(1888PressRelease)
December 08, 2007 - Wakefield and District Housing (WDH) recently became the first Housing Association in the North of England (and the third nationally) to achieve the Audit Commission’s three star ‘excellent’ rating.
Amongst the good practices commended by the Audit Commission, the report highlighted WDH’s successful implementation of the innovative automated tenant text messaging system, which is provided by Mobysoft.
In particular, the Audit Commission highlighted the system’s positive impact on the levels of contact between WDH and its tenants, as well as its contribution to the reduction “of missed appointments or no access situations.”
The report also praised WDH’s recognition and response to the increasing significance of text messaging as a widely used inclusive communications tool.
Since July of this year, WDH tenants have received automated text messages reminding them of forthcoming maintenance and repair visits and giving them an opportunity to confirm their availability or rearrange the appointment if required.
Post visit, the system then texts tenants an interactive satisfaction survey which also provides an opportunity for feedback.
Mobysoft’s system allows housing providers to link their Housing Management Systems to the phone network, enabling them to easily integrate text messaging into their existing customer service processes.
WDH Maintenance Manager Eric Gilchrist explains: “We’d calculated that cancelled repair and maintenance visits were costing WDH a significant amount of time and resources.
“SMS texting just seemed to be the obvious answer.”
Eric continues: “The tenant feedback is hugely beneficial. Not only does it allow us to respond to tenants quickly, but it also allows us to easily monitor the performance of individual repair operatives and compare the performance of our five geographical ‘teams’ through real time management data.”
Mobysoft Managing Director Derek Steele is delighted to hear about WDH’s audit success: “For an independent commission to recognise Mobysoft as making a valuable contribution to improving both tenant experience and the performance of the housing provider is tremendous. Mobysoft sends its congratulations to Eric and everyone at WDH.”
Eric concludes: “Mobysoft’s system fits with our existing processes and helps us do the day-to-day things better.
”Every tenant I’ve spoken to who has used the system has praised it and I’m sure the service would be a real benefit to many other housing organisations.”
WDH is responsible for over 31,000 homes and covers the second largest geographical area of any UK housing provider.
Mobysoft works with a wide range of Housing Providers across the UK including Rochdale Boroughwide Housing, Blackpool Coastal Housing, Stockport Homes, Raven Housing and Knowsley Housing Trust.
For further information regarding this release or Mobysoft contact David Edwards at david ( @ ) frontierpr dot co.uk.
