Requirements:
- Introduction of a software-based appointment and route scheduling solution for central scheduling
- Introduction of paperless processes for scheduling and communicating with 210 technicians
- Enhanced customer satisfaction
- Consideration of the process for cross-trade repairs in the appointment schedule
- Provision of comprehensive object data for scheduling and technicians
Benefits:
- Reduction of waiting times, tour-optimized desired date offers, increased first-time fix rate
- Continuous paperless service processes from resource planning up to the documentation
- Increased scheduling efficiency
- Enhanced customer satisfaction: More than 95 percent of customers of the maintenance department assess the service as very good or good
A
s one of the leading housing providers in North Rhine-Westphalia, VIVAWEST manages around 120,000 apartments in the Rhine and Ruhr area. In about 100 municipalities between Aachen and Ahlen around 300,000 people have found a home at VIVAWEST. The four operating companies of the VIVAWEST Group offer all the required services for the management of
large real estate inventories – from the maintenance of green and open spaces, through the repair and modernization of apartments, the provision of cable TV and internet to utility billing.
VIVAWEST decided to rely on innovative technology at an early stage in order to provide fully automated end-to-end processes – from online claims reporting in the customer portal or the customer portal app to onsite repair on the desired date. All-around-service through technological advantages that inspires customers and stands out from the competition.
Not only by call, but also online in the customer portal or of the customer portal app, VIVAWEST tenants can claim damages and arrange a desired date for the repair. What is possible today quickly and easily around the clock, requires a complex interaction of innovative optimization technologies. In order to be able to make a claim for each damage directly at the time of reporting and to offer a suitable desired date, it is important that comprehensive planning parameters are taken into account. A typical problem for the housing industry is that apartments and buildings feature differing furnishings and styles, which not only depend on when they were built but also on the type of building and regional location.
Furthermore, the exact mapping of staff qualifications and skills and comprehensive access to necessary consumables in the system are also essential. The RHZ Handwerks-Zentrum GmbH supervises about 210 fitters including small repair management and maintenance of about 70.000 apartments. Complex repairs which demand the staggered deployment of technicians from various trades pose even greater challenges for scheduling. Only if all these planning parameters are taken into account the employees in the customer service center are able to suggest a time window for the repair. Online communication and self-service preferred? No problem: VIVAWEST tenants can also arrange a desired date for repair when reporting a claim online in the customer portal or the customer portal app.
With FLS VISITOUR and FLS MOBILE it is possible to meet all requirements to the service process of RHZ in a planning software and already tour-optimized desired dates and times directly in the customer front-end like customer portal and customer portal-app. Based on a cascading damage description the required trade and the damage key are available (skill in FLS). Behind this key is a scheduled damage repair time. Based on this information, as well as the postal code of the tenant (and the corresponding postal code of the technician), the next possible and already optimized dates under consideration of the tenant’s wishes are displayed.
VIVAWEST decided to rely on innovative technology at an early stage in order to provide fully automated end-to-end processes – from online claims reporting in the customer portal or the customer portal app to onsite repair on the desired date. All-around-service through technological advantages that inspires customers and stands out from the competition.
THE CHALLENGES
Not only by call, but also online in the customer portal or of the customer portal app, VIVAWEST tenants can claim damages and arrange a desired date for the repair. What is possible today quickly and easily around the clock, requires a complex interaction of innovative optimization technologies. In order to be able to make a claim for each damage directly at the time of reporting and to offer a suitable desired date, it is important that comprehensive planning parameters are taken into account. A typical problem for the housing industry is that apartments and buildings feature differing furnishings and styles, which not only depend on when they were built but also on the type of building and regional location.
Furthermore, the exact mapping of staff qualifications and skills and comprehensive access to necessary consumables in the system are also essential. The RHZ Handwerks-Zentrum GmbH supervises about 210 fitters including small repair management and maintenance of about 70.000 apartments. Complex repairs which demand the staggered deployment of technicians from various trades pose even greater challenges for scheduling. Only if all these planning parameters are taken into account the employees in the customer service center are able to suggest a time window for the repair. Online communication and self-service preferred? No problem: VIVAWEST tenants can also arrange a desired date for repair when reporting a claim online in the customer portal or the customer portal app.
THE SOLUTION: FLS VISITOUR AND FLS MOBILE
With FLS VISITOUR and FLS MOBILE it is possible to meet all requirements to the service process of RHZ in a planning software and already tour-optimized desired dates and times directly in the customer front-end like customer portal and customer portal-app. Based on a cascading damage description the required trade and the damage key are available (skill in FLS). Behind this key is a scheduled damage repair time. Based on this information, as well as the postal code of the tenant (and the corresponding postal code of the technician), the next possible and already optimized dates under consideration of the tenant’s wishes are displayed.
Create damage report
Damage identified: making an appointment
All the technicians have been equipped with the current hybrid solution of FLS MOBILE. Due to its user friendliness, the smartphone app was an instant hit with the 210 members of staff. Out in the field it soon became apparent that the software offers technicians the required transparency to schedule their own working days. And it also guarantees qualified contact with customers, as all the call information is available on the mobile device. The transfer of status messages in real time supports dynamic appointment and route scheduling in FLS VISITOUR. The software uses feedback from the field to optimize upcoming routes continuously and fully automatically. This increases scheduling efficiency enormously and allows back office staff to give customers reliable data about on-site appointments.
THE BENEFIT
The reason for using FLS VISITOUR was clear, yet challenging: to increase customer satisfaction by arranging binding appointments, cutting repair times, and reducing process costs through more efficient repair mechanisms. “FLS VISITOUR provides the support we need to achieve our aims,” says Thomas Eller, Head of Maintenance. The scheduling process has also been enhanced considerably. Available capacities are now used to support customer service activities.
„With the damage report the tenant already knows at which time the damage is repaired on his desired date. The technician has an optimal tour with all information at the start and back office and disposition are fully automatically informed. The number of customer calls around the appointment arrangement could significantly be reduced and customer satisfaction and first-time fix rate have been increased significantly. And all of this with consistently digital, fully automated and transparent end-to-end processes”, Eller explains the milestones achieved by FLS technology.
“We have made a quantum leap in the exchange of information with technicians,” claims Christian Kirschfink. Before the implementation of FLS MOBILE, call and customer reports were completed on paper by hand and then forwarded to the respective department. Now, thanks to the app, all the processes are paperless.
Real-time technology is a decisive competitive advantage and game changer in the service business, where not only since the market entry of Amazon customer expectations have become very clear and have changed. We invest regularly and significantly into our processes and service experiences. The figures of the quarterly customer satisfaction survey confirm us in this: the assessment of the maintenance area is constantly at over 95 percent customer satisfaction.