Finnish 24 Center expands its operations to Norway

Imagine yourself in a situation where you've returned from a week's relaxing holiday on a Saturday evening, only to discover in the airport car park that your car keys have been lost on the way and the doors are locked? Standing there in your spring coat in the bitter cold, snow crunching under your walking boots and fingers blue with cold, you frantically search the internet for a locksmith on duty on your smartphone. At dusk, suffering from travel fatigue, it's not much fun when the website of the locksmith you find tells you time and time again that the locksmith is not on duty, or that the on-call phone is not answered despite your calls.

It doesn't have to be like this. 

The traditional building services industry's dominance is turned on its head for the benefit of the customer

"We believe that getting help, especially in an emergency, should be hassle-free," says Joose Pinomaa, CEO of 24 Center. "Our service is based on the idea that there is one number you can call, regardless of the day or time of day, and get help on the spot, ideally within 15 minutes. This is made possible by our innovative platform, which locates the nearest available local professional on behalf of the customer. We take the call, ask specific questions and dispatch a professional with the right tools." 

In particular, the platform solves the problem of getting a professional to the scene as quickly or as easily as possible. 

"24 Center is more than just a call centre, we're turning the traditional tech industry's dominance on its head. We give the customer the ability to decide when they want a professional on site, rather than just getting help when it's convenient for them," sums up Pinomaa. 

Internationalisation requires courage and investment from a small start-up

"Services are often imported from Norway or Sweden, but we want to reverse the situation. Internationalisation requires courage and investment from a small start-up, but we strongly believe that 24 Center's recipe for success will also work outside Finland's borders. We have been honing our service concept for years and have proven that there is a strong demand for our service in both Finland and Sweden," Pinomaa says. 

"We have found that it is difficult to get building services professionals to do smaller maintenance jobs these days, as plumbers and electricians are often employed on larger sites. At the same time, smaller contractors in the sector are often hard to find or unable to provide their services on a fast turnaround," Pinomaa continues. "This challenge in the sector is not limited to Finland, but can be seen as a global problem."

The threshold of 1000 jobs handled is approaching in Norway

"In Norway, the 24 Center service idea has been warmly received based on our pilot launched earlier this year. We are already fast approaching the 1,000 mark for brokered jobs in Norway," says Jens Haug, who heads 24 Center Norway. 

"We Norwegians are a rather open-minded people, and we are very open to new innovations that make our everyday lives easier - if they are really as good as they promise to be," says Haug with a twinkle in his eye. "I'm a strong believer in the idea of the 24 Center and its potential to innovate the way we solve technical problems." 

The service will be rapidly expanded to cover the whole of Norway 

The concept has been piloted in a limited area in Norway until December 2021 and interest in the service is growing strongly. The new service has been warmly welcomed in Oslo and the surrounding Viken area. "We receive an average of 30 calls per day, although during the pilot period we have focused on a limited area and are only on call during the day for the time being. This number is steadily increasing," continues Haug. 

24 Center aims to expand the service to more locations and to extend the on-call hours. By the end of the year , we aim to have nationwide coverage and to keep the service open from at least 8am to 8pm. The future will show how quickly the service is taken up by Norwegians and we can expand to the full Finnish model, i.e. 24-hour on-call service, every day of the year.

"Everyone should have access to help when they need it, not just when it suits the author's schedule." 

24 Centre:  

24 Center is a Finnish growth company that connects the need and the doer of building services assistance quickly and effortlessly. Thanks to our innovative platform, application and unique service process, we offer the fastest response time on the market and the most advanced customer experience in the industry.