Infrastructure and managed service specialist ANS and internet connectivity provider Metronet have been chosen by First Choice Homes Oldham to implement a completely new IT infrastructure. The multi-year contract is reported to be worth over £1 million for ANS and around £200,000 for Metronet.
The contract will support FCHO’S strategy of providing online customer self-service systems for key interactions including applying for a house, logging repair requests and checking rent balances. It will also increase flexibility for employees by allowing them to access this information from anywhere on any device linked to the corporate network.
Stephen Repton, head of ICT, First Choice Homes Oldham, said, “The new infrastructure will allow staff to take front line services to our tenants, enable more agile ways of working, and lay the foundations for future self-service options. It will also let us open up new lines of communication with our tenants, allowing quicker responses to enquiries, and make significant long-term energy savings.”
Paul Shannon, managing director of managed services, ANS, said, “Housing providers are recognising that IT departments’ time is better spent supporting wider business objectives rather than on back-office management. Our service will therefore deliver cutting-edge IT which is fully managed by ANS, meaning the team at FCHO can focus on developing its customer services rather than maintaining uptime.”
