IEM and ETBPP put Helpline online

ETBPP’s current Environment and Energy telephone helpline (0800 585794) offers up to two hours’ specialist advice on any question, and puts companies in touch with other sources of information if appropriate. It has received over 90,000 calls in its first three years, and currently gets hundreds of calls a week from businesses needing advice on environmental or energy efficiency matters.

Providing the service on the Web will take some of the onus off the caller, making it much easier to get over the first and often complicated hurdle – ‘knowing what the question is’. While users can still choose to remain anonymous, they will be able to read the other questions and answers posted on the Net.

This means they will be able to gain valuable insights into other people’s experiences and the solutions to commonly encountered problems.

“This new online helpline is another exciting example of how IEM’s excellent relationship with industry and government bodies is bringing readers, and the environmental community at large, a value-added service,” said IEM’s editor Angela Himus. “I urge readers to take full advantage of ETBPP’s unrivalled advisory resources and to keep an eye on the site to see the solutions that others have developed. These may stimulate new ideas and questions on how these can be applied to your own situation – and quite likely provide the answers to questions you hadn’t yet realised you needed to ask!”

Helpline manager, Hilary Newport, said: “We look forward to working with IEM on this exciting project, and consider it a valuable opportunity for even more companies to access the expertise of the Helpline.

Questions will normally be answered within two working days, but may take longer if ETBPP needs to bring in external experts or conduct additional research.