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BGMU's Web site revamped
Spanish-speaking help among features
February
6, 2007
By AMEERAH CETAWAYO, The Daily News
Bowling Green Municipal Utilities, which
provides electric, water, wastewater treatment
and high-speed
data services to the Bowling Green area,
recently launched its redesigned Web site,
http://www.bgmu.com, rebranding its logo along
with a new slogan, “BGMU Connecting Bowling
Green,”
in the process.
The site, constructed by software designer and
Web hosting firm Hitcents.com, also features an
information section for its Spanish-speaking
customers. Miles McDaniel, director of business
development
and marketing for BGMU, called the move an
effort to support a “growing segment” of the
community.
“From the homepage, Spanish-speaking users can
click on the ‘¿habla español?' link to locate
key
information, including but not limited to
services, fees, payment options and office
hours,” McDaniel said.
“Our goal is to provide excellent customer
service to our entire community, and we hope
that these new
tools on our Web site will assist
Spanish-speaking customers and others in
researching their utility
needs.”
Julie Olson, Hitcents account manager for Web
development, said her company noticed that other
utilities' Web sites were offering a similar
service.
“It was a result of meeting with the client and
covering features they wanted to have that they
offer that
they didn't have before,” Olson said.
McDaniel said he was unsure of the exact number
of Spanish-speaking customers BGMU currently
serves.
“However, when we started the redesign,
developed our focus groups - consisting of many
different
departments - it was indicated that there was a
strong need for a Spanish-speaking section on
our Web
site,” McDaniel said.
Olson said the goal - in addition to making the
Web site user friendly - was to provide a look
and feel that
complemented their logo.
Last year, 90,664 people visited BGMU's Web
site, according to Olson.
About 1,872 have visited since Feb. 1, when the
new Web site was launched.
The ability for customers to access their
account information - the most viewed area on
the Web site - is
still offered as a feature for customers.
“The majority of people are using the Web site
to access their account information,” Olson
said.
BGMU's Web site can sell products, gather
information about customers, provide and receive
outage
information, educate children and adults about
electrical safety and show customers how to
conserve
energy, according to McDaniel.
The redesigned Web site also features a media
center, quarterly customer newsletters and
online
surveys, features that will help the utility
gather feedback and spread information to
customers, according
to McDaniel.
McDaniel said regularly upgrading BGMU's Web
site is becoming a higher priority on the
company's list of
objectives.
“Our belief is that our site requires persistent
attention and a systematic redesign every three
years,”
McDaniel said. “As our utility grows and our
customer base changes, we need to offer our
services in
many different ways to make things easy for our
customers. We believe our Web site is that
resource,”
McDaniel said. “The next generation is more and
more often going to be on the Web and to
communicate with them we have to be Web-friendly.”
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Copyright 2007 News Publishing LLC (Bowling
Green, KY)
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BGMU’s new website launched February 1, 2007.
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