Irvine Firm Gets Rockwell Phone Contract

Rockwell International Co.’s electronic commerce division has chosen Irvine-based National Water & Power Inc. to test Rockwell’s new automated telephone call management system because the private utility metering and billing company is growing so fast.

National provides services for apartment and housing developers and property managers in 20 states and expects a 500% increase in growth in phone call volume this year.

Laurie Gooding, Rockwell product marketing manager for the Transcend call management system, said her company picked National because its spectacular growth “would really put Transcend to the test.”

National installs and operates utility meters that measure water, electricity and gas usage and are read electronically on a daily basis. The company says its proprietary billing system provides more accurate bills than the utilities do.

The company provides billing and metering services to publicly traded real estate investment trusts such as Irvine Apartment Communities and Mid-America Apartment Communities.

It also has contracts with large, privately owned multifamily housing organizations and third-party property management companies including Lincoln Property Management and Lyon Management Group.

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John O’Dell covers major Orange County corporations and manufacturing for The Times. He can be reached at (714) 966-5831 and at john.odell@latimes.com