Improving the Customer Experience

In this story: At your service More convenient hours Customer service standards

At your service

In 2007, the Sir Basil Spence-designed Town Hall on Hornton Street will celebrate its 30th birthday. More than 1,500 of the Council's 4,000 employees work at the Town Hall, providing a range of services for the Royal Borough. But since its opening in 1977, the way some services are provided has changed - and so have residents' needs. Many residents now make great use of the Council's website to find the information they need or to get access to services online at a time convenient for them. To keep pace, the Council is planning a revamp of how residents can contact the Council to make it easier to get all the information you need in one place.

The telephone system - which callers say often sees them being transferred several times before finding the right person to help - has been upgraded and simplified. Instead of ploughing through a long list of telephone numbers and email addresses, callers now pick from one of 14 numbers or email addresses. Each one is dedicated to certain types of service and puts callers directly in contact with expert staff who are able to help. But calls can still be made direct to local libraries, schools and other venues, there is still a switchboard (now called "Enquiryline") and existing Council numbers will continue to work.

And one visit to a new, expanded reception area planned on the ground floor of the Town Hall should be enough to get what residents need - even to answer enquiries about several of the Council's services - with specialist staff on hand to support customers' needs. There should be no need to queue up more than once. Architects Child Graddon Lewis have been appointed to turn this vision into a reality, and the new customer service centre is planned to be in place by spring 2007.

More convenient hours

Anyone who needs to speak to a Council officer but can't make it during usual office hours can also now make an appointment for a Thursday evening, up to 8pm. The evening appointments are held at the Town Hall and must be booked in advance.

The changes come as a result of residents' comments that they often find it hard to get hold of the right information or person when they call or visit, although when they do they receive an excellent service. This comes as no surprise when you consider that there are ten reception areas at the Town Hall alone - not to mention those at other Council offices. The planned and ongoing improvements will make better use of the space available and improve security for both visitors and staff.

The Council asked for residents' views on the alternative options and looked long and hard to find the best solution to the borough's particular needs. Residents should simply find that the Council's service is more efficient and easier to use for everyone, including people with disabilities or those whose first language is not English.

Customer service standards

So customers know exactly what they can expect from the Council, new standards for customer service have also been set, supported by a training programme for front-line staff, devised to update their customer service skills.

The full details of the new standards can be found in a new leaflet called "Our Commitment to You", which covers:

• how the Council is making its services more accessible - through use of language, translation, interpretation and the new late evening appointments service
• how Council staff will treat customers - seeing visitors promptly, keeping them informed, directing them to the right people and respecting their rights
• what telephone callers can expect - a prompt answer to their call, information about who is dealing with the query and by when
• how letters and emails will be treated - with a quick response and details of who will respond fully if necessary and by when
• what users of the Council website should expect - information and on-line services that are easy to find and convenient to use

Staff should aim to answer the telephone within 15 seconds according to the Council's latest customer service standards.

Visitors without an appointment should be seen within 15 minutes.