With the increased reliance on online communication during the coronavirus pandemic, Jordan Fay and her colleagues in SSEN's Digital team are a key part of the company's strategy to keep its customers informed.
Jordan is a social media officer and web content editor, part of the team that monitors several of the most popular social channels including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. The team also manage SSEN's website and its own Power Track App, responding to customers' enquiries and posting updates on our engineers' work to keep the power flowing.
She said: "We're here 24/7 to help and support our customers with whatever they may need, from power cuts to connection queries. To ensure the safety of our customers and engineers in these challenging times, we've also been asking customers a few more precautionary questions when they contact us on our digital channels to report a power cut.
"The safety of our customers and our staff has always been our number one priority, and so where possible, our engineers will carry out their investigations and repairs without entering the customer's property.
"To help us do this, we're asking customers to confirm whether their electrical meter is located inside or outside of the house, as this is where our equipment will be too. We can then let the team going to the property know before they arrive, that little bit of extra information can make all the difference and helps them adhere to the Government guidelines on social distancing when working at the property."
It's not just staff in the field who are working differently; Jordan and her colleagues are used to being based in the hustle and bustle of SSEN's 24hr Customer Contact Centres, but now the majority of their shifts are done from home. The only time Jordan and her team-mates come in to the office is for the overnight shift when, to help with social distancing,there is a team of skeleton staff in the building.
Everyone is still, however, managing to stay in touch and keep each other's spirits up, as Jordan explains:
"Although we're now working on our own, we have our team WhatsApp group where we regularly chat and check in to see how everyone is doing.
"Also, as most of us have pets, we're sending daily pictures into the chat group to show how our pets are 'assisting' us while working from home. It might not seem very important, but it helps us all to stay positive and brings some joy to the day."
Jordan said: "This is undoubtedly a worrying time for everyone, and I want to do my bit to help every time a customer gets in touch. Our teams out in the field are carrying out critical work to keep the power flowing, and I'm proud to be part of a company which is playing an essential role in the fight against coronavirus."
To learn more about SSEN's response to COVID-19, clickhere.