The National Response Centre (formerly Central Dispatch - Gas and Fuel) was established in 1972 following the conversion of Melbourne from town gas to natural gas. It has operated 24x7 since 1974.
NRC's 34 years experience managing inbound gas emergency calls includes escalation of critical emergency service orders to field resources, incident notification and reporting and communication support during emergencies.In December 1999, Boral Energy acquired NRC's assets from the Victorian Government and secured service provision contracts from the Gas services business.
Due to contract confidentiality requirements, and the ownership of NRC by Origin Energy Retail Ltd, the NRC business was operated under strict 'ring fencing' arrangements. As a result, the National Response Centre (NRC) brand was launched.
The NRC business was established to provide call centre, field dispatch and support services to Australia's utility industry. Services include inbound call management (emergencies & non urgent utility network faults), work order field dispatch and voice and data communications services between the field and dispatch.
The NRC has strong relationships with its clients. These are major energy, water and state based emergency service organisations including TRU energy, AGL, Energex, Origin Energy, Envestra, Origin Energy Asset Management (OEAM), Energy Safe Australia, Abigroup, Campaspe Asset Management Services, BassGas, Coliban Water, Police, Fire, Ambulance and the SES.
The Origin Energy national emergency number is managed 24x7 by NRC. The national number is used by Origin Energy's national LPG business and Envestra's natural gas business in South Australia, Northern Territory and Queensland.
NRC receives around 1,100 requests nationally from Emergency Service Organisations (Fire, Police and SES) to arrange attendance at gas escapes, fires, explosions and other significant gas related incidents.
Confidence in NRC was confirmed in October 2002 when Energy Safe Victoria (ESV) awarded NRC the contract to manage the state's default natural gas and LPG emergency number on behalf of the Victorian Gas Industry.
NRC is also responsible for dispatching OEAM and Origin Energy LPG service order requests to field resources via radio or telephone. NRC has after hours responsibility for Origin Energy's national gas appliance maintenance and repair business and urgent "out of gas" deliveries.
NRC is a cost effective, quality alternative to the traditional "in house" dispatch and control centres operating around the clock. A recent example occurred when OEAM and its joint venture partner, United Utilities Australia, commenced a 10 year contract to provide operation and maintenance services to Coliban Water Regional Authority for their water, wastewater treatment plants and reticulation networks. Under the contract, Coliban Water's after hours calls and dispatch activity are managed by NRC. NRC's partner, MCS Digital, provides radio communications infrastructure for its fleet.
Scale of Activity
Inbound Gas Emergency Calls:
NRC receives over 100,000 national inbound emergency calls each year.
Inbound Non Emergency Calls:
In addition to emergency calls, NRC receives around 73,000 non-gas emergency (supply and appliance fault) calls each year.
Field Dispatch Activity:
NRC dispatches around 155,000 high priority escapes, supply and appliance faults to the field each year via radio and mobile telephone.