October 2008
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SSOCOF raises ticket price to 65 cents in response to declining ticket volumes, shrinking reserves Partnerships help dollar, awareness go further Questionable emergency tickets spark member concern, ITE user advisory SSOCOF honors Rep. Murzin as 2008 Representative of the Year award
SSOCOF raises ticket price to 65 cents in response to declining ticket volumes, shrinking reserves After its September board meeting, the SSOCOF Board of Directors elected to raise the standard locate ticket price to 65 cents with duplicate tickets sent to a second receiving location at 33 cents and positive response late notices at 64 cents, effective October 1, 2008. This follows an earlier decision to increase the ticket price by 10 cents in January 2009. But with declining ticket volumes and shrinking reserves, the new price and effective date were necessary to ensure continued damage prevention services throughout Florida. Members were notified of this change in writing September 22, 2008. View the letter. "This was not a decision made lightly," explained SSOCOF Executive Director Mark Sweet. "But at 65 cents per ticket, we still have one of the lowest ticket prices in the nation, and we're able to provide our members with robust technology, free educational programs, e-learning, and statewide advertising and promotions." View other items we offer free to help spread the damage prevention word. |
IMPORTANT DATES
October 28
November 13
November 14 November 27 - 28 Call center closed in honor of Thanksgiving. ITE available 24/7.
December 19
December
24 - 25
CALENDAR
SPANISH SAFETY TRAINING
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Partnerships help dollar, awareness go further
In this case, that common goal is preventing damage to underground utilities. SSOCOF offers a number of free educational tools that members and industry professionals can use to educate their employees and customer base. These items are available free from the online store. A co-sponsorship with FPL resulted in 360 radio traffic sponsorships and online streaming ads in Miami, Ft. Myers and West Palm Beach. "The best part," explains Ritter, "is that our members get tremendous exposure at not-for-profit rates." Take a look at how others use SSOCOF's free promotional items to provide education:
Questionable emergency tickets spark member concern, ITE user advisory More than a year after being given the ability to request emergency tickets using Internet Ticket Entry (ITE), some ITE users are abusing the privilege and requesting these tickets for non-emergency situations. "One member reported a substantial increase in these types of tickets," stated SSOCOF Executive Director Mark Sweet. Beginning immediately, SSOCOF's ITE quality assurance team will review all emergency locate tickets created through the ITE System to verify that they comply with the legal definition of an emergency as outlined in s.556.109 of the Underground Facility Damage Prevention and Safety Act, Chapter 556, F.S. Anyone found creating emergency tickets for situations that do not meet the statutory definition of an emergency will be contacted to schedule mandatory ITE system retraining. Continued abuse of the emergency ticket could result in suspension or revocation of ITE system user authorization.
SSOCOF honors Rep. Murzin as 2008 Representative of the Year
Murzin sponsored HB 573 (CS/SB794), guaranteeing that the “Call 811 Before You Dig” process remains free by prohibiting underground utility owners and excavators from charging for services required by the “Underground Facility Damage Prevention & Safety Act,” Chapter 556, F.S.
“This was an extraordinary accomplishment,” SSOCOF
Director Larry Batchelor stated. “Rep. Murzin’s tireless
efforts resulted in our bill being one of only a few
hundred passed out of more than 3,000 bills originally
filed. His efforts will help keep Florida’s residents
safe and maintain the integrity of our underground
utility infrastructure.”
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February 17-19, 2009 Orlando, Florida
Join us at the fourth annual CGA Excavation Conference &
Expo featuring exhibits, conference sessions, workshops and technology
features for all areas of underground
utility damage
FL sponsors locate rodeo winner
Jim Driscoll (above), Craig A. Smith &
Associates, placed took home $1,000 and first
place overall in the bonus
event at the International Locate Rodeo, August
7, 2008. He also won the REMC
event where he received an additional $1,000 for winning with
their RadioDetection equipment during the
event.
Driscoll is one of eight locators SSOCOF selected to
represent Florida at the ILR.
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SPOTLIGHT ON IrthNet Ticket Management After six months of using SSOCOF's IrthNet Ticket Management System, the City of Daytona Beach has experienced, firsthand, all the promises of the system - convenience, time savings, reduced costs and ease of use. “Without IrthNet,” explains Project Manager James PeKala, “our locators got their tickets in the morning and tickets that came in during the day had to wait until the locator was back at the office.” Locators would then take paper tickets into the field and hand write the necessary information for the positive response system. Another two hours were needed at the end of the day or first thing the next morning to enter those hand-written responses into the system. “By day’s end," PeKala added, "the city would have between 30-40 tickets left to be located. Plus there were the added costs of printing out all of those tickets and the mileage to get back to the office.” Equipped with laptops, wireless cards and IrthNet access, the City’s locators are now able to receive tickets in the field and provide positive response updates immediately, as they leave a job site. “Our response time has been cut in half!” PeKala exclaimed. “And we have less than five tickets left at day’s end!” IrthNet makes managing the entire process easy and, armed with a ticket number, allows users to quickly retrieve current and archived tickets, complete with processing histories detailing who was at a site, when and what was done. On giving advice to members not using IrthNet PeKala said, “There’s no reason not to use IrthNet. The efficiency and time saved is unreal – like night and day compared to working without Irthnet. It’s easy to use and our locator’s are just tickled with it.” IRTHNet is the web-based ticket management system specifically designed to simplify locate ticket management, without IT costs and headaches. It offers exceptional functionality and flexibility. To get started using IrthNet today, contact our Member Services Department by email or phone: memberservices@mail.callsunshine.com | (386) 575-2009 | (800) 651-6720
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Survey helps improve service to callers
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Sunshine State One Call of Florida is a private, not-for-profit, corporation created by Florida legislature in 1993. Its purpose is to educate excavators and homeowners on the requirement to Call Before You Dig and provide a free system for the excavating public to notify owners of pending excavation activity near underground utilities. Last year, SSOCOF received 1.8 million notices of proposed excavation in Florida. SSOCOF offers free educational sessions to professional excavators and homeowners. For more information on free classes and other SSOCOF services, visit www.callsunshine.com.
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"Partnerships are key
when budget dollars are tight and all parties
have a common goal," explains SSOCOF Damage
Prevention Manager Cheryl Ritter.
