Southern Water has helped customers avoid more than 10,000 unnecessary visits by its engineers in just one year via the support offered by its innovative Virtual Inspector team.

Based out of the company’s HQ in Worthing, West Sussex, the specialists are on hand online and can speak to members of the public on how to cope with a range of practical concerns about the services Southern Water provides.

Common issues include problems with water pipes and leaks in people’s properties, and help needed to isolate and switch off water supplies.

For example, if a customer reports a leak in their home, the Virtual Inspector can explain how to close a stop tap to temporarily tackle the problem, ready for the arrival of an in-person inspector. If necessary, a specialist can raise the work to replace the defective equipment to be replaced, directly to the contractor, bypassing the need for an in person visit.

Led by team leader Mary Penn, Virtual Inspectors are able to quickly resolve around 90% of the jobs they face, and where they can’t solve them fully, they can prepare an in-person inspector to complete the task quickly by requesting the right skillset and equipment – saving around 750 days of inspector time across the past 12 months.

Mary Penn said:

“We trialled the virtual team around a year ago and it has proved to be a big success. Since then, we’ve saved more than 10,000 Network site visits.

“Not all jobs can be handled remotely and will still rely heavily on the 70 Network Inspectors out in the field when we need a hands-on approach, but this new system is making sure our customers receive the right support each time.”

The team - made up of Mary and ex-Network Inspectors Chris Harris, Ollie Hall and James Pope - also provide support and guidance to third parties and contractors who are carrying out work related to the network.