Local authority call centres need to improve efficiency or risk
alienating the public they are meant to serve
Call centres in local authorities are in danger of falling well
below standard or even failing, according to a new report, writes
Robert Dunt. The research, conducted by the Foundation for
Information Technology in Local Government (Fitlog), revealed that
75% of daily enquiries to local authorities come via the phone.
But the report shows that typically 25% of calls or more are
lost. In some cases, the figure can be much higher.
In December 1998, research by the Association of London
Government found that almost one in two Londoners had problems
getting their council on the phone.
Prime Minister Tony Blair may have recently been criticised for
including telephones in his raft of new government targets on
e-commerce for 2005 - due to the fact that by including phones,
targets become more achievable - but the report shows that even
when telephones are involved there is no guarantee of a smooth
ride.
However, despite the growth of the Internet, the research claims
that the phone will remain most people's favourite method of
getting in touch with their council.
According to the report, entitled Making Contact - Developing
Successful Call Centres in Local Government, the solutions for call
centres lie not just in changing the call handling methods but in
revolutionising the way the whole local authority works.
"Call centres aren't a technological fix," said Fitlog's
chairman Chris Hurford. "What is clear is that they require a real
commitment from everyone in the authority, including councillors
and senior officers."
The report's author, Fitlog's David Hunter, agreed. He said a
group of people at the front-end making contact easier and being
pleasant to customers is not enough. The whole delivery process
needs to be changed.
"If you order housing repairs but the people don't turn up or
they do a bad job then it's not really much of an improvement. It
really is a matter of thinking about the process," said Hunter.
One aspect of this problem the report examines is the need for a
good check on "hands-off" areas - points where call staff have to
transfer an enquiry to another part of the authority or
organisation and where service breakdowns often occur.
The report claims that problems could be reduced not only by
establishing a set of guidelines, but by developing a general
knowledge in the authority of priorities and ensuring there are
enough staff to handle queries when they arrive.
Other suggestions for improving efficiency included having more
specialised staff in the call centres who would be able to answer
complicated questions straight away.
However, the report warns that if call centre practice is not
reviewed nor oriented towards customers then call centres could
become a barrier to the public.
Hunter added that where call centres were falling below
expectation it was often not the fault of the call centre
itself.
Copies of the report Making Contact - Developing Successful Call
Centres in Local Government can be ordered from www.fitlog.com
technology
Technologies that the report suggests call centre advisers need
to improve efficiency:
Managing call traffic
- Main telephone system (PABX)
- Automated call distribution (ACD)
- Interactive voice response (IVR)
Dealing with calls
- Customer contact management
Resolving enquiries
- Document image processing
- Geographic information systems