Customer service tools aid fight against animal cruelty

Software from Eptica helps RSPCA to slash response times to online enquiries

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) has slashed the time it takes to respond to animal cruelty cases reported online from around two days to just 21 minutes, by investing in advanced customer service technology.

The animal welfare charity is using software from customer interaction management solutions provider Eptica to cut the average response times.

Enquiries sent through the RSPCA web site are now automatically scanned, prioritised and sent through to the right people to action.

The RSPCA said that it has a 10-strong team working around the clock helping animals at risk, and the time it has saved in processing online enquiries means it can now investigate more cases and ultimately save the lives of more animals.

"Over the last few years we've seen a massive growth in the number of people contacting us online," said Veronica Morrison, information and advice manager at the RSPCA.

"Eptica's technology allows us to investigate and process all the cases reported on our web site, quickly and efficiently. Being able to better manage the thousands of enquiries we receive every year helps us to save more animals."

The charity added that it also uses Eptica's email management solution to deal with general pet health and behavioural advice queries. It said that the online response times for veterinary advice has fallen from seven days to two hours, while that for pet care and behavioural advice has fallen from 32 days to less than one hour.