University of Hertfordshire pilots new technology to help Clearing process
The system, which is being piloted by the University of Hertfordshire, has been developed to enable university staff to deal more effectively and efficiently with the high number of enquiries it gets from potential applicants during the Clearing period. ActiveReception will enable staff to process applicants’ queries directly through its website (www.herts.ac.uk) with live-chat communication in real time. This means university staff can handle multiple queries simultaneously and gather the essential student data, rather than dealing with individual telephone calls.
Donald McLeod, Head of Marketing Services, University of Hertfordshire said
“As a University we put the student at the heart of our business and as Clearing is one of our busiest times of the year the ability to chat on-line to our prospective students will enable the University to provide an enhanced and clearly differentiated service. We will also be interested to compare with previous years to see whether the number of calls to our Clearing Hotline will be reduced as a result of live chats. In addition, as the system has a highly advanced monitoring and analytical dashboard, we will gain a true ‘real time’ insight in to our prospective students’ movements and duration of stay on the university’s website.”
The amount of calls received by universities in clearing days is overwhelming. Last year, more than 60.000 applicants found places through clearing.
Ray Power, CEO of ActiveReception comments: “ We view the up and coming population as Generation Chat, capable of multiple simultaneous communications as part of everyday life. They are driving a culture that transacts information faster than ever. By providing tools to facilitate this pace, we are not only helping the University to remain competitive but also lightening the burden on students”.
Notes to editors:
A demonstration of this technology will be carried out at the University of Hertfordshire on 20 August at 11:00 AM when local sixth form students will open their results and then immediately go online and chat with university staff.
