Pictured: Neal CD Audio Interview Recorders
Colin Naylor, Managing Director of DUKES BAILIFFS and
Co-Chairman of industry association CIVEA, says the power of
technology is being harnessed to make the industry more efficient,
accountable and professional.
"With the current public consultation on implementation of Part
3 of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act our industry will
take a further step along the path to a fully transparent, fair
code of practice and operating principles.
All of us who believe in the future of the industry welcome
developments that mean our clients and the wider public can
understand better the valuable job we do.
Quite apart from working with the various authorities to
underline our commitment to standards, there are a number of
initiatives with the new technologies which increase knowledge of
what is happening on cases, improve the ability to direct and
control activities in the field and provide hard evidence to
clients that correct procedures are being followed.
For example, there is "Crystal Ball", a monitoring system with
vehicle tracing technology that provides live information such as
vehicle speed, journey time, distance and precise location. The
data is stored for three months and is available to download. Where
debtors dispute visit or phone records the system provides
detailed, instant and incontrovertible evidence of the facts.
For customers it means help in resolving outstanding cases
quickly and decisively.
For staff, the technology features a panic button, a welfare
function and a tracking device. They can notify colleagues if they
feel there might be a potential for confrontation. Crystal Ball has
Mobile Monitor and Lone Worker smart phone applications which also
log calls and text messages in real time.
All this avoids so much potential for the arguments about time
and place which make up a huge proportion of case conflict.
What's more it means people can feel much safer, even when they
are engaged on cases where there is clear potential for them to be
put under duress or even physical attack.
We are now also using Neal CD Audio Interview Recorders in
debtor interviews and complaints procedures. These are similar
devices to those used by every police force in the UK and enables
clients to know that accurate, exact records of meetings with
debtors are being kept, with the resulting benefits in dispute
resolution.
Lastly, there is some state-of-the-art software from
managementmycomplaints.com which is the first specialist online
customer feedback and complaint management service designed
specifically for SMEs, which will capture and analyse customer
feedback to identify any problem areas.
As an industry we must do more than simply accept change, we
must positively embrace it as a means of strengthening our
relationship with customers. Sometimes new technology is seen as
replacing the personal element of business, but in our case we have
found it can actually enhance it by providing hard evidence that
the right things are being done at the right time. That can only be
in everyone's interest".