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Ciptex partners with Shelter to support people at risk of homelessness

Ciptex has developed a new multi-channel self-service Contact Centre with UK housing charity Shelter driving new ways to support people at risk of homelessness.

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“Ciptex are supporting us with a compelling vision. We urgently needed support and Ciptex got it in terms of the challenge and solutions, helping to build a plan around our urgent needs to support people. Our advisors were freed up to focus on things they are good at doing.”

– Stuart Moore, Assistant Director of Digital Transformation for Shelter

15,555 English Households called the Shelter helpline

14,026 web chats responded to via the Shelter website

6.2 million visits to Shelter’s online advice portal

2,000 volunteers helping people in need

Source; 2022/23 Shelter Impact Report. 

About Shelter

Shelter exists to defend the right to a safe home and fight the devastating impact the housing emergency has on people and society. Shelter believes that home is everything. Shelters expert advisers offer vital support and advice to millions of families who are enduring the immense harm caused by housing emergency. Learn more at www.shelter.org.uk.

Lady with her daughter on her back. The pair are smiling. The daughter is wearing a yellow jumper and a pink bow. The mum is wearing a grey jumper and black glasses with her hair in a bun.

The Challenge

Technology partner Ciptex has developed a new multi-channel self-service Contact Centre with UK housing charity Shelter driving new ways to support people at risk of homelessness.

Shelter, which has 22 offices across England and Scotland, provided advice to over 31,000 households in 2023.

The housing crisis and rise in homelessness means that Shelter is facing an evergrowing demand for its advice services. Shelter needs to make imaginative use of technology to provide appropriate advice to its callers and the partnership with Ciptex is looking at new ways of delivering services.

The Solution

Technology partner Ciptex has developed a new multi-channel self-service Contact Centre with UK housing charity Shelter driving new ways to support people at risk of homelessness.

Shelter, which has 22 offices across England and Scotland, provided advice to over 31,000 households in 2023.

Deploying Ciptex’s technology, powered by global customer engagement platform Twilio,

the aim is for every Shelter caller to have their own specific advisor. This will ensure that mainline advisors are freed up to focus on emergency or most high priority cases, delivering useful information quickly to people who can’t get through to a live advisor.

Phase 1 of the partnership has replaced existing Contact Centre core services with a live online chat service in addition to voice recognition. Phase 2 is transforming services using a chatbot to triage inquiries with future phases linking this with an augmented AI advice tool, supporting Shelter to deliver their services to more customers.

People in the contact centre are typing. Three people sat next to each other in the contact centre. A man in a light blue shirt and grey tie is blurred out. The lady wearing a white shirt and a grey blazer is slightly less blurred. In the front is a man smiling while typing, wearing a dark grey shirt and a silver tie. They all are wearing contact centre headpieces

“Our partnership with Ciptex is exploring new ways of delivering services, ensuring that mainline advisors are working with emergency or most high priority cases, providing useful information to people quickly, who can’t get through to a live advisor.”

– Stuart Moore, Assistant Director of Digital Transformation for Shelter

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Andrew Marchant, Executive Chairman – Ciptex, said:

“Following the successful launch of our services to the UK housing sector with our partnership with Aster Group, we are proud to be partnering with housing and homelessness charity Shelter, using our friction free Contact Centre technology and expertise to make a difference.

“We are excited to be supporting Shelter to achieve more first contact resolution for a wide range of complex inquiries, as well as deploying AI to support people at risk of homelessness with the urgent advice they need.”

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