Face to Face with NUG’s Annise Jones-Martin

Annise Jones-Martin of PHI joined the NUG board in 2016 and serves as the Chapter Chair. 

Before we ask you about your role on the NICE User Group Board of Directors, will you tell us about your current job responsibilities?

I am a Senior Business Analyst at PHI, an Exelon company. As a senior business analyst, my role is to analyze customer and agent behaviors using NICE Nexidia Analytics.

What path led you to PHI?

I have been in the utility business over 30 years.  I was living in Philadelphia, working for PECO, and my husband took a job in the Virginia area.  We relocated to the Washington DC area, and I moved to PHI, which eventually became part of PECO again through our parent company Exelon.

Tell us about your experience using NICE solutions.

In 2013, PHI had NICE Interaction Management 4.1 (the predecessor of NICE Engage) with Interaction Analytics, and I monitored and controlled the analytics management system.  I created various reports that helped us better understand what was going on in our business. 

We have since moved to Nexidia, and we began that process in January of 2020.  With Nexidia we have created various reports.  One that we are currently using is the Interactions Series Analysis Report where we try to find out how many customers contact us multiple times over a three-day period.  We’re finding out some interesting things, and we’re using this information to help improve First Call Resolution and ultimately improve the overall experience for our customers. The Nexidia tool is very robust in helping us to move forward.

What do you like best about the NICE User Group (NUG)?

I joined the NUG board because there was energy there that I felt would be helpful in my role, helping me utilizing the NICE tools.  I found that by talking to the people I knew, I could bounce off ideas and learn from them.  In the beginning, we were a little behind the curve based on the technology version we were using, but now, we’re on a level playing field and can exchange insights regarding Nexidia to better manage our customer experience.

Tell us a little about you, personally.

My husband Melvin and I have a son and two grandchildren.  I am a professional student who loves to learn.  I have a Master’s degree in Business Administration and a Bachelor’s Degree in Organizational Management and Leadership.  I am Certified Master Black Belt in Lean Six Sigma, Project Management and Return on Investment.  Recently, I completed the Analytics Academy with Coursera as a certified Hands on Analytics Manager.

Volunteering for the NUG Board of Directors gives me the opportunity to give back to the NUG community as well as my organization.  Holding the position of Director of Chapters allows me to collaborate across various utilities and corporations providing my knowledge of Analytics using the NICE tools. 

I live by two books, The Bible and Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. These books give me the ability to maintain balance, stability and peace of mind during these hectic times. 

What advice would you like to offer to those just starting their careers in technology?

Be innovative.  Think outside of the box.  Talk to people who are knowledgeable and ask them questions about how you can continually improve and do things better. Technology is evolving on a regular basis so being innovative is a major tool moving forward.

How has COVID-19 impacted your business?

The government mandated there would be no terminations for any utility, so we’ve stopped all collection activities.  June 1 is when some form of normalcy is expected to return.   We are working with our customers through this crisis and offering additional flexible payment arrangements.  Call volume is down, so we are using the time to deliver additional training to our Customer Service Representatives.

What do you like most about doing business with NICE?

I like that NICE has a chain of command and a structure of how to install the tool, and that they don’t just drop you after the install takes place.  They make sure you understand and are being successful using the tool.  And they aren’t always selling the next tool – they want to make sure you are benefiting from the tools you purchased.  The team that helped us launch Nexidia was phenomenal!  They helped us build reports and make sure we were able to communicate the results clearly to our management team.