On November 7th, allpay and Voicescape hosted an insightful webinar titled ‘Future-proofing public services: The power of data-driven solutions’. The session explored the intersection of data science, behavioural insights, and digital technology to enhance public service delivery, particularly in the social housing sector.
We discussed how adopting innovative tools like Voicescape’s engagement platform and allpay’s payment systems can help organisations streamline operations, reduce arrears, and improve tenant engagement.
Here’s a quick recap of the webinar highlights:
Addressing challenges in social housing with Voicescape
Stacey Valentine, Head of Customer Success at Voicescape, kicked off the discussion by highlighting the growing challenges faced by social housing providers. With rising rent arrears, increased pressure on staff, and the complexity of managing tenant engagement, traditional methods of communication are proving inadequate.
Stacey emphasised that early intervention, enabled by Voicescape’s platform, can prevent issues from escalating, improving long-term engagement and reducing arrears. The key to Voicescape’s success lies in its ability to automate outreach using behavioural insights, ensuring that housing providers contact tenants at the right time and with the most effective methods.
The power of voice communication
One of the major takeaways was the importance of voice communication. While letters and SMS are useful, voice calls have proven to have the biggest impact on building trust and fostering meaningful engagement with tenants. By combining automated voice calls with other communication methods like text messages, housing providers can ensure that tenants receive timely information, leading to more productive conversations and better payment outcomes.
Voicescape also helps organisations manage tenant data by triaging and validating case lists. This allows for a more targeted approach to outreach, ensuring that housing providers focus their efforts on tenants most likely to engage. For those who do not respond to initial calls, follow-ups through voicemail or SMS ensure persistent, yet respectful, engagement, helping to build trust over time.
Enhancing payments with allpay’s Pay-by-Link
Ellie Morris, Product Manager at allpay, introduced the integration of allpay’s Pay-by-Link solution with Voicescape. This new payment method offers tenants the flexibility to pay outstanding balances via a personalised link sent through SMS. It allows tenants to complete payments at their convenience, eliminating the need for direct interaction with a customer service agent. This feature is particularly helpful for tenants who may not want to engage over the phone or prefer to pay after hours.
Ellie demonstrated how this integration streamlines payment collection, reducing the administrative burden on housing providers and improving collection rates. The ability to track payment status through detailed analytics ensures organisations can effectively follow up on any unpaid transactions and manage customer relationships more efficiently.
Real-life impact: Yorkshire Housing’s success story
Yasmin Lockhart, Income Services Manager at Yorkshire Housing, shared how her organisation has benefited from the integration of Voicescape and allpay. Faced with the challenge of managing a high volume of failed direct debits, Yorkshire Housing adopted Pay-by-Link to automate the payment recovery process. Since its implementation, the solution has processed over 1,300 transactions, collecting approximately £450,000 in payments.
Yasmin emphasised that the ability to collect straightforward payments through automated links has allowed her team to focus on more complex cases, such as assisting tenants with financial difficulties or referring them to external support services. This early intervention and streamlined approach to payment collection have not only improved cash flow but also enhanced the overall tenant experience.
The future of data-driven public services
The partnership between allpay and Voicescape represents a powerful step toward modernising public service delivery. By integrating data-driven solutions with user-friendly payment systems, housing providers can reduce arrears, improve operational efficiencies, and offer more personalised support to tenants.
Looking ahead, the collaboration between allpay and Voicescape will continue to deepen, offering even more innovative tools and integrations to further enhance the customer experience. Ellie Morris highlighted some exciting future developments, including updates to the Pay-by-Link system, which will provide users with an enhanced dashboard and more powerful data analytics. Additionally, a new API integration for failed direct debits will allow housing providers to receive notifications more quickly cutting the time for intervention in half.
These future innovations will continue to simplify processes, improve tenant engagement, and increase the overall efficiency of social housing operations. As we work closely together, Voicescape and allpay aim to offer public service organisations the tools they need to future-proof their operations, ensuring they are ready for any challenges ahead.
This webinar provided valuable insights into the transformative power of data-driven solutions in public service. The combination of Voicescape’s engagement platform and allpay’s payment solutions has proven to be a game-changer for social housing providers, offering a seamless, scalable way to manage tenant engagement, improve payment collection, and reduce administrative workloads.
If you missed the live session or would like to revisit the discussion, you can watch the full recording of the webinar here, or if you want a member of the team to reach out, you can book a demo here.
