In brief …. 16 October 2015
Spelthorne sharpens call centre
Spelthorne Borough Council has reported a sharp improvement in its call centre performance following a series of changes implemented with the support of Liquid Voice, a specialist in the sector.
In three phases, the council: replaced its legacy system with an IP based call recording and automatic call distribution system; integrated this with its Civica CRM system; and automated call routing with a computer telephony integration package.
As a result, the call abandonment rate was cut from 14% to 7%, while the resolution rate increased from 70% to over 95%. In addition, more than 80% of calls are now answered within five rings.
Linda Norman, head of customer services for Spelthorne, said: “The improvements in the systems means we no longer have to use third party ‘out of hours’ and ‘queue buster’ services or replace staff lost through retirement which combined equates to savings of over £30,000 each year.”
Warwickshire goes for Alcatel Wi-Fi
Warwickshire County Council has announced plans to use Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise in rolling out Wi-Fi to a number of its buildings. It will give staff secure access to corporate networks and provide the public with free internet access in libraries, schools, fire stations and other locations.
Over 150 schools have signed up to use the solution, encouraged by the council’s ‘bring your own network device’ service, which enables staff and pupils to download learning-based applications onto tablets and smartphones.
Consumer complaints cross borders
The International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network (ICPEN) has joined the US Federal Trade Commision in the launch of a new econsumer.gov website to help law enforcement authorities share cross-border complaints that could be used in legal action.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) unveiled the updated website during the ICPEN Best Practice Workshop, which is being held from October 13 to 15 in Manchester. It was hosted by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which currently holds the presidency of ICPEN.
Nisha Arora, ICPEN president and CMA senior director, consumer, said: “Increasingly, consumers buy goods and services from around the globe, so the econsumer.gov website is a valuable means of detecting and combating unlawful practices that are occurring across national boundaries.
“I encourage anyone who has encountered a problem that crosses national borders to send the details to econsumer.gov.”
ICPEN is an international network of consumer protection authorities that aims to protect consumers’ economic interests around the world by sharing information about cross-border issues and encouraging global co-operation among law enforcement agencies.
Midlands police choose WCN for e-recruitment
Warwickshire Police and West Mercia Police have chosen WCN to provide their e-recruitment services.
The software’s functions include force branding, events registration and monitoring, talent banking, assessment centre scheduling and access to a full reporting suite. It is built in line with the national application form and recruitment process.
The company already works with more than 40% of England’s police forces.
Herefordshire harnesses Funding Circle
Herefordshire Council has hit the £150,000 mark in using the Funding Circle platform to lend to local businesses. It has supported eight companies in a scheme to stimulate economic growth in the county.
Councilor Tony Johnson, leader of Herefordshire Council, said: “The figures and take-up are very encouraging. Our partnership with Funding Circle shows our support to projects which help local businesses grow and to our priority of encouraging jobs and wage growth in the county.”
15 other councils across the country and the government have signed up to lend money to small and medium sized businesses through similar partnerships with Funding Circle, which provides an online marketplace for providing loans.
Image from Dutch central government, Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication through Wikimedia
