Welcome to Market Focus, a newsletter prepared by C3 for its corporate and public sector customers. In this issue we thought we would take a look at some of the changes taking place with regards to the provision of social housing, and what C3 are doing to help local authorities and housing associations achieve new targets set by the Government.
We have another case study to share with you – GFM Ltd, one of the UK’s leading multi-service business agencies, has been using our IVR technology to deliver a whole plethora of IVR based “self service” applications for more than 10 years.
We are really pleased to announce that we’ve been given a Gold award by an independent organisation, BenchmarQ, following an 88% customer satisfaction rating.
Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to wish all our readers a very merry Christmas and a prosperous 2010. Watch our video for a bit of festive fun. John Wood, Joint Owner, C3.
C3’s IVR software used by local authorities to facilitate the provision of social housing
Government has stipulated that, by the end of next year, the old “points” system for the management and allocation of properties used for social housing must be replaced with a new initiative, known as Choice Based Letting, (CBL). Choice Based Letting is intended to give social housing tenants more “choice” about where they live, in the hope that they will stay in a single property for longer periods of time, because they have been involved in the allocation process.
These changes mean that local authorities are having to manage their housing stock more efficiently and add more properties to their existing stock by working in partnership with private landlords. By having more properties available, local authorities are better able to help the more vulnerable, such as the homeless, refugees and those in temporary accommodation.
The initiative, however, has presented local authorities with certain problems associated with accessibility in the application process. They are obliged to advertise properties by different means, (the Internet, printed media, posters in public places), and tenants have to be allowed to apply for different properties by whatever means they choose – on-line by filling out a form, by phone, in person or by writing a letter.
The majority of local authorities already have IT-based housing management infrastructure in place for managing rent, repairs, vacancies etc and most of these solutions include facilities to advertise and apply for properties on-line as standard.
However, the Internet does not offer total accessibility and if local authorities solely rely on it for property application processes, they run the risk of alienating a significant number of residents – namely the elderly, those in rural areas where Internet coverage is poor, and those in temporary accommodation.
C3 has helped a number of local authorities make their existing choice based letting procedures more accessible, by providing them with a telephony interface that integrates seamlessly with their housing management software. This means that their response mechanisms are increased significantly and housing staff can see results to applications made via the internet and via the phone in real time from a single centralised database, thus saving a great deal of time and resource.
C3’s telephony interface is completely automated, is available to the public 24/7 and is accessible via land lines and mobile phones. If a prospective tenant wants to apply for a property they have seen advertised, they call a dedicated hotline promoted by the council and reply to a series of questions by pushing buttons on their phones. They have to provide some key information such as their social housing reference number, their date of birth and the property reference number. C3’s system collates all the relevant information and cross-references it with details stored on the councils housing management database. Caller are informed immediately if they are eligible for a property or not, and if they are, they are able to make an application immediately over the phone.
It has been proven that automating the telephone application process will reduce overheads, sometimes by as much as 90%. All routine calls are dealt with automatically, leaving busy housing staff to deal with the more complex issues.
C3’s call handling infrastructure can be integrated with many other self-service applications such as information hotlines and automated payment facilities. If you would like to find out more then please call +44 (0) 1223 427700 or send an email to sales@c3.co.uk
GFM use C3 IVR technology for a plethora of services
GFM Services Ltd, one of the UK’s leading multi-service business agencies, has been using Apcentia, C3’s mass call handling platform, to provide bespoke IVR and call recording facilities for many different marketing projects for more than 10 years. C3’s IVR software is used primarily to support specialized campaigns such as telephone-based fund raisers, outbound telephone interviews and specialist automated surveys.
Apcentia is an enhanced mass call handling platform used by network operators, service providers, private companies and the Public Sector to provide automated services such as automated information services or data capture for brochure distribution. It includes many other supporting applications such as robust call recording and data storage facilities.
GFM Ltd manages a diverse range of campaigns on behalf of its customers, including interactive sports or holiday competitions for many of the UK’s National newspapers or bespoke projects for large corporates and blue chip companies.
Their marketing and project fulfilment campaigns embrace all communication channels and the open architecture of C3’s bespoke IVR software means it can be seamlessly integrated into web based applications, as Rob McLaughlin of GFM explains: The Apcentia platform is very flexible and because we have access to the source code, we are able to integrate its IVR capabilities into other software solutions we use to manage online and SMS campaigns, thus providing consumers with multiple entry points to competitions and quizzes.
More specialist projects GFM Ltd has been involved in include the provision of IVR and call recording facilities for Greater Manchester Police and automated pharmacy testing services for CMP media.
The latter produces medical publications for training pharmaceutical staff and course exams are conducted over the phone using C3’s robust IVR software. Students call a dedicated number and log into the service using a unique ID number. They work their way through a number of course modules and answer a series of pre-recorded questions by pressing buttons on their keypad. Their answers are collated stored on Apcentia’s robust database and they are given a full round up of their performance and a pass mark for each module at the end of the call.
GFM has also project managed many fund raising campaigns to help those effected by conflict or natural disaster. In 2005, they were invited by the BBC’s Disasters Emergency Committee to compile and manage a telephone-based fund raising campaign following the Tsunami disaster of South East Asia. They were able to put appropriate infrastructure in place to manage the campaign within 24 hours and, using C3’s IVR software, they were able to handle in excess of 125 000 calls and process more than £3M in donations in the first three days of the campaign. GFM have run many other fund raising campaigns since then, including disaster appeals for Darfur, Asiaquake, Niger, Bangladesh, Burma and the Congo.
C3 receives a Gold award following 88% customer satisfaction rating
We are pleased to announce that, for the third year running, we have been given a Gold award by independent company BenchmarQ for providing excellent quality of service and customer care.
BenchmarQ contacted a number of our customers and asked them a series of questions about C3 as an organisation. They were asked to provide feedback about our products and services, our marketing material and the helpfulness of our staff.
At C3, we pride ourselves on providing our customers with the highest levels of customer service so we are delighted with the result.
Further more, for the first time ever, we have received a 94% customer satisfaction rating for “LookOut call”, our mobile phone-based lone worker alert service – which equates to a Diamond rating.
Says John Wood of C3.“We are really pleased with these results. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our customers who took the trouble to respond to the survey by giving us such good feedback and we would like to assure them that we will all do our utmost to maintain the high standards we have set ourselves over the months and years ahead”
Comments made by some of our customers:
“I have always found, when dealing with them, to be a “can do” company. From the first day I spoke with them they have always said, “let’s have this done”, or we can achieve this. They have always been very friendly and helpful”
“They are really good people to work with and I haven’t had any problems whatsoever”
They help you in the most friendly and professional way possible. They are an absolute joy to work with!”
Merry Xmas and a happy new year
Last, but by no means least, we would like to wish all our readers a very merry Xmas and a successful 2010.
