Issue - meetings
Phone Access and Telephony Review
Meeting: 12/04/2010 - Executive (Item 129)
129 Customer Access by Phone 
PDF 99 KB
Report of Head of Customer Service and Information Systems
Summary
This report seeks approval for a new approach to using our contact centre and switchboard telephone systems to improve their resilience, make it quicker for customers to get the information they need, and improve the quality of information available to the Council about how calls are handled.
Recommendations
The Executive is recommended to:
(1) Approve the use of a short menu of options on some of the main customer contact numbers as illustrated at appendix 1.
(2) Approve the use of recorded information on those lines where customer research has shown it to be helpful to the customer.
(3) Note the improvement to telephony response and business continuity for customer contact brought about by these changes.
(4) Approve development of a publicity campaign to help customers get the best number for their service requirements.
(5) Approve the use of mystery shopping to measure the completeness of service delivered at first contact by phone.
Additional documents:
Decision:
Agreed.
Minutes:
The Head of Customer Service and Information Systems submitted a report which sought approval for a new approach to using our contact centre and switchboard telephone systems to improve their resilience, make it quicker for customers to get the information they need, and improve the quality of information available to the Council about how calls are handled.
Resolved
(1) That the use of a short menu of options on some of the main customer contact numbers be approved.
(2) That the use of recorded information on those lines where customer research has shown it to be helpful to the customer be approved.
(3) That the improvement to telephony response and business continuity for customer contact brought about by these changes be noted.
(4) That the development of a publicity campaign to help customers get the best number for their service requirements be approved.
(5) That the use of mystery shopping to measure the completeness of service delivered at first contact by phone be approved.
Reasons - The centrality of the telephone to the delivery of all the Council’s services means it is of paramount importance that people who use the phone get the best possible service from the contact centre advisers, and the need to be responsive in terms of getting information to customers in the case of unexpected events and emergencies.
Options
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Option One |
Divert 252535 into the contact centre as the main number for all council services, but also retain the “direct” lines for services. These numbers are already in wide circulation through publications and advertising, so customers who know what they need simply call the appropriate number and skip a step. The disadvantage of this approach is that the menu options would have to be directly under 252535. This would put an immediate additional barrier between the customer and someone who can help them. It would also distort the calculation of wait and abandoned rates.
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Option Two |
Another alternative is to publish 252535 as the only number for all council services (along with direct dial numbers to council officers) and have it answered directly by the customer service advisers. There are many disadvantages to this option. While all fully-trained customer service advisers are capable of dealing with all enquiries and transactions for those parts of the services currently transferred into their remit (except new recruits still in training) the customer benefits of the contact centre system would be lost – as would the contact management benefits – without grouping of services. For instance: · Advisers would have no idea what subject was about to be presented and so be much slower in delivering the information or service · We would not be able to report on call volumes for each group of services, · We would not be able to present recorded information to the customer with a high probability of answering their question, releasing capacity to deliver more services without needing more people · Being able to give trainees only those calls they can deal with · Overflow calls in times ... view the full minutes text for item 129 |