Rochdale Boroughwide Housing has made annual savings of £200,000 and reduced incidences of ‘no access’ for maintenance and repairs visits by 80 per cent following the introduction of an automated SMS text message reminder service from Mobysoft.
Mobysoft’s system automatically texts the tenant a reminder in advance of a maintenance or repair visit, checking their availability. They then have the opportunity to confirm the visit or arrange a convenient alternative.
Derek Steele, managing director, Mobysoft, explained, “Missed appointments are a huge problem for both housing providers and their tenants, with housing providers losing thousands of pounds every year because tenants are often not at home to allow access.”
Mark Fisher, head of repairs and maintenance, Rochdale Boroughwide Housing, said, “We have seen huge improvements in our productivity and also significant savings since working with Mobysoft. The main contributing factor to this has been the introduction of automated SMS text message appointment reminders, and the ability for our customers to cancel appointments easily if they are unable to be present to allow access.”
Although the cost of the Mobysoft software was confidential, a spokesman for Mobysoft said that RBH’s £200,000 annual savings represented a return on RBH’s original Mobysoft investment many times over.
