ROCHESTER, N.Y., June 3, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Home Properties, Inc. (NYSE: HME) today announced that its Contact Center reached a significant milestone by answering its 4 millionth call since beginning operations in November 2001. Home Properties' Contact Center is one of the industry's few in-house, multi-channel support centers for apartment residents and prospective residents. The Contact Center currently serves Home Properties' 119 apartment communities containing over 40,000 apartment units.

The Contact Center is open seven days a week, 365 days a year, and is staffed by a team of 21 Home Properties employees who work at the Rochester headquarters.

If any of Home Properties communities' team members can't answer the phone immediately, those calls are automatically forwarded to the Contact Center. In addition to phone calls, the Contact Center team responds to e-mails requesting leasing information, handles requests for 24-hour Emergency Maintenance Service, and supports the live "Web Chat" function through www.homeproperties.com. The Contact Center provides support for Spanish-speaking residents and prospects, as well.

"Our Contact Center is vital to Home Properties' success, as we are driven by the goal of providing exemplary customer service at all times," said Bernie Quinn, Senior Vice President of Property Management Operations. "The Contact Center provides our residents with an invaluable service – the ability to reach out to a helpful team member at any time and for any reason."

Of those 4 million calls answered since November 2001, the Home Properties Contact Center has processed 1.3 million resident service requests, scheduled almost 95,000 appointments for prospective residents to tour communities, and secured just under 30,000 leases in which the Contact Center took the initial phone call, e-mail, or web chat.

The Contact Center hosts up to 70 web chats on a daily basis. In addition, prospective residents interested in a Home Properties community have their e-mail inquiries answered in an impressive average time of 47 minutes.

"Home Properties makes it as easy as possible for residents and prospects to get a professional, consistent response from us, using whatever method works best for them," said John Ridge, Contact Center Director.

Home Properties is a publicly traded apartment real estate investment trust that owns, operates, develops, acquires and rehabilitates apartment communities primarily in suburbs of major metropolitan areas in selected Northeast and Mid-Atlantic markets.  An S & P 400 Company, Home Properties owns and operates 119 communities containing 41,568 apartment units.  For more information, visit Home Properties' website at www.homeproperties.com.

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SOURCE Home Properties