Water & Wastewater Treatment Magazine
Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/1016624
www.wwtonline.co.uk | WWT | SEPTEMBER 2018 | 9 – we can x leaks in around a day-and- a-half, whereas normally it's three days," Sharp says. Positive customer response Its bene ts have not gone unnoticed: the judges at the 2018 Water Industry Awards declared Utileyes the "clear winner" in the Customer Service Initiative of the Year category, saying it is an example of "how innovation can be turned into real cus- tomer bene ts", and it has received a very positive response from the user base. Sharp adds: "If customers are at home when they call, we can ask them to down- load the app and almost instantly we can see the problem and explain what it is. They're really quite wowed by it because it's not what they expect. They o‰ en think they're going to have to get an appoint- ment and take time oŠ work." One of the initial challenges for Northumbrian was convincing its own technicians that they could carry out their duties eŠ ectively with Utileyes, and the company had to ensure the app could support suŽ ciently high-quality video to make doing so viable. Once staŠ recog- nised that the so‰ ware was up to the task, word quickly spread around the company. "We have this real innovation culture where we're encouraging people across the business to share their ideas and the innovations they've come up with that are making a diŠ erence for customers," Sharp says. "Utileyes was showcased at one of our regular team-talk sessions, and that just sparked oŠ lots of discussions across the business." StaŠ in other departments realised that Utileyes, in its existing form, had poten- tial for them too – for example, a member of a maintenance team contending with an engineering problem might use the app to connect with a senior technician back at base. Trench inspections Northumbrian has also been using it to carry out trench inspections. While the normal wait time for a trench inspection can be between ve and ten days, a virtu- al trench inspection can take place either on the same day or next working day. "We o‰ en nd that once you've found an innovation, there'll be other applica- tions for it," Sharp says. "I think there will still be more that we can do with Utileyes. Our customers are becoming more tech- savvy all the time. Most people use their mobile phones to access apps as opposed to using it as a telephone now – that's just how things are evolving – so as customers become savvier and more comfortable us- The app was developed as a result of an innovation sprint Northumbrian's customer director, Claire Sharp, says Utileyes has great potential ing this sort of technology, the possibili- ties are endless really." It is no secret that Northumbrian – which also took Water Company of the Year at the Water Industry Awards – is putting more stock in the value of new ideas, and it hosted its second Innovation Festival in July, attracting thousands of attendees and the involvement of over 500 businesses over the course of its ve days. "It was a great success," she says. "We've had some brilliant ideas coming out of it. That's o‰ en the challenge – we'll get some great ideas coming out of sprints, but the real innovation is what you do with them and how you take them forward, getting them to become a real activity or initiative within our business or our partners' businesses. It's a big part of our culture at Northumbrian. "We look outside the business a lot. We have an innovation panel that has representatives from Apple, Amazon, National Grid and Microso‰ working on it – we're getting access to some other innovative organisations that are really pushing the boundaries and testing us to do more. "It's great when you have access to those organisations and the people within them because o‰ en posing a problem to them or a challenge that we've got will spark something that they're doing and we can work together." Sharp acknowledges that some North- umbrian customers will be more comfort- able with technology than others and that apps such as Utileyes may not be for everyone. As such, the company has no intention of abandoning traditional face- to-face services for those who want them. "Sometimes you can't beat that," she says. "We really pride ourselves on being customer-focused – building rapport and looking a‰ er them. Technology has a place but so does human contact, and we must never forget that. It's just part of our evolution to look at how we can use innovation. It might be apps, it might be something else, but we want to make our customers' lives better and make sure they're getting an unrivalled service from Northumbrian and Essex & SuŠ olk." • Northumbrian Water won the Customer Service Initiative of the Year category in the Water Industry Awards 2018 with the Utileyes app; Northumbrian also scooped the Water Company of the Year award (sponsored by NM Group) GOAL 1 CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE