Among FixMyStreet Pro’s key benefits is its ability to allow councils and other public authorities to incorporate into each installation fault reporting for multiple service areas, flexing around individual needs and creating a consistent reporting experience for users.
An example of this is the way in which some councils using FixMyStreet Pro have chosen to enable reporting of housing-related issues via their instances of the service to help reduce misreporting and failure demand.
Meanwhile, housing associations themselves can also use the technology as their own, running a reporting service that works in synchronisation with neighbouring councils, triaging reports between them.
As is often the case with FixMyStreet Pro, this functionality can work in different ways, depending on an authority’s individual processes and relationships with housing associations and contractors.
Internal triaging
Where housing estates are managed by a particular team within the council that is different from the team which set up its FixMyStreet Pro service, reports can be triaged to that team using an asset layer, if the data is available.
Take Brent Council’s FixMyStreet Pro as an example, which enables users to select ‘Council Estate Grounds’ as a category, and then displays on the map an asset layer to make clear where such issues can be reported.
Should a user make a report within this category, with the map pin placed over the layer, the report will go to Brent’s dedicated estates team directly. As well as helping the council triage reports, this also helps to educate report-makers on who’s responsible for what.
It is also possible to do this without displaying the asset layer, if you would prefer. In these cases, upon selecting a particular report category and dropping the map pin in a certain place, the report will be triaged accordingly, but without the user knowing this is what is happening.
Signposting
Where it is not possible to directly triage a report to another system or team, FixMyStreet Pro makes it easy to signpost users to the correct place to make their report.
In such instances, councils can display a message to the user explaining why their report can’t be made via FixMyStreet Pro and where to make it instead.
Messages can be displayed at various points within the reporting workflow, based on either an asset layer (if available), the location of the map pin or the category or subcategory selected.
Housing associations using FixMyStreet Pro
As well as enabling councils to incorporate housing-related reports into their services, FixMyStreet Pro can also be used by said housing associations directly, acting as their own reporting service.
The Peabody Housing Association uses FixMyStreet Pro to manage fault reports within Thamesmead, making it easy for local people to report environmental issues such as fly-tipping, pest control, public lighting and problems in or around the canals and lakes — all managed by Peabody.
FixMyStreet Pro’s ability to triage reports nationally means housing associations benefit from being able to manage reports for issues that are their responsibility, while all other reports are automatically triaged to the correct authority.
With Peabody and its two closest borough councils, Bexley and Greenwich, as well as Transport for London, all using FixMyStreet Pro, the four bodies can work in synchronisation, making it easy for residents to successfully report problems and care for their local community.
For example, in the areas of Thamesmead which sit within the boundary of Greenwich, housing-related issues which are the responsibility of Peabody Housing Association are automatically triaged from the Royal Borough of Greenwich’s FixMyStreet Pro service. The report will not enter Greenwich’s workflow, instead going directly to the correct team at Peabody for response, with no interruption to the workflow for the report-maker.
Categories for caretakers
Additionally, in using the technology for themselves, housing associations can allow their caretakers to use the service to report issues via the same, simple user interface, just like Peabody have done.
“Caretakers can now make and monitor their reports at the touch of a button, taking ownership of when reports can be closed, or when others need to be chased”
Tom Broad, Head of Environmental Services at Peabody, explains more:
“Just as we had done for residents, we wanted to make it easier for our team of 80+ caretakers that look after the 5,000+ homes in Thamesmead to be able to report the defects they find without having to go via the call centre.
“Working with the team at SocietyWorks, we explored how we could use FixMyStreet Pro to give caretakers a quick and simple way to make reports online, and to stay updated on their progress. The result was to incorporate into the existing service some new, private categories and block asset layers, only visible to caretaker staff when logged in to our FixMyStreet Pro service. Like residents, caretakers can upload photos of the issue and provide as much detail as possible within their reports.
“It’s been a real success; caretakers can now make and monitor their reports at the touch of a button, taking ownership of when reports can be closed, or when others need to be chased. With all reports visible on the map, this new functionality has helped us to plug knowledge gaps whenever a member of staff is off sick or on annual leave, making sure reports are not duplicated and updates accessible to everyone.”
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For more information about FixMyStreet Pro, please send a message to our team.