Wesley A. Higgins

About Wesley A. Higgins

Wesley Higgins is the Customer Experience Technology Manager for Alabama Power in Birmingham, Alabama. With over 30 years of utility call center experience, his expertise includes supporting agent technology, supervising call-center and online representatives, developing technology strategy, and implementing various products to enhance call center efficiency and customer self-service. His team manages the customer experience for over 100 million customer interactions per year across all customer channels.The Customer Experience Technology team manages and develops applications specific to Customer Service, including the Avaya Speech IVR/VRU. This automated phone system handles over 8.5 million calls annually and maintains a containment rate of 80%. The team is also responsible for self-service applications available on Alabamapower.com and through the Android and iOS App. Customers complete over 30 million transactions annually through the award-winning online portal, which has won the JD Power Digital Experience award in 2018, 2020, and 2023. The team continues to enhance proactive and personalized customer messaging tools, sending millions of messages each year to keep customers informed about their billing details, service orders, and power outages. Other applications supported include performance dashboards, CTI agent tools, quality monitoring, speech analytics, phone switch routing, online chat, and call forecasting applications.Wesley has been a speaker at various events, including Chartwell seminars, ICMI Contact Center Conference, and CS (IUCX) Week. He has been interviewed for JD Power articles and frequently speaks to other utilities regarding best practices.Wesley graduated with a BS from UAB in Birmingham and completed his MBA in Business Administration from AIU in Atlanta. He and his wife, Christy, have four adult sons and enjoy church activities, building with LEGO, and traveling to National Parks.Areas include:• Online Customer Care Portal at alabamapower.com• Android and iOS Mobile App• Avaya IVR/VRU • Avaya Call Switch• Verint Customer Engagement Suite• eGain Email, chat, and fax CRM• Sprout social media CRM• Communication Channels: Email, Text, App, and Voice• Oracle Knowledge Management• Oracle Sales Cloud• CTI/Screen Pops• Reporting and Analytics• SAFe Agile Implementation• BPO Leadership SupportFeb 2026

Experience

1. Customer Experience Technology Manager

   Alabama Power Company

   Oct 2021 — Present · Birmingham, AL, US

   As the Customer Experience Technology Manager for Alabama Power in Birmingham, Alabama, I leverage over 30 years of utility call center experience to enhance customer interactions and service efficiency. My role encompasses developing and implementing technology strategies, managing a team that oversees over 105 million customer interactions annually, and ensuring seamless customer service through various digital platforms.I lead a strategic team of 10 Safe Agile professionals and analysts who support over 300 employees. Our focus is on identifying, evolving, designing, and implementing technologies that significantly improve the customer experience.Key responsibilities include:Technology Strategy Development: Crafting and executing strategies to improve call center efficiency and customer self-service.System Management: Overseeing the Avaya Speech IVR/VRU system, which processes over 8.5 million calls annually with an 80% containment rate.Digital Platforms: Managing web-based self-service applications on Alabamapower.com and mobile apps, supporting over 80 million transactions annually while maintaining a high 4.7-star App store rating.Customer Messaging: Enhancing proactive and personalized customer messaging tools to keep customers informed about billing, service orders, and power outages. Grew paperless billing subscriptions to over 50% of customer base.Application Support: Supporting a range of applications including performance dashboards, CTI agent tools, quality monitoring, speech analytics, phone switch routing, online chat, and call forecasting.Our team has earned multiple accolades, including the JD Power Digital Experience award in 2018, 2020, and 2023. I also actively participate in industry events and share best practices with other utilities.

Education

• American InterContinental University

  Masters, MBA - Business Administration

  2004 — 2005

• University of Alabama at Birmingham

  Bachelors, Biology, Chemistry

  1994 — 1998

Skills

• Call Centers
• Contact Centers
• Customer Service
• Operations Management
• Account Management
• Microsoft Office
• Analytical Skills
• Performance Management
• Team Building
• Project Management
• Strategic Planning
• Business Process Improvement
• Troubleshooting
• Leadership
• Vendor Management
• Customer Experience
• Customer Satisfaction
• Call Center Development
• Telecommunications
• Analysis
• Call Center
• Process Improvement
• Team Leadership