Customer service

Customer first

Our vision is simple; we want to place you at the heart of everything we do. We want to understand your needs, and to listen and learn from your experiences. We want to be clear what service standards your should expect, having worked with customer to agree these standards.

Our first strategic objective is:

Service that puts our customers first.

Where we get things wrong, we want to understand the impact this causes, and be clear about how we are going to put it right. We want you to be able to confidently challenge our service delivery and we enable this by making information accessible and transparent as well as having robust mechanisms in place for engagement, scrutiny and decision making.

Trends have indicated customers would like us to:

• make it easy for you to contact us, providing choice in how you make contact
• make contact with us when it’s convenient for you
• be clear on how and when you can expect services to be delivered
• wherever possible, get it right first time
• tell you when we get it wrong, and work with you to put it right
• retain a personal touch
• be empathetic and not judgemental
• deliver access more services online

We are working towards four key outcomes to ensure that we truly put the ‘customer first’ and to provide cost effective services. These are:

1. To provide a range of effective and easy to use communication methods in which our customers can contact us
2. Responsive and customer focussed services, demonstrated through positive customer feedback.
3. Mutually agreed service standards – so that customers know what they can expect.
4. An open and transparent complaints process, with evidenced learning from where we got it wrong.

We will achieve these outcomes by working with customers, listening to their views and ideas and designing services people want to use. Most importantly, when we have done this we will give feedback to  evidence that our customers views are taken into account.

Customer service standards

Our passion is delivering high quality customer services so we aim to:

• Be helpful, polite and accessible, identifying and addressing specific needs sensitively and fairly
• Respect privacy and confidentiality
• Deal with enquiries promptly and give timely information that is accurate, comprehensive and complete
• Actively encourage and welcome customer feedback

To support these we will:

• Display our opening times and out of hours contact details
• Ensure our online services can easily be found on our website
• Make more of our services available online
• Always try to resolve your enquiry at the first point of contact
• Deliver what we promise, dealing with any problems that arise and keep you informed of any delay
• Treat all matters fairly, sensitively and in confidence
• Put things right when they go wrong
• Maximise the use of email and SMS Text in our written correspondence, but use another method if it is your preference or a statutory requirement.
• Listen to you and understand how best to deal with your needs, learning from what you tell us
• Work to improve the information we have about our customers so that we can tailor services to individual needs
• Work with partner organisations to provide help and support to our vulnerable customers
• Provide face to face customer contact points and appointments
• Provide access to IT via community rooms and Housing Offices
• Provide a dedicated Income telephone line to discuss your rent account.
• Use feedback to shape the service we deliver

Our standards - in person

Whether you visit Derby Homes offices, or we come to you. We will:

• Be accessible and visible, introducing ourselves by name and department
• Keep to agreed appointment times and if we have to cancel we will re-book a time that suits us both
• Where possible not visit customers unannounced.
• Provide a safe, tidy and clean environment to visit and use
• Provide a welcoming, polite and professional service

Our standards - by phone

Whether you call or text us we will:

• Answer calls efficiently during service opening hours
• Always answer the phone giving the appropriate corporate greeting
• Provide a welcoming, polite and professional service
• If we can’t deal with your enquiry immediately, we’ll take a message so that the right person can call you back
• Where voicemail is used, our messages will give helpful and current details and we will respond to your message by no later than the end of the next working day. (5pm)

Our standards - in writing

Whether you send an email or us an on line form, we will:

• Respond to all written enquiries within 10 working days. This means either:
  • A full response to your enquiry or
  • If we need to take longer to give a fuller response, we’ll tell you why and what the next steps are
• Automatically acknowledge emails or online form requests, providing information about any next steps 
• Write clearly and concisely, so that information is easy to read and understand
• Include a named contact person and phone numbers in our correspondence

Our standards - self-service

Whether online using ‘My Account’, or our website, we will:

• Operate secure online services, where your personal data is safe
• Provide clear information about how to contact us in other ways, if you need support
• Acknowledge online service requests within 1 working day
• Respond to on line enquiries within 2 working days

Our standards - on social media

Whether you keep in touch with us on Facebook or other sites, such as Twitter, we will:

• Provide a range of social media accounts, giving real-time information to customers and providing additional ways for customers to engage with us

Exceptions to standard timescales

Although we have corporate Derby Homes Customer Service Standards, there are instances where specific processes, statutory timescales or additional standards will apply for particular service areas. For example:

• Freedom of Information requests
• Customer Feedback and Complaints
• MP and Councillor enquires
• Legal action

What we expect from our customers

• Explain the nature of your enquiry as clearly and briefly as possible
• Provide as much detail as possible in a timely manner
• Explain what outcome you wish to achieve
• Let us know if you no longer require a service, or wish to cancel an appointment we have previously made for you
• Inform us of any change in circumstances like your status, contact numbers and email address
• Tell us if we exceed your expectations or don’t deliver a service to your satisfaction
• Treat us with courteously, with respect and be polite

Our digital helper, Ali

Our AI-driven digital helper Ali is an exciting new technology that allows you to communicate with us 24/7. They help hundreds of people each day. 

Think of it like having your own personal assistant who can help you in real time with common enquiries and tasks. It means you can get quick and accurate answers to questions and access information at any time.

The digital helper is an additional service that complements the other ways you can contact us. Ali uses Conversational AI to understand what you ask and replies to you in a human-like way. As well as webchat, you'll also speak to Ali when you call us.

Using the Ali on the website

From anywhere on our website, click on the "Chat with Ali" button on the left-hand-side of the screen. To start chatting, choose "Continue" to confirm you have read and understood our Privacy Policy. You can then ask Ali a question or tell them something you're trying to do.

Ali can answer best if your questions are written clearly. Use four words or more, but don't make them too long. If you don't get the answer you're looking for, try typing it a different way. Try not to personalise the question.

We have built in ‘hints’ based on the most frequently asked questions, to help you find what you are looking for.

You can ask questions about things like:

• repairs
• rent and other payments
• money and benefit advice
• Derby Homefinder and housing options
• tenancy-related queries.

Ali will continually learn and improve on how well they answer questions. The range of subjects and related knowledge will also increase over time. If Ali can’t answer your question, they will search the website to find any helpful pages or documents.

If you would like to provide feedback when using Ali online, use the 'Rate this result' box and tell us if the answer was helpful or not. 

Speaking to Ali on the phone

When you call us, Ali will try to help you. If Ali can't help, they will direct your call to the right person.

Our previous phone system used a recorded message that gave you a list of numbered options. You had to press the option number for the team you thought might be able to help you. Ali will have a conversation with you to find out what you're looking for and then transfer your call to a team that can help, if needed.

To get the best out of Ali, try questions like, 'How do I…', 'I want to…', or 'Can I…',  and don’t personalise the question.

Try sentences like, 'I want to pay my rent' and 'How do I report a leaking tap?'.

If the answer contains a link or mentions that there further information online, Ali can share these with you by sending you a link in a text message. When asked, “Would you like this answer sent to you as a text message?”, just say, "Yes".

Let Ali know if the answer wasn’t helpful and say that you’d like to speak to someone. By giving feedback, it will allow us to fix any issues and continue improving our customer service.

About our use of AI

We recognise the benefits of AI technologies and have chosen to implement it with the aim of providing better services longer term for residents. Derby is one of the leading users of AI technology amongst UK councils.

In April 2023, along with Derby City Council, we implemented an automated digital helper on our website to help you find information quicker and easier.

After this and to help speed up the development of the technology, we rolled out a version of the digital helper to our phone system to replace the previous number-menu system.

Like most new technology, it takes work to overcome any early challenges or unforeseen problems. We’ve been listening to feedback, along with any concerns and questions you have. 

Why have we implemented AI?

Better, quicker, and more personalised services.

Phone menus versus AI: Demand levels and out of hours service availability

Whether our phone system uses menus or an AI assistant, there will still be changes in demand and a wide range of services that people need. Phone menu systems are very limited in terms of how much they can handle, especially for councils that provide lots of varied services. They’re also unable to help you out-of-hours.

An AI digital helper can deal with a variety of requests, 24 hours a day. Rather than being put on hold, a digital helper will try to answer your query or request (at the same time as answering lots of other people’s queries) and if it can’t, or if it detects you need more immediate help, it’ll route your call to the right service as soon as possible (during opening hours).

It's important for us to ensure that we always have other ways you can contact us. We’re committed to ensuring that our services remain accessible to everyone. 

Automating repetitive tasks to free up staff for more complex requests

Most people tend to contact us with similar questions or requests about a small number of services. Many calls often have a straightforward answer or can be resolved with some simple advice. When these are automated with AI, it means our human staff can focus on more complex issues and are able to give you the more personalised support you need. 

Learning and improving

AI learns from your interactions. The more you use it, the better it will become at serving you. The better it gets, the more it will be able to tailor services and answers to particular needs.

Ali is there to support you and to work with our existing teams. Like any service, we monitor and review how it’s working to ensure its treating everyone fairly. For the service to truly develop, it needs people to use it. This is how it learns. If you feel like Ali isn’t working for you or something's not right, you should tell us. 

When Ali asks for feedback after giving you a response, say if the answer was helpful or not. You can also use our feedback survey to give us more constructive feedback.Give us feedback on Ali, our digital helper

AI is here to make Derby Homes work even better for you. Our focus is on making sure you’re aware of how we use AI, how it’s working and what improvements we’re making for you. 

We're in this together, and excited about the positive changes AI can bring for everyone.