Nottingham Community Housing Association (NCHA) has
hired ntl:Telewest Business to roll out a new voice over IP call
system to help it cut costs.
The housing association, which has 10,000 tenants, is the
largest locally based provider of housing in the East Midlands.
The new system will support 655 NCHA employees located across
eight offices. They will also benefit from faster internet
connections.
It combines data, voice calls and access to the internet over a
single network, delivering “significant savings”, said the
association.
Cost savings and a return on investment are expected in less
than 20 months, the association said.
Robert Moorey, NCHA IT manager, said, “For us, IP is the only
way forward. Not only will it improve our communication processes
with staff and customers, but also save a lot of money. The more we
save, the more houses we can build.”
A new IP call centre will handle in-coming customer calls. NCHA
tenants will be able to contact any relevant department using a
single 0845 number for a low call charge.
At the same time, call centre agents will gain the capacity to
handle calls faster, monitor them better, as well as to record them
for future reference, which should improve customer service.