Setting up utilities when moving home: Please Connect Me partners with Ideavate and launches a digital companion application

Home moving experts Please Connect Me, and home technology provider, Ideavate, today announced the availability of a digital dashboard for Please Connect Me customers to track the progress of setting up their utilities in their new home.

As a digital companion to the phone-based concierge service provided by Please Connect Me, the new dashboard gives home movers access to a convenient, digital view of their utility and service connections, through an online Please Connect Me account.

An integration between Please Connect Me and Ideavate enables a real-time, automated representation of the progress of setting up utilities including gas, electricity, TV, broadband, insurance, council tax and water in the customer’s new home.

The digital dashboard launch marks the first output of a partnership that will provide a range of customer experience benefits to home movers using the Please Connect Me service - further delivering on their promise of helping their customers save time, money and hassle.

Despite broader market uncertainties including the Covid-19 pandemic and Brexit – data showed that following the first lockdown in March, moving house still took place at significant volumes in 2020. A desire to move to different locations (i.e. around half of Londoners were reported to wanting out of the city*) and government initiatives like the stamp duty holiday propelled the market to similar numbers seen in previous years.

Despite this however, the ability to arrange home services such as broadband became considerably more difficult – with Virgin Media and Sky reporting delays of up to several weeks to get basic services installed.

As a result, the use of specialist concierge services to help people move home is growing rapidly. Competition in the property sector and the requirements unde the ‘new normal’ are driving the adoption of innovative solutions to improve the home moving experience and help take the stress away.

The partnership between Please Connect Me and Ideavate will create a stream of property tech innovation, bringing together personalised service and digital tools to ensure a smooth experience when moving into a new property and beyond.

Dan Munro, CEO of Please Connect Me, said, “We’re delighted to launch a digital dashboard for our customers, and we’re already seeing engagement in this channel by the majority of our customers. Please Connect Me is known for providing an exceptional customer experience, and working with Ideavate enables us to continue developing our offering and to provide home movers and partners with a service we believe is best service on the market.”

David Sheridan, CEO of Ideavate Limited said, “Over the last five years we’ve developed significant intellectual property and know-how in the home technology space. We share a vision with Dan and the team at Please Connect Me that technology can be put to much greater use to help consumers manage their homes more easily, and we’re looking forward to bringing the benefits of our partnership to the Please Connect Me customer base.

For more information on Please Connect Me or Ideavate, please contact dan.munro@pleaseconnectme.co.uk or david@ideavate.co.uk or call +44 208 059 4332

*https://www.london.gov.uk/press-releases/assembly/escaping-t...