Hillcrest Housing Association has chosen a new mobile workforce solution from 1st Touch, along with a dynamic appointment scheduling system from ServicePower. The combined systems are expected to deliver more efficient service delivery and an enhanced experience for the housing provider’s tenants.
With the integrated 1st Touch and ServicePower solution, Hillcrest’s customer service team can now take repair request calls from tenants which are raised in Hillcrest’s Aareon housing management system. The request is then fired into 1st Touch which allocates the right operatives to respond according to the skills required. In turn, this generates a range of appointments in ServicePower, which can be offered to the tenant while still on the phone.
ServicePower then schedules the appointment, texting the tenant with a confirmation of the date and time. 1st Touch sends the details of that job along with all other upcoming jobs, in the most efficient order, to an operative’s PDA or handheld device. The system directs the operative to call the tenant once they are actually on their way. Once a job is completed, 1st Touch prompts the operative to conduct a satisfaction survey with the tenant and finally all data relevant to that job is then sent back to the Aareon back-office system.
Mark Flattery IT manager, Hillcrest Housing Association, said, “We were previously managing our workforce manually and there was a recognition of the benefit of using this kind of technology to keep our workforce mobile and also to improve the quality of information that goes into Aareon and our appointments system.
“Combined, 1st Touch and ServicePower will transform our maintenance operations. As a result of the efficiencies and productivity benefits, we will be able to do more jobs each day than before. There are also fuel savings to take into account, along with an increase in satisfaction survey returns undertaken when jobs are completed.”
Mark Percival managing director of maintenance services, Hillcrest Housing Association, added, “1st Touch has delivered an improved system that streamlines the management of our maintenance operatives. In addition, the tenants themselves are much happier with the electronic appointment booking system, especially the use of calls to confirm that operatives are on their way.”
Hillcrest is now planning to roll the combined 1st Touch and ServicePower system out to other areas including voids, gas, estate management teams and van stocking.
