One Housing is a housing association and a not-for-profit organisation that offers a wide range of housing options. They manage approximately 17,000 homes and provide support to over 9,500 vulnerable people.
When looking to implement a Case Management System, Thread stands out from the rest of the software options due to the key functionalities and our software’s full-on Microsoft 365 environment”.
Thread had helped One Housing Legal Department to operate their business in a fully remote and digital way, as well as helped them manage the ever-growing workloads more efficiently.
Thread is a solution for the current time and it is evolving. We see it as a product that we can rely on in the years to come” – Darko Glavas, Commercial Director of One Housing
The Challenge of One Housing before Thread
One housing implemented Thread Legal Software on May 2021.
An outdated paper-based management system along with data security, compliance, and adapting to remote working were some of the main challenges that One Housing In-House Legal Team faced before implementing Thread Legal Software according to the Commercial Director, Darko Glavas.
Before implementing Thread as an electronic case management system, One Housing was managing all cases manually, and in paper form within a small team. Once the caseload and the team grew, they started running into new challenges.
“Managing a caseload grew to around 2000 cases a year, became progressively harder and harder to manage. The added problem occurred when lockdowns happened and we started working from home because it restricted people’s access to physical files. Files needed to be queried through the solicitors and be updated manually, and information to be printed and placed based on the file. So it creates quite a bit of an issue from a file management perspective and then also the ability to access those files when you’re physically not in the office.
It became a real problem for me as I was overseeing the activity of the legal team. But it also became a problem for anyone else who needed to have access to the file. We were losing a lot of time managing files in that way paper because everything was printed, time is taken to print, all of that was an added cost, be it through time or through physical resources that we have to implement”.
For us, it was important to improve our way of working and to digitalise our case management, while also being wary about compliance and data security”.
Why did One Housing choose Thread?
“We started looking at the implementation of the case management system, not just to improve our way of working and to digitalise our case management, but also from a compliance perspective. Having an electronic case management system instead of a physical one would be a big improvement in our compliance; where you need to lock files away, physically limit access to them and so on.
One of the key functionalities that we expected is to have integration with Microsoft 365. Those systems that didn’t have that automatic integration fell out of favour pretty quickly as well as the ones that did not favour the data management and the GDPR requirements, where data wasn’t stored in the UK”.
“The connectivity and integration with Microsoft 365 of Thread go a long way. If it is something that the majority of companies are using, it’s a no-brainer to go down the path of using Thread for case management as opposed to a bespoke system, which can cost significantly more to achieve the same thing and require it’s own added on resources, maintenance, etcetera. Thread is not another added system on top, but works just like an extension of the Office 365 environment that we work in otherwise……And in terms of data storage, we have full control as everything is stored on our SharePoint, anonymised, and has no risk of being eliminated. We were also able to limit who can access what files, what types of files and so on.
In addition, the support we have received from Thread has been exceptional. As users of other systems across the business, I think the support has been really good wherever issues have arisen in terms of how that has been managed, how properly it’s been managed, it’s been really good without any major impact on our productivity”.
The Results
Since the implementation, Thread has been able to save One Housing’s legal department improve its productivity, save time, and money, as well as improve its compliance position and transition its operations to a digital environment.
“The team don’t have to rely on physical files anymore, they can manage their workload completely remotely. They’ve been able to use Thread’s functionalities to make their working life easier. We’re using the Booklet Generator functionality quite a bit to create bundles when taking matters to tribunals and courts.
My recommendation couldn’t be higher. Thread is a solution for the current time and it is evolving. So it is quite good. We see it as a product that we can rely on in the years to come. We didn’t implement a system with a view of changing in a year or two, so it is a system that we see as something that we can rely on and use long-term.”
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