Horizon Housing shares experience of using Near Me video appointments
Craig Russell, Head of Housing at Horizon Housing Association, has shared his experience of participating in the Near Me Network – Improvement Collaborative.
Horizon Housing Association has been working closely with SFHA and a small number of other RSLs to participate in the Near Me Network – Improvement Collaborative. In the short space of time that we have been trialling the platform, we have been amazed at the opportunities that Near Me offers to work more effectively and offer a more responsive service to our tenants.
It has come at a perfect time for us as we have successfully obtained iPads and internet access, through the Connecting Scotland scheme, for eligible tenants who were digitally excluded. Alongside this, we have been focussing on how we can improve the digital services offered to all our tenants.
We have set up a small working group of staff across all our teams to look at ways in which we could use Near Me to improve how we can respond to our tenants’ needs. Our Tenancy Sustainment Team was able to talk a tenant through the completion of a complex form that would ordinarily have required a physical visit. Similarly, one of our housing officers was able to easily complete a pre-allocation interview with a prospective tenant and to check documents. We are geographically spread across 12 local authority areas, so our teams often have to spend quite a bit of time travelling to tenants’ homes (sometimes for a very short visit). In addition to freeing up time that staff can use to support other tenants, the number of miles travelled is significantly reduced – reducing our costs and our impact on the environment.
Our Repairs and Maintenance Team is currently trialling the use of Near Me to carry out video inspections. This is particularly useful for simple repairs, which could be diagnosed and work instructed in one call, removing the need for a tenant to wait on an inspection visit and then a separate appointment arranged to complete the works.
It is a really simple process to set up; a staff member will log into Near Me and either generate a text or email to our tenant with a direct link to the Horizon Waiting room within Near Me. We can also send out test call details to ensure the tenant can access the platform, if required. On the day of the appointment, the tenant will access via the link and complete their basic information (name and date of birth). The Horizon staff member will allow them access to the waiting room and start the video call.
The feedback from our tenants has been really positive. Being able to see our team face-to-face instead of a telephone conversation feels much more personal. Unfortunately, due to the circumstances of the past year, much of our contact with tenants has been by telephone and, whilst we can’t wait to be able to see our tenants in person again, I can see an ongoing use for Near Me as part of our digital service offering to supplement our other contact methods.
I look forward to rolling this out to our wider teams and exploring how we could develop Near Me for things like online tenant meetings or other consultation meetings.
Applying for Near Me access
Near Me is easy to set up within your organisation. In the first instance, please arrange a demonstration session with the National Near Me team. Please contact nss.nearme@nhs.scot to set up a session.
When you are ready to set get started, you will find technical information, training videos and an application form here. Further information is available here: