Written by: Gareth Copland, Client Services Director of Insite Energy

To better serve our existing customers and in anticipation of a sharp growth in district heating systems across the UK, Insite Energy have made further investment in our customer service by opening a new call centre in Peterborough.

The dedicated call centre, which has transferred from London, has 30% more capacity. The move complements our new online self-service customer platform and a number of recently added high-tech back-office IT systems.

Insite Energy is already one of the heat network sector's largest and longest-established metering, billing, and payment providers. Through our investment in people and digital systems, we are in a very strong position to meet the new incoming business, and are set to double our current capacity within three years if required.

The new customer facing website does not only offer residents with alternative ways to pay, it also provides them with online contact forms, including moving in and out forms, downloadable brochures specific to their development, and FAQs. This has enabled the customer journey to be increasingly self-managed, resulting in a 34% drop in incoming calls. When customers do need to speak to someone, they are met by empathetic customer advisors who can quickly and easily provide them with the information they need. These two features combined have allowed us to develop industry-leading levels of customer satisfaction.

In its first quarter of operation, service quality at the Peterborough call centre increased by 60% and complaints dropped by 30%. Call waiting times averaged just 90 seconds, compared to sector norms for large energy companies of ten minutes or more, with some smaller companies averaging nearly half an hour's wait per call, according to research by the Competition & Markets Authority. Government regulatory body Ofgem generally deems anything below five minutes to be acceptable. The contact centre also has the longest opening hours in the industry, with calls being received from 9.00am to 8.30pm Monday to Fridays, and until 5.30pm on Saturdays.

Heat network growth

Heat networks form a crucial part of the Government's strategy to reach net zero emissions by 2050. To meet these targets, the Committee on Climate Change estimates heat networks should account for around 18% of UK heating, with around 2% of UK buildings being heated by communal systems in 2018.

Furthermore, the Government recently announced £40 million of additional heat network funding, together with new measures to give greater protection to end-users, designed to remove barriers for the industry to grow. We are expecting an upsurge in demand for low-carbon district heating systems, as well as for associated metering and billing platforms and services that meet the new, stricter requirements for information and transparency.

Heat providers – from housing associations and local authorities, to developers, contractors, managing agents and private landlords – want a metering, billing and payment company that can offer a proven track record of great customer service, hassle-free heat network operation and lower costs. We’re able to do that with a proper dedicated, state-of-the-art call centre that is at the heart of everything we do.

Call-handling specialists

We're investing in our staff, as well as technology. Peterborough is a great location as it’s a hub for customer contact centres, meaning there is a skilled local workforce to draw from. We’re offering a lot of benefits and amenities, and building the right company culture so that we can attract good people that want to stay with us for a long time.

To deliver improved customer services to residential customers and clients, Insite have also made significant investments in our backend. We have embedded two new software packages – Big Change and Gentrack Velocity – into our day-to-day operations. Big Change is an all-in-one mobile workforce and job management software tool, designed to enhance productivity by removing the need for manual planning and paper job forms, and introducing live tracking of engineer vehicles. Gentrack is a powerful billing and customer engagement platform, with whom we have collaborated to tailor their system to deliver first-class customer and client billing services specific to the needs of the heat network industry.

Insite is focusing on people, technology, and systems that provide not only excellent customer service, but also data security, regulatory compliance, and empathy. It's an exciting time to be with Insite Energy.