Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Water way to keep in touch with customers
Scottish Water engineers are helping Monklands customers who report tap water issues by carrying out virtual inspections using WhatsApp to avoid the need for home visits during the Covid-19 outbreak.
Workers in the utility’s field response team are utilising the messaging platform’s video calls instead of face-toface visits to people’s properties to resolve issues such as loss of normal water supply or low water pressure.
Using the video calls, where practicable and with the customer’s agreement, means the organisation can help customers who may be self-isolating with coronavirus symptoms while avoiding face-to-face contact.
The field response team respond to customers’ needs after liaising with colleagues in Scottish Water’s Edinburghbased call centre who take calls from people across the country.
Sarah Prescott, Scottish Water’s field response business manager, said: “Since the coronavirus outbreak, our field response team have started contacting customers through WhatsApp video calls to reduce the amount of face- to- face interactions we have with customers at a time when we are all being instructed to adopt social distancing practices to prevent spreading the virus.
“So far, about 15 per cent of the hundreds of jobs that would have involved visits to customers’ properties over the past couple of weeks have been resolved via WhatsApp, including video calls, so this has led to a considerable reduction in the number of visits we make to people’s homes.
“We’ve been able to implement this quickly and the feedback from customers has been good because in many cases we have been able to resolve issues which have been causing them inconvenience at a time when they are self- isolating because either they or a family member has Covid- 19 symptoms and are vulnerable.
“In those circumstances, customers have enough to contend with without an issue with their water, so we are delighted to be able to use social media to help them.
“Scottish Water takes its customer service very seriously and strives to maintain the same high standard of service at all times, including during the current crisis.
“Using WhatsApp is another way of enabling us to do so while protecting the health and wellbeing of customers and our staff.”