Agenda item

INFORMATION NOTE OF THE CUSTOMER SERVICE MANAGER AND COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER

To receive an information note on Channel Shifting.

The Committee received an information note entitled Channel Shifting.

RESOLVED: That the Customer Services Officer be requested to circulate the document entitled Channel Shift – Plan for Progress to all Members of this Committee by email;

REASON FOR DECISION: To keep the Overview and Scrutiny Committee apprised of the progress made regarding Channel Shifting.

The Committee received an information note entitled Channel Shifting.

The Customer Services Manager introduced Channel Shifting as about trying to encourage customers to self serve by improving NHDC’s digital offerings whilst recognising that there were customers who did not wish to or were unable to use this method of communication.

Channel shifting had been around for some time and NHDC had already implemented a new website which had, as part of it, a self service portal that, although not yet fully functional, would give the customers the capability to log in online into an account in future.

The e-forms package enabled certain transactions and reporting functions to take place on-line.

There had been a very successful project in the Revenues Team, which had involved putting some of their processes fully on-line and completing them in that way. This had enabled the team to respond to enquiries that go directly to the back office almost immediately and process transactions very quickly.

Although channel shifting was referred to as a project, it had no end date as technology was constantly evolving and some of the technology being investigated was listed in Section 3 of the Information Note.

Research was also being undertaken regarding what other Council’s were offering as well as considering what could be achieved with the resources and technology already in house.

Some examples of the technology being investigated in more detail were a service which would enable the customer to move seamlessly from the traditional telephone channel to the website, a system enabling customers to self scan documents and a digital newsletter that could be sent to a wide reaching number of customers to keep them updated.

It was important to note that the existing channels were being continued and this was about finding the most appropriate methods to help those customers that want to do things on-line.

Currently there were two officers whose job roles had changed so that they were now entirely involved with digital engagement and networking with other councils.

A project plan was being formulated to ensure that relevant discussions were being held with IT and Service Managers at the earliest opportunity in order to ensure a joined up corporate approach to channel shifting.

Members expressed some concern that there was no end date to the project, as NHDC needed to move forward with their digital communications as soon as possible and were concerned that the IT Department may not have sufficient staff and resources to undertake current works and queried whether this was feasible with the current staffing levels.

Members cautioned that any system should be easy to use and not require long and complicated passwords to use and that even digital communications should have a personal touch, such as the name of the person dealing with your request. It was also important that on-line information encouraged further digital communication by ensuring that the information given was comprehensive.

Members commented that digital systems required economies of scale to be cost effective and that purchasing lots of systems would result in the IT department constantly being required to connect different systems together.

Members asked for clarification about what success would look like and what measures and markers were used to gauge that success, what the response time was to respond to tweets and queried whether consideration was being given to how NHDC could work with other Councils regarding channel shifting.

The Customer Services Manager clarified that although the channel shifting project had no end date, as it was something that would be ongoing, due to changing technology and demands, however specific tasks within the project would have end dates.

The project was not fully dependent on IT to be successful and before a commitment was made to any external offering IT was being consulted to see if that capability was available in house.

Data was received regarding e-form and website usage as well as how people were accessing the website. It was recognised that, as more channels became available, this didn’t mean that everyone would move from one to another. Page click data was also use to ensure that the most viewed pages of the website were updated and traditional channels of communication were also reviewed.

There was currently no formal response time for tweets as they were continually monitored, but they were generally responded to on the same day..

Councils were currently sharing information on the technologies being used, what was working well and what was less effective.

The Strategic Director of Finance, Policy and Governance advised that events or services that were outside of the norm, such as Bank Holiday bin collection dates, were tweeted and put on social media.

The aim was to give people a nudge to use digital methods and that consideration was being given to maximising the capabilities of existing systems rather than spending a lot of money on new systems.

Members asked that the background papers be circulated to all Members of this Committee.

RESOLVED: That the Customer Services Officer be requested to circulate the document entitled Channel Shift – Plan for Progress to all Members of this Committee by email;

REASON FOR DECISION: To keep the Overview and Scrutiny Committee apprised of the progress made regarding Channel Shifting.