Kingsport goes live with new Customer Information System
Kingsport’s new Customer Information System (CIS) is now live and available for customers to use. Residents can now pay bills, report issues and access their account information easier than ever before.
This upgrade has been years in the planning and replaces the city’s aging platform while introducing faster service, clearer bills and more tools for customers to manage their accounts.
“We’ve been working quite some time behind the scenes on this upgrade, everything from selecting the best vendor, to training all our customer service representatives to troubleshooting any possible issues,” said Travis Bishop, chief financial officer for the City of Kingsport. “We believe our customers will be pleased with the end result and all the features our new CIS has to offer.”
In addition to the new CIS, customers can now use Grace AI – a user-friendly, phone-based virtual assistant that provides quick answers about balances, due dates, water usage and support for secure over‑the‑phone payment processing. Grace AI aims to reduce waiting times and improve customer support.
At the same time, Kingsport has launched a new mobile app and web portal called Kingsport Utilities, which will be the customer’s gateway to all things related to their utility services. Here, customers can view recent bill images, make payments, create and track service requests, update customer records and receive communication in a simple and modern way.
Please note – if you pay your bill via bank draft or auto-pay, you will need to re-enroll through the new portal. No actions are needed if you pay in person, over the phone, by check, or use the drop box or JACK kiosk.
You can pay bills, report issues, access the customer portal, download the Kingsport Utilities app and access your account information by going to www.kingsporttn.gov/billpay.
Finally, customers are now able to pay their utility bills in new ways, including by Pay-By-Text, digital wallets (Apple Pay, Google Pay, Venmo, and PayPal) and at local retailers such as Walgreens, CVS, and Dollar General (with a $2.95 retailer fee).
“More and more people are making purchases, sending money and paying bills through their smart phones, so we felt like the City of Kingsport needed to be able to accommodate these folks when it came to their utility bills,” Bishop added. “We’re just trying to be as convenient as possible for our customers.”
