Yarra Valley Water wins award for customer privacy innovation
The Auscontact Victoria and Tasmania awards celebrate outstanding achievements in customer service and employee experience.
Yarra Valley Water was recognised for the ‘Privacy Check Pop-Up’s’ success in helping contact centre staff keep customer information secure, while making their jobs easier.
The on-screen pop-up gives staff a clear process to follow when verifying a customer’s identity when they call Yarra Valley Water. The interactive checklist that shows staff the details required to confirm the caller’s identity and offers alternative types of verification if a customer can’t provide a specific piece of information.
Yarra Valley Water Managing Director Natalie Foeng said the tool was a game changer for both customers and staff.
“Keeping our customers’ information secure is something we take very seriously. The ‘Privacy Check Pop-Up’ ensures people’s details aren’t shared with the wrong person,” she said.
“The pop-up is also a great tool for our contact centre staff, who carry a lot of responsibility when it comes to verifying customers and keeping their information secure. The pop-up gives them a clear process to follow so they can be confident they’re taking the right steps to protect customer privacy.”
The initiative helps safeguard customers against phishing scams and provides extra protection for people experiencing family violence.
Yarra Valley Water Customer Care Team Leader Cameron Preston said the value of the pop-up had been embraced by staff.
“Developing and testing the Privacy Check Pop-Up took a lot of collaboration across the business, but its benefits have been clear,” he said.
“In addition to the added security for customers, we’ve received a lot of positive feedback from our contact centre staff that it’s made their work easier and reduced the stress associated with the risks of manually verifying customers' identities.
“Since we’ve developed the pop-up, we’ve shared the initiative with other organisations to help them introduce similar tools. It’s been a great initiative for our staff, so we’re keen to help others reap the benefits where possible.”
The full list of winners from the Auscontact Excellence Awards can be found at https://www.auscontact.com.au/Web/Web/Awards/Winners/2025-State-Finalists-and-Winners.aspx