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It's 3:00
A.M. on a blustery Monday morning in Spokane, Wash., and John
Halpin is waking to his alarm, preparing for his workday that
begins at 5:00 A.M. As a systems support specialist for Itron's
customer service department, John and a handful of his co-workers
arrive early to field calls and provide client support for
those on Eastern Standard Time. According to John, the daily
satisfaction he gets investigating ways to make Itron products
succeed in a variety of utility environments makes his early
start a non-issue. In fact, he likens his day-to-day activities
to playing with toys.
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"All
the new stuff I'm exposed to—it's like a kid being given
free reign in a toy store," says Halpin.
The "toys"
in this case are Itron's metering, data collection & utility
software solutions for electric, gas and water markets. Itron
Customer Service supports more than 30 of these products and
services. Although most employees will tell you John is the
person to go to with questions about any of them, he specializes
in Service-Link™, Premierplus4, MetScan, Mobile Collection
System, Mobile Collector, Endpoint-Link® and Endpoint-Link®
Pro. In terms of the client, while systems support analysts
usually resolve about 80 percent of calls during the initial
conversation, John's role as a specialist means the more complex
phone calls related to his expertise are elevated to him.
Further duties include weekly team meetings to share in client
issues and work jointly to resolve them.
"What
I find most satisfying about my job is the variety of responsibilities
and the interesting products I'm involved with. It all goes
to create a very busy, but thought-provoking day," says
John.
Further
adding to his contentment in the workplace, he's also privy
to a number of conversations outside his department. When
Itron products and services are upgraded, John works with
engineering and marketing, providing them client perspective.
He enjoys being a voice for customers in terms of what they'd
like to see Itron products accomplish in their individual
environments.
Outside
of work, John has additional motivation to be up and out of
bed by 3:00 A.M.—getting to the shower before his wife
or one of his six children. He doesn't seem to mind though,
he states with pride that his life outside of work revolves
around his family. He has four biological children and two
others adopted from Haiti. Another Haitian orphan will join
the family soon. It's this same commitment to his family that
echoes in John's work and makes him a valuable Itron employee.
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