Operations leaders of the four Canadian notification centres met earlier this month and committed to a renewed partnership dedicated to shared information, collaborative solutions, opportunities to use common resources and a single voice for notification centres in matters with a national scope.
Originally formed in 2013 as the Canadian One Call Centres Committee, the group was founded to give One Calls a voice and a seat at the table of the fast-growing Canadian Common Ground Alliance (CCGA). The CCGA was actively trying to establish a one-window approach to accessing notification services in Canada, similar to the 811 campaign in the US. However, Canadian One Call centres were trying to shift away from phones and were opposed to putting significant resources into finding a single access point that was a phone number. Eventually, it became clear that using 811 was not going to be an option in Canada (the 811 3-digit number was already assigned to TeleHealth), and the obvious shift to an online portal (ClickBeforeYouDig.com) worked out for everyone involved.
After the Canadian Common Ground Alliance met several objectives, they restructured and became more focused on maintaining what had been established in the busy early years. Over that time, the Canadian One Calls Committee remained active on the CCGA Senate and participated in various working groups (CSA Z247, Harmonized Best Practices, DIRT reporting), but the group met less frequently and did not have identified goals to work towards.
In April, notification centre leaders engaged in a discussion panel at the USP Annual Safety Conference. The conversation illuminated the need to reenergize the Canadian One Calls Committee. It was clear that there are worthwhile discussions to be had and how important it will be to learn from each other as centres and the damage prevention process continue to evolve. Some areas where operations groups can assist each other are technology (GIS, software, AI), legislation efforts, marketing/awareness, and industry changes aimed at improving sustainability and usefulness of the one call / Notification Centre model (dealing with increasing volumes, dedicated locator and alternate locator approaches, sharing member data).
The renewed group will be called “Canadian Notification Centres Committee”, acknowledging that we have achieved our goals of providing services primarily online. The CNCC is currently building out Terms of Reference and defining the areas of interest where we can have the most impact. At the very least, it was very productive to just meet and discuss projects, challenges and the different approaches centres are taking to moving forward. I feel very positive about the group’s energy and commitment and am looking forward to our next meeting in August to formalize our goals.
The Canadian Notification Centres Committee is comprised of:
Sher Kirk, Operations Director – Utility Safety Partners and Chair of the CNCC