Smart utilities and CRM: The next phase of customer management in utilities

This article examines the potential effect on CRM of smart metering and smart networks in utilities. It examines the kind of interactions that will take place between suppliers and customers, and the likely change in the competitive situation. It concludes that utilities are on the verge of a data and customer management revolution of the kind that took place in the telecommunications industry in the late 1990s, and need to prepare for it.