Council Contact Centre staff hit the street

Kayleigh Rush assists a refuse collector on his rounds

Rochdale Council’s contact centre staff swapped their telephone headsets for visibility vests as part of a training scheme for their new ‘easier to use’ service.

Four members of staff spent a morning with refuse collectors on their rounds to see the service from a customers perspective, the obstacles encountered and enquiries they receive on a daily basis.

The training was aimed at providing staff with the knowledge and expertise to ensure calls can be dealt with at the first point of contact. During the training they assisted with general refuse collection duties, talked to members of the public, assisted with collections in residential homes and reported enquires.

Kayleigh Rush, the Council's Customer Service Advisor, said the training was a real eye opener: “It was great to get the customers perspective, and see the bigger picture. We get lots of enquiries from residents phoning about the refuse service, so now we are much clearer about how it all works.

“People don’t want to be kept waiting, or transferred, so the training also gives you the knowledge you need to help solve residents’ questions and problems in one call.”

Rochdale Council has extended the opening hours of its contact centre. Advisors are available to deal with enquiries from 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday and 9am to 1pm on Saturdays, with calls charged at local rate.

New computer systems will track customer enquiries and record the results, ensuring once enquiries have been resolved the information is available for other staff to use.

Staff can speak a number of languages and they also have Minicom and Type Talk facilities for callers with hearing impairments.

Ann Wardle, Head of Customer Services for Rochdale Council said that giving people more choice about when they can telephone is a key part of the councils drive to improve services: “The phone is still the preferred method of contact for thousands of customers. We emphasise the career progression opportunities within the organisation. The key is to make it a fun environment.

"Training like this really helps to give staff a better understanding of our services, which in turn improves the way we handle customer calls. Customers recognise that they’re dealing with someone who actually knows what they’re talking about.”