Accessibility and arrangements

Language support
for access to services
Julia Wootton, National Manager Contact Centres
11 July 2014
Housing New Zealand
• Housing New Zealand Corporation is a
Crown agent that provides housing
services for people in need
• We provide high quality, subsidised rental
homes to people in the greatest need for
the duration of their need.
• Increase in number of quota refugees
housed over the past 2 years
Service Channels
•
•
•
•
•
Local offices
Customer Services Centre
Email
Fax
Correspondence by mail
Accessibility and arrangements
• Local offices
– Monday to Friday 9am – 4pm
– Tenancy Managers, Senior Tenancy
Managers, Area and Regional Managers
– Links with MSD to support customers
accessing relevant housing services
4
Accessibility and arrangements
• Customer Services Centre
– Toll free 0800 number
– 24/7, 365 for urgent enquiries, Monday to
Friday 8am- 6pm for general enquiries
– Multi-skilled Housing Advisors
– Telephony solution between MSD and
Housing
5
Language line
• Language Line key tool for support
– Training resources for both staff and
customers
– Active promotion of services on web site and
with staff, supported by “no interpreting” policy
in contact centre
– Support available from Ethnic Affairs, good
reporting and feedback
– Good uptake of interpretation services
6
Language line – uptake
• 687 calls to Language Line (May 14)
• Success rate very high
– 7 calls where language not available
– 12 where interpreter not available
• Average interpreting session - 11 minutes
• Most popular languages
– Samoan, Mandarin Tongan
7
8
Urdu
Tigrinia
Swahili
Sinhalese
Ryuhangan
Pashto
Malay
Kurindi
french
Filipino/Tagalog
Chin
Cambodian/Khmer
Burundi
Tokelauan
Niuean
Kurdish
Assyrian
Vietnamese
Cook Island Maori
korean
Dari
Nepalese
Somali
Hindi
Tamil
Farsi/Persian
Amharic/Ethiopian
Chinese Dialects
Russian
cantonese
Arabic
Burmese/Myanmar
Spanish
Tongan
Mandarin
Samoan
Languages – uptake May 2014
200
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
Challenges
• Mismatch of service hours of Language
Line and contact centre channels
9

Download Report