Video transforms how we help our customers

While video calling software has been around for a while, it was only really during the pandemic, when organisations were often physically separated from their customers, that video calling came into its own.

When you’re an organisation like us, who often needs to send engineers to people’s houses or businesses to check things out, the benefits of video calling are obvious.

Now, instead of customers getting in touch to say they think they have a blocked sewer, organising an inspector to visit them in several days, then planning with the team, which again can take several days, now we can have eyes on the problem in minutes.

It’s also far more convenient and efficient for customers. Rather than waiting around for an engineer to visit, customers can quickly call us and then agree a time for us to call back using video and it’s all done.

It means we can now get as much information as possible up front, so that if we do need to make a visit to a property or premises, we can get it right first time. We can bring any specialist equipment with us and if we need to close any roads or limit any traffic, then it means we can work with the local highway authority to organise it ahead of our visit.

It also means that we don’t have to visit people’s homes unnecessarily, again saving people time and effort.

Here are a few real-life examples of where we’ve been able to help customers using video:

Rhys Richards-Evans, Customer Resolution Officer

“We had a customer’s support worker contact us as the customer was unable to communicate due to a recent stroke. We were able to video call the customer so they could provide permission visually to us to discuss their account with their support worker. They were both extremely grateful for the quick resolution."

“I had another customer who explained he had some subsidence on his driveway. I video called him and discovered he had a manhole with two connections on his drive. We went through a process of flushing his water-using appliances with washing up liquid and watching it come through the manhole to identify that it was his property’s connections only. I noticed a void in the side of the pipe in the manhole chamber and when water was flushed through you could see the water trickling through onto the driveway. While this meant it was a private matter for the customer to sort, I advised him that his home insurance may cover drain work as it is included within many policies. He was really impressed that we managed to get to the bottom of the problem on one call and was really thankful for our help.”

Harriet Jones, Customer Resolution Officer

 “A customer rang us to say her driveway had sunken in the middle. Initially we tried to get images of the drive sent to us on WhatsApp but for some reason they weren’t coming through. We therefore video called the customer and captured screenshots of the uneven drive that way instead. We were then able to arrange a visit based on these images to see if it was caused by one of our water mains or sewers.”

While video calling may not be for everyone as we are conscious not all our customers have access to a smartphone, in many cases it can be a really helpful tool to help us resolve issues quickly and efficiently, saving time for customers and avoiding unnecessary visits.