Our Technology

People are the most important part of our business - but technology helps us do our job as effectively as we can. And as technology evolves, so do we. Our in-house development team keeps us ahead of the game, providing a constant stream of enhancements to ensure that efficiency is maximised - both for ourselves, and for our clients.

Our state-of-the-art IT system allows us to keep in constant contact with our Enforcement Agents, and update clients on the progress of their cases. It also provides debtors with an easy, secure way of making online payments from desktop and mobile devices through our Customer Portal.

Market-leading administrative systems

Our core business systems are designed, developed and maintained by our in-house team of software developers. We took the decision to develop an in-house system after careful consideration and review of existing commercially available applications. We concluded that we could develop a superior bespoke system, giving us:

Faster development by people who have first-hand knowledge of business processes resulting in quicker turn-around times
An understanding of business needs and drivers
An understanding of your needs and requirements
The ability to continually enhance our internal and external solutions without intervention by third parties

Our modular system has a wide range of industry-leading functionality, including:

Advanced core system

The core of our system has been designed to be flexible and cope with all aspects of the recovery process
The system was designed after consultation with back-office staff and management for greater efficiency and ease of use
Its design ensures that cases do not stagnate and are recovered with no delays
Cases automatically progress to the next stage if payments are not received on time
The system was designed to handle multiple debt types, including situations where multiple debt types are associated together
We have four-way, real-time integration between the agent’s smartphone app, our Client Portal, our award-winning Debtor Portal and our back-office system, ECS. So, if one system is changed the other three are immediately and automatically updated
Alerts are built into the system if cases requiring a manual action (e.g. a visit or a phone call) are not completed within prescribed timescales

Embedded guidelines

Client guidelines are embedded into our system.

Many decisions can be automated, e.g. how many letters to send at the compliance stage and the timing between letters
Guidelines can be set by both client and by debt type allowing full flexibility to meet client needs
Guidelines are also always displayed to internal staff and agents, to ensure we always abide by them

Client Portal

Latest features include:

Workflows - Highlights any cases which require review on an easy to use workflow. When cases are dealt with the outstanding counts update in real time which is reflected across all users
Arrangements - Arrangements can be created via a calculator, which assists the user in the steps required in setting up an arrangement across the outstanding balances. Arrangement confirmation letters can also be issued as part of the process
Report dashboard - Revealing a number of key figures such as cases received, visits made, letters sent, telephone calls made / received enabling clients real-time access to track activity
File transfer - This tool allows users and our staff to safely and securely transfer sensitive data, freely and efficiently

Debtor Portal

Account dashboard - Provides our debtors with a general overview of their accounts and offers the ability to manage their case(s) in a simple easy-to-read portal
Make a payment - Debtors can make secure payments via the online portal that features a useful guide to help the debtor through the process
Request arrangements - Debtors can request their own arrangements on the portal, which are automatically analysed against the relevant council’s guidelines and accepted / rejected. Requests that are rejected will be automatically added to a follow-up queue with one of our Telephone Agents
Case history - A log containing the activity history of a case(s) in a simple and clear layout for debtors
Contact options - Debtors can alter and amend their contact details following a verification process. Debtors also have access to all methods of communication for Bristow & Sutor

Enforcement Agent App

Routes - Our agents can view, action and complete a clear list of cases from their current live routes, optimised to improve productivity and reduce carbon footprint
Payments - Debtors can make payments directly to Enforcement Agents with the use of the app’s secure payment facility
Cases - An in-depth view of cases for each debtor in the route as well as the ability to perform case admin
Work management - Our Agents are monitored to ensure that maximum performance can be achieved along with strict privacy and safety features