Hackney Homes

The Requirement

Hackney Homes is an arms length management organisation (ALMO), launched in April 2006 by the London Borough of Hackney to manage social housing services across the borough.

A high proportion of Hackney residents do not have access to the internet, so providing public access kiosks helps Hackney Homes reach a wider audience than their website could and provides residents with a range of additional information and services.

The borough of Hackney is home to people from a variety of cultural and ethnic backgrounds. To ensure residents with diverse linguistic backgrounds can access their services, Hackney Homes provides information in a range of languages. This multilingual aspect extends to its online services.

The Solution

To ensure that non English speaking residents would not be excluded from these services, Hackney Homes commissioned a network of multilingual, self service kiosks from Amatica. A network of 5 kiosks has been located in each of the organisation's neighbourhood offices.

Each kiosk is equipped with a multilingual interface to key services provided by Hackney Homes.

The information points provide access to information about housing services, up to date community information as well as links to Hackney Council's website. Residents are also be able to use the kiosks to pay their rent, report faults, request repairs and check when planned maintenance work is due to be carried out on their property.

Information is available in French, Somali, Cantonese, Turkish and English.

The kiosks have been fitted with telephone handsets and webcams in readiness for Phase two of the project. Hackney Homes plans to integrate its call centre services with the kiosks, so that residents can contact Hackney Homes direct from the kiosk.

Phase three will incorporate video conferencing facilities, so residents can conduct face to face contact with someone who speaks their own language.

Amatica's expertise and experience has ensured that the kiosks and software are as user-friendly and accessible as possible, so residents do not have to be expert web-users in order to find the information they need.

The Outcome

• residents from all social and ethnic backgrounds can interact with their social housing provider via the kiosks, regardless of IT knowledge or language
• raises awareness and access to online council services
• enables residents to access information in their own language
• extends internet access to socially excluded residents
• self service access to information reduces pressure on office staff & reduces queues

In 2008, two new external kiosks were added to the kiosk network, extending access to these online services to 24/7. The Expo kiosk is designed to withstand the rigours delivering on-street public access, with the enclosure and internal components resistant to weather and abuse, and is equipped with a rugged keyboard to enable users to complete online forms as well as a trackball to aid web navigation.

With competitive demand for certain types of housing, the decision extend Hackney Homes' online service in using the on-street kiosks enables local residents to access information and apply for housing beyond the opening hours of Hackney Homes' housing offices.