Agenda item

(a)       That the Committee has received some assurance with regard to the development of the call handling arrangements;

(b)       That the officers be asked to monitor the performance risks/concerns expressed at the meeting;

(c)        That it be recommended that the proposed enhancement to the automated service (immediate dial now for extension numbers) be introduced as soon as possible; and

(d)       That an update report be submitted to the Committee in due course.  

The Chief Officer (Community & Enterprise) introduced a report to update Members on the progress made towards the changes to the way telephone calls were received via 01352 752121 (Switchboard).

                        She detailed the background to the report and explained that Contact Centre telephony software had been introduced to the main switchboard on 22 April 2015.  The current switchboard service would cease on 31 August 2015.  The Chief Officer suggested an amended recommendation which would be to seek Member assurance about the proposals.  It was reported that approximately 10% of calls to Switchboard were internal and it was the intention to make it easier for staff to be able to identify the number they required themselves.  Reassurance was provided that the Switchboard service would not end from September 2015 as callers who had chosen option 4 and were currently directed to the Switchboard, would instead be directed to the existing contact centres in Streetscene, Housing and Revenues & Benefits.  An option would also be included for callers to input the extension number of the person they wanted to contact if they knew it.  The Chief Officer also advised that the Reception Area would not be closing and that work was ongoing to establish whether some or all of the current reception areas could be consolidated. 

                        Councillor Ron Hampson referred to the excellent service provided by the Switchboard Team.  He raised concern that option 4 would no longer be available and was assured by the Chief Officer that these calls would be directed to the existing call centres rather than to the Switchboard.  On the issue of agile working, Councillor Marion Bateman queried whether it was possible for Members to be provided with a list of mobile telephone numbers for officers.  The Chief Executive indicated that officers who had a Council owned mobile telephone should be including all methods of contact on their correspondence, such as emails.  Councillor Bateman also expressed her disappointment that answerphones were not being used and that phones sometimes were left to ring out.  The Chief Officer advised that work was underway to roll out advice to all staff about the use of voicemail/mobiles.  She added that it was important that all telephones were answered in front facing teams and asked that Members let her know of any problems that they experienced with phones not being answered. 

Councillor Richard Jones concurred that it would be useful for Members to have a list of contact numbers including mobile phone details and asked why all services could not be covered by the Contact Centres.  In response, the Chief Officer said that not all services had a contact centre but considerations were being given to whether the Council should have a single Contact Centre.  She felt that it was not acceptable for phones to go unanswered or for work mobile number details to not be provided.  The Customer Services Manager advised that a phone directory was available on the Infonet and that work was ongoing to address the issue of mobile numbers being made available to Members. 

                        Councillor Robin Guest spoke about extension numbers and felt that it was important to advise those who phoned that the extension number that they needed to input was four digits.  The Chief Officer indicated that there was a need to ensure that the technology could deal with this.  The Customer Services Manager responded to a query from the Chair about the switchboard phone number being different to the direct dial numbers for individual extensions.  Councillor Peter Curtis spoke of his frustration that his calls were sometimes not returned when he had left a message for officers to call him. 

                        In response to the comments made, the Chief Executive advised that an update report on Call Handling would be provided to a future meeting of the Committee. 

                        Councillor Arnold Woolley suggested that an exercise be undertaken to ensure that all information produced by the Council contained the correct contact information. 

                        The Chair reiterated the excellent service provided by the Switchboard and raised concern that once calls were directed to the existing Contact Centres, the officers who answered would not have the local knowledge that the current Switchboard Team had.       

                        Following the discussion, the Chief Officer said that a training programme was to be rolled out for all call handling staff and as the organisation was reducing in size, it was important that users phoning the authority knew the correct numbers to call.  She reiterated the earlier suggestion that an update report would be submitted to a future meeting of the Committee.   

                        The Chair queried why the introduction of the enhanced service to allow customers to input the extension number if they know it was only being introduced from 1 September 2015; he asked if this could be finalised sooner.  The Chief Officer confirmed that an earlier introduction could be considered. 

                        In response to a query from Councillor Hampson about savings from the implementation of the proposals, the Chief Officer advised that the savings for 2015/16 were £100,000 with a further £64,000 in 2016/17. 

                        Councillor Andy Dunbobbin commented on a booklet which the Council had produced which had contained incorrect contact details and said that following him contacting the relevant department, the information had been changed.  He raised concern that Members were only raising such issues at this meeting if they had been aware of them previously.            

            RESOLVED:

(a)       That the Committee has received some assurance with regard to the development of the call handling arrangements;

(b)       That the officers be asked to monitor the performance risks/concerns expressed at the meeting;

(c)        That it be recommended that the proposed enhancement to the automated service (immediate dial now for extension numbers) be introduced as soon as possible; and

(d)       That an update report be submitted to the Committee in due course.