Case Study
VIVAWEST creates fully automated service processes
As one of the leading housingproviders, VIVAWEST decided earlyon to embrace innovative technology to offer customers fullyautomated end-to-end processes, from online damagereporting to on-site repair at their preferredappointment time. All-round service through technologicalleadership that delights customers and stands out from the competition.
The company: 120,000 apartments in the Rhine and Ruhr region
As one of the leading housingproviders in NorthRhine-Westphalia, VIVAWEST manages 120,000 apartments in the Rhine and Ruhr region. In approximately 100 municipalities between Aachen and Ahlen, VIVAWEST thus provides a home for about 300,000 people.
The real estate servicecompanies integrated into the VIVAWESTGroup also offer a widerange of servicesthat are required in the managementof larger residential propertyportfolios. These include green and openspacemaintenance, the maintenanceand modernizationof apartments, the provision of cabletelevision and internet, as well as the creation of heating and operatingcoststatements.
Convenient tenant service around the clock
Not only by phone, but also online in the customerportal or the customerportal app, VIVAWEST tenants can report damage and arrange a preferredappointment for repair. What is quick and easy around the clock today requires a complex interplay of innovative optimizationtechnologies. To be able to offer a suitable preferredappointment for each damage directly upon reporting, comprehensive planningparameters must be taken intoaccount.
Different apartments, multi-trade repairs
A typical problem for the housingindustry is the varyingcondition and equipmentof apartments and buildings. They differ not only in their yearof construction but also vary depending on the buildingtype and regionallocation. Furthermore, an accurate representationof the qualifications and skills of theemployees, as well as comprehensiveaccess to the necessaryconsumables in the system isrequired.
210 technicians handle maintenance
At RHZ Handwerks-Zentrum GmbH, approximately 210 technicians manage, among other things, small repair management and the maintenance/servicing of about 70,000 apartments. Multi-trade repairs, which require staggered deployments of several technicians, pose additional challenges for planning.
Only if all these planning parameters are taken into account can service center employees provide customers with a specific time window for the repair during the first phone contact.
Online communication and self-service preferred? No problem: VIVAWEST tenants can also arrange a preferred appointment for repair directly when reporting damage via the online damage report in the customer portal or the customer portal app.
The solution: VISITOUR and MOBILE FLOW
With VISITOUR and MOBILE FLOW, it is possible to map all requirements for RHZ’s service process in a planning software and to display already tour-optimized preferred appointments directly in the customer front-end, such as the customer portal and customer portal app.
Based on a cascading damage description, the required trade and the damage key (skill in VISITOUR) are determined. This key represents a scheduled damage repair time.
Based on this information, as well as the tenant’s postal code (and the technician assigned according to this postal code), the next possible, already optimized appointments are displayed, taking into account the tenant’s preference.
Mobile app for Field Service
All technicians were equipped with MOBILE FLOW. Thanks to its user-friendliness, there were noreservationsamong the 210 employees regarding the mobile app. It was quickly recognized in the field that the software enables increased transparency for planning one’s own workday.
And it guarantees qualified contact with the customer, as all order information is available on mobile devices. With the real-time transmission of status messages, dynamic appointment and Fieldplanning in VISITOUR is supported.
The software permanently and fullyautomatically optimizes upcoming tours based on feedback from the field. This increases planning efficiency and offers the back office the opportunity to provide customers with valid information about on-site appointments at any time.
The benefit of efficient appointment and Field planning
The objective for using VISITOUR was equally clear and ambitious: an increase in customersatisfaction through binding appointments and an increase in the first-time fix rate; plus areduction in process costs through more efficient damage repair in fully automated end-to-end service processes.
“The tenant knows already when reporting the damage when the damage will be repaired at their preferred appointment time. At the start of the assignment, the technician has an optimized tour with all information about tenants and damage cases they visit immediately available on their mobile device. Back office and Scheduling are fully automatically informed.”
Fewer customer calls, more transparency
And further: “The number of customer calls regarding appointment scheduling could be significantly reduced, and customer satisfaction and the first-time fix rate significantly increased. And all this with consistently digital, fully automated, and transparent end-to-end processes,” Eller explains the milestones that could be achieved through Solvares Field Service technology.
Eller also emphasizes:
“We regularly and significantly invest in our processes and serviceexperiences. The figures from the quarterlycustomersatisfactionsurvey confirm this: The rating for the maintenancedepartment consistently shows over 95 percent customersatisfaction.”
What You Can Take away from this for your Service
- Self-servicepreferred appointments in the customer portal or app significantly shorten waiting times and reduce inquiries.
- Fully automated end-to-end processes – from damage reporting to the technician’s visit to the tenant – increase efficiency and the first-time fix rate.
- The combination of smart tour optimization and a mobile app makes assignments more transparent and ensures paperless service processes.
- Real-time status messages from the field enable valid statements at any time about on-site appointments and noticeably increase customer satisfaction.
- Consistently digital service processes become a real competitive advantage – measurable in consistently high satisfaction scores.
Results
- Reduction of waiting times, tour-optimized preferred appointment offers, increased first-time fix rate
- Consistently paperless service processes from Field planning to documentation
- Increased efficiency in Scheduling
- The customer satisfaction rate in customer surveys in the maintenance department consistently exceeds 95%
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