United Utilities is spending £30.3m on a new workforce management system that will speed up customer service and boost its efficiency.

The system, provided by IBM and SAP, will link the United Utilities' different operational units and will also plan and schedule future work to maximise staff efficiency.

And as soon as a customer service representative receives a call, the problem is analysed and monitored throughout its progress and real-time information is provided.

United Utilities is the first in its industry to launch this kind of project according to Brian Hurd, customer services director at the group.

"It is a highly sophisticated project with a simple objective – to ensure we get the right people to the right job at the right time," he said.

"This is the first time such a project has taken place in the water industry and it will improve our reaction time and efficiency enormously. It will analyse everything we do and we will be able to see at a glance the progress on every job. Should anything start to fall behind schedule, we will be alerted immediately and will be able to rectify the problem.”