Since replacing their answering service with HappyCo’s fully integrated Call Complete, the leadership team at HNN Communities is, quite literally, sleeping better at night.
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Since replacing their answering service with HappyCo’s fully integrated Call Complete, the leadership team at HNN Communities is, quite literally, sleeping better at night.
HNN Communities is a Washington-based private and affordable housing provider with 30 properties, representing close to 7,500 units in the Puget Sound region and northwest Washington. HNN Communities not only manages the properties, they also develop and build them. Their goal is to provide affordable, value-driven, quality housing for their residents. Their reputation for excellence is rooted in the way they treat others and the mutual success they are able to find in the long-term relationships they have nurtured. So why shouldn’t their IVR system have the same expectations?
“Call Complete has streamlined everything that we do with emergency services at HNN, providing our teams with the tools to deliver better customer service across our portfolio. This product is amazing.”
Steve Jones
Executive Maintenance Manager, HNN Communities
With the right multifamily answering service, every incoming phone call to HNN Communities can be an opportunity to increase resident retention, convert prospects, and deliver incredible customer service. So HNN Communities asked themselves, when the phone rings, are they building relationships or driving their callers away? They began to realize how much their existing answering service was unable to meet their expectations or address escalation.
The senior leadership team was chronically woken up in the middle of the night due to the after-hours dispatch service calling the wrong contact. Additionally, the lack of clarity in on-call schedules resulted in unnecessary confusion and costly delays. With the inability to efficiently resolve emergency service requests, HNN Communities knew they needed a different solution.
A multifamily interactive voice response or IVR is an automated business phone system feature that interacts with callers and gathers information by giving them choices through a menu. It then performs actions based on the answers of the caller through the telephone keypad or their voice response. The choices of the caller decide the actions of the IVR since it can provide information or, if the issue is more complex or an after-hours emergency, route callers to a human representative who can better handle their needs.
It was clear to HNN Communities that technology could solve some of their challenges, and they were ready to try a new solution.
“The technology's really allowed us to stay in the game and stay on top of everything when we haven't been able to physically be onsite or go in the units.”
Owen Fleming
Maintenance and Capital Projects Manager, HNN Communities
Resistance to new technology is to be expected. When it comes to implementing a new system, there are always concerns. There’s the fear of results not being as valuable or reliable as they were with a manual method, or the fear that the new technology will be difficult to learn.
Thankfully, the HNN team understood the impact that an upgraded answering service would have on their resident experience and overall team efficiency, and were motivated to pursue a new solution. It didn’t take long to see the results.
Within two hours of implementing Call Complete at an HNN Communities test property, the leadership team approved an immediate rollout to approximately 1,500 units. Call Complete streamlined their emergency maintenance workflow and full integration with the Happy Property Suite meant work orders were automatically generated from service calls.
Multifamily IVR systems have become the best option for handling initial inquiries by residents and prospects - especially after office hours. But it’s not enough for HNN Communities to just capture a resident voicemail and follow up the next day. If the issue is an emergency, they need to be able to create a work order immediately and alert the appropriate on-call technician. And if the issue is complex or unclear, sometimes technicians need additional context.
Call Complete’s mobile interface immediately alerts the on-call technician of the incoming request and allows for quick two-way communication with the resident via phone call or text, all while masking the technician’s personal number. Technicians can request photos or videos of the issue to get more context and better prepare for the repair.
Residents are updated throughout the process providing assurance that their request is being addressed and an optional post-completion survey provides additional insights to gauge satisfaction. Simply put, Call Complete complements HNN’s commitment to make their residents feel cared for and valued.
After the successful roll-out to the initial 1,500 units, HNN’s property managers realized Call Complete’s value with the drag-and-drop on-call scheduler, configurable escalation tree, and resident communication capabilities. The comprehensive details of each emergency call were extremely important, including actions, notes, photos, and videos that helped HNN Communities address complaints and identify areas needing improvement. Call Complete now services the entire HNN portfolio of nearly 7,500 units.
“It gives us a dashboard where we can see portfolio-wide what's on hold, what's still being completed, and, how quickly the staff is responding to those urgent or priority requests.”
Owen Fleming
Maintenance and Capital Projects Manager, HNN
