Digitalisation at the
service of customers

A new and more practical website

In February 2022, Sibelga’s website underwent a complete overhaul. Designed to meet the needs of Brussels customers, it provides a set of practical tools that can be accessed with a few clicks. In particular, customers can find their EAN code or submit their meter readings, track power cuts in Brussels in real time, find out about planned power cuts during construction work or calculate the recharging time for an electric car.

“We have also redesigned the structure of the site so that customers can quickly find the information they are looking for,” explains Johan De Bruyn, Customer Communication Manager. During the design of the site, a panel of people from outside the company were invited to participate in a test to improve the ease of navigation.

However, there is no question of Sibelga basing everything on digital: “Customer service telephone numbers, a contact form and emergency numbers are prominently displayed on all pages of the site. This way, customers who want personal contact can easily get in touch with one of our employees. Digital technology makes it easier to access information, without replacing human contact,” says Johan De Bruyn. Sibelga still has a physical reception office on Boulevard Emile Jacqmain.

A unique offer to simplify customers’ lives

Digitalisation also makes it possible to simplify certain specific customer requests. A concrete example: until recently, when a customer requested several connections in a single project, they received separate offers for each type of energy and each connection. “In the context of building a new housing estate, a developer received no less than 52 offers!” Hadrien Nimal, head of the design office, recalls. “This multitude of offers could cause several problems: it caused a significant administrative burden for customers and increased the risk of error. “

This was due, among other things, to the fact that the departments involved within Sibelga used separate platforms for logging the offers. Since June 2022, the processes have been reviewed and harmonised to result in a single bid per project, regardless of the number of addresses or energies involved.

Streamlining information-gathering through digital

By implementing digitalised processes, Sibelga improves the efficiency of communication with its customers.

Thus, owners of high-voltage cabins and owners of large gas connections are required to sign a connection contract with Sibelga. This contract specifies the rights and obligations relating to their connection, as set out in the Technical Regulations. However, a number of owners have not yet signed this contract. “These are facilities that were installed before the Technical Regulation was imposed,” explains Quentin De Clerck, Customer Account Manager. “By using a dedicated web form linked directly to our customer management application, we have become more efficient and regularised around 120 contracts in 2022. “In addition, a clear increase in satisfaction was noted in the customer survey for the connection contract part (with an overall satisfaction rate rising from 75 to 80%). In addition, in 2022, Sibelga tested the effectiveness of alternative contact methods for customers who are absent when the meter is being read. “In a pilot project, we wanted to check whether digital channels could increase the rate of transmission of our customers’ readings. We tested e-mail, SMS and an interactive voice server, i.e. a machine-operated call. Our initial tests show that the implementation of a multi-channel reminder increases customer returns positively. Sibelga is therefore working in 2023 to integrate these new channels into its meter-reading processes,” explains Carlo Pepermans, head of Meter Reading.