customer Service, said “The 24-hour telephone access to account information is part of our work to continuously enhance our service to our customers. We invite our customers to use this new option, and we invite their feedback about how well it works and how it can be improved.”

Ray also said that the new telephone software will add to the efficiency of OWASA staff, since a significant number of calls to OWASA are simple requests for account balance information.

The new telephone software, which cost about $50,000, will also enhance service quality and efficiency by displaying a customer's account information automatically on a computer screen when a customer calls OWASA Customer Service staff from the customer's phone number as listed in OWASA records.

OWASA does not now offer on-line access to customers' account information. However, Ray said, OWASA expects to offer this option in the future when the cost of adding that option becomes more practical.

For more information:

Kevin M. Ray, Director of Finance and Customer Service, 537-4236 or kray@owasa.org

OWASA's offices at 400 Jones Ferry Road , Carrboro, will be closed on Monday, January 17th due to the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

However, OWASA personnel will be available on call to respond to service interruptions or other emergency service needs. Customers are invited to call 968-4421 at any time to report emergency service needs.

Customers may leave bill payments in either the box at the driveway in front of the OWASA Administration Building or in the box next to the front doors of the building. The Administration Building is at 400 Jones Ferry Road , Carrboro (next to the Jones Ferry Road Water Treatment Plant). Customers are asked to include their account numbers on checks.

Customers may also make on-line payments through the OWASA Website, www.owasa.org , with a MasterCard or VISA credit card.