Case Study: Northumbrian Water improves sustainable customer service with hedgehog lab's Alexa skill

Northumbrian Water serves 2.7m people with hedgehog lab

Northumbrian Water, a utility company serving over 2.7 million people, faced the dual challenge of meeting strict regulatory service requirements while managing resource-intensive customer call center enquiries. Their goal was to improve customer engagement and advance their sustainability objectives by reducing the environmental impact of their communications. Partnering with hedgehog lab, they sought a digital solution to shift common queries away from energy-consuming call centers and paper-based methods.

hedgehog lab developed an industry-first Alexa skill for Northumbrian Water, integrating a voice-optimized water facts database and a live Twitter feed via Azure Logic App for real-time, postcode-targeted service updates. This solution delivered significant sustainability outcomes, including reduced energy consumption in customer service operations, a lower carbon footprint from diminished paper communications, and improved water conservation through enhanced customer awareness of usage and disruptions.

Northumbrian Water