1st Touch (www.1sttouch.com) the UK’s leading developer of mobile systems for the social housing and local authority sectors has launched a tenant self-service app. The app, which can be fully integrated in real-time with all leading Housing Management Systems, enables a social housing organisation’s tenants to submit requests online for a wide range of services. These can range from repairs and maintenance or estate management concerns through to arranging visits from housing officers or conducting rent account queries. The system greatly reduces the pressure on the social housing organisation’s call centre staff, whilst significantly enhancing positive client engagement with tenants.

When residents are using the app to report a repair for example, the app will raise a request and ask the resident to choose an appointment from 3 or 4 available time slots.  Once selected, the app will then auto-schedule the repair and send it to the maintenance operative’s mobile device when they are due to attend. Should a tenant need to report an issue like graffiti, the app will raise the request with the appropriate operative or contractor and inform the tenant when the graffiti is due to be removed. It will also inform them when the job has been completed. All the requests and actions generated through the app are automatically fed through to the social housing provider’s back-office housing management system.

The app, which integrates seamlessly with all existing 1st Touch systems, also represents significant value for money. 1st Touch research estimates that typically on average, each call to a social housing organisation’s call centre costs somewhere between £5 and £6 and that each personal visit costs around £14. As many of the issues handled by these call centres can be dealt with online, the potential savings from the self-service tenant app are huge.

Commenting on the new system, Robert Dent CEO of 1st Touch noted, “We are constantly exploring ways in which we can help social housing organisations to enhance their customer service. Our new tenant self-service app is just such a development. By allowing tenants to sort out issues themselves 24/7 online and at their own convenience, it provides a better customer experience for them whilst reducing the service delivery costs for their social housing provider. As customer service and value for money considerations are of paramount importance to social housing organisations, we expect demand to be strong.”