Alertacall discuss the positive benefits seen by both providers and tenants through the use of their proactive housing solutions, allowing residents to retain their agency and saving providers precious time and resources.
Mike Webb, Bromford Resident:
One evening, 78-year-old Mike Webb passed out and couldn’t wake up. However, as a result of his lack of engagement with Alertacall’s Housing Proactive® service, this was detected, and Mike was ultimately taken to hospital and treated for a serious medical condition. Mike has been a resident of Bromford Housing, near Bristol, for the last eight years. He moved to be nearer to family, including his sister, who lives in the same scheme. He began experiencing health problems about 15 years ago when he was taken into hospital with pneumonia and pleurisy. In the intervening years, he was also diagnosed with sleep apnea.
Since becoming a Bromford resident, Mike has used Alertacall’s Housing Proactive® service, which includes the optional use of the OKEachDay® for Housing button. He presses the button each morning between 6am and 10am to confirm his occupancy, that everything is OK at his property, and to pick up messages. Mike says the Housing Proactive® touchscreen is very useful for sending messages to Bromford to report repairs, as well as to receive updates and information from them in return.
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In January, Mike passed out while he was preparing for bed. Although he wears an emergency pendant alarm, he was unable to operate it. However, when he failed to confirm his occupancy via his OKEachDay® button the next morning, it was deemed unusual to the extent that Alertacall and Bromford housing staff performed follow-up checks. Paramedics were called, and Mike was taken to hospital.
“I don’t remember anything from when I was getting ready for bed to waking up in hospital,” says Mike. “If it hadn’t been for Alertacall notifying somebody, I don’t know what might have happened. It saved my life.” As a result of the incident, Mike now wears a mask connected to a machine to ensure he can breathe safely at night. “I can sleep a lot better now, my breathing is a lot better, and I feel much safer”, he says. “And, really, it’s all down to the fact that I didn’t engage with the touchscreen that day.”
Places for People
Places for People commissioned Alertacall to carry out a pilot of its Housing Proactive® service across 1000 properties evenly split between Huntingdon and Derby, covering a range of different property types, including General Needs, Leaseholder, Retirement Living and Supported Homeless. Places for People recognised the significant potential of Alertacall’s product in further improving how they interact with their customers, particularly those who are older, have greater difficulty sustaining their tenancy or who are at increased risk for some other reason. By leveraging the features and capabilities of this tried and trusted solution, they envision a more proactive and efficient communication process that ensures customers feel supported and valued.
Feedback from customers has been amazing – they’ve really taken to the service well, engaging with the various digital channels available to them, however, the most valued feature was the reassurance of the OKEachDay® button – highlighting the positive shift in giving customers control of how much contact they receive.
Pickering and Ferens Homes
Today, the organisation manages over 1,400 homes in Hull and the East Riding of Yorkshire, providing high-quality accommodation for older people, including five PFH+ schemes and a range of general needs homes. To meet the Social Housing Regulator’s Consumer Standards, particularly the Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard and the Safety & Quality Standard, Pickering & Ferens recognised that it needed to take a more structured and regular approach to resident engagement and communication. They wanted to upgrade to a consistent, reliable and secure solution for all, which would enable increased two-way engagement and confirm everything is OK at their customers’ properties on a daily basis.
Over 108,000 individual messages have been sent, saving over £94,000 in postage.* There were 353,774 OKEachDay® for Housing button presses, which, if compared to a 1-minute morning call from a housing officer, saved 5896 hours of staff time, freeing them to focus on being more proactive in other elements of their service delivery.
*Based on a letter with a 2nd class stamp.
These outcomes were an important factor in the Regulator’s assessment of Pickering & Ferens. Residents spoke positively about Housing Proactive® during inspections, with regulators noting the strength of two-way engagement. Pickering & Ferens’ innovative use of the Alertacall system directly contributed to achieving a C1 grading.
Richard Walker, Home Services Director at Pickering and Ferens Homes, highlights: “The regulator gave us really positive feedback on the service. They loved the direct messages and that the tool enables us to share information such as the standards of service that a resident can expect and hold us to account for. It allows us to achieve exactly what the Regulator expects – delivering information clearly, showing that we listen, and act quickly. And we can do it all at the touch of a button.”
ForHousing
Since installation, engagement has been consistently high. Kelly Scapens, Extra Care & Supported Housing Manager, ForHousing says that more than 70% of residents now regularly use the touchscreen, not only to check in via OKEachDay® for Housing, but also to communicate directly with ForHousing, report repairs and take part in surveys. The messaging functionality has transformed how ForHousing communicates with residents. Staff can now send messages instantly to individuals or entire schemes, ensuring residents receive important information at the right time. This includes updates on planned works, reminders about appointments with housing staff, cold weather alerts, and warnings about bogus callers in the area.
“The move from manually contacting individuals by phone to confirming everything is OK at their property at the touch of a button was an absolute game-changer. It frees up a huge amount of staff time, and Alertacall takes care of much of the process for us. The fact that the service operates seven days a week, 365 days a year, is incredibly important and provides real consistency,” commented Kelly.
