Case Study - Waterwatch (Scotland)

Customer

Waterwatch (Scotland) handle complaints against Scottish Water from its customers (both domestic and non-domestic) and represent consumer’s interests within the Water Industry. Its powers are derived from the Water Services Etc. (Scotland) Act 2005. WaterWatch has powers to make recommendations to Scottish Water and to report to the Scottish Parliament. It produces an annual report including details of the number and nature of the contacts with which it has dealt.

Business Issues

Waterwatch (Scotland) needed a system to support their new organisation. Their key requirements were:

  • Clarity and consistency in the application of the enquiries, complaints and contact management process
  • Timely and efficient processing of cases
  • Measurement of performance against business objectives
  • Provision of tools that are easy to use to support staff productivity
  • Enabling good communication with its stakeholders
  • Monitoring to ensure that recommendations made to Scottish Water are carried out
  • Highlighting complaint trends to allow early actions to be taken

CAS Solution

CAS worked closely with Waterwatch staff to develop a solution which satisfied the specific needs of the organisation. The system was highly tailored to categorise complaints/contacts e.g. Water Billing, Charging, Water Supply, Odour, Water Quality, Waste Water Services, Flooding, Infrastructure etc. Each category is broken down in a hierarchical fashion e.g. Water Billing into payment methods, disputed readings, debt issues etc. This allows for detailed management reporting.

User training was provided and the system went ‘live’ on 1st April 2006. Waterwatch also have a support contract with CAS to ensure business continuity of its entire IT environment. The project was managed using PRINCE 2 methodology to ensure that the project was well controlled and delivered on time and within budget.

Benefits

  • A powerful and flexible Management Information System which allows monitoring of performance against KPIs and workload monitoring
  • A case-centric application which integrates document handling and workflow to support the enquiries/complaint investigation process
  • Ability of the system to be used remotely while staff are out of the office
  • A system which is intuitive to use for non-IT professionals
  • A solution which is cost-effective to implement and maintain
  • Remote support from the CAS offices in Edinburgh

"CAS has an extensive track record of successfully implementing case management systems over a number years as well as staff who are knowledgeable about domestic and non-domestic complaints specific to the Water Industry. Understanding our core business issues specific to the Water Industry allowed the system to be implemented very quickly and cost effectively." commented Ian Smith, Convener, Waterwatch (Scotland).

Gary Womersley, Head of Corporate Services adds "We required a system that could meet our needs now and adapt to the changing demands of the Water Industry. We have enjoyed working with CAS’s professional and friendly staff."