Self Service

Who is

Inform Communications Plc

20 years

experienceOver 150

local authority

clients

8.5 million

enquiries

Council call centre

Inbound

Contact

Council TaxBenefitsEnvironmental

ServicesPlanning Parking

Queue

Council call centre

Increasing

Demand

QueueQueue

ABANDONED

CALLS

ABANDONED

CALLS

Need more Resources

Some examples:

Non Urgent Simple

Initial Benefit enquiries

Discounts & Exemptions

Form Requests

Moving in and Moving out

Ordering a new bin

Location and opening hours of recycling centres

Bulky Collections

Parking Appeals

Planning Guidelines

Births and Marriages

Housing Repairs

Choice Based Lettings

School Admissions

Signposting to Website

60%20%

15%

5%

Non Urgent Simple

Urgent Simple

Non Urgent Complex/Vulnerable

Urgent Complex/Vulnerable

60%20%

15%

5%

Non Urgent Simple

Urgent Simple

Non Urgent Complex/Vulnerable

Urgent Complex/Vulnerable

Some examples:

Urgent Simple

Making payments

Most recovery calls

Report changes in circumstances

Missed bin collections

Graffiti and Syringes

Emergency Repairs

60%20%

15%

5%

Non Urgent Simple

Urgent Simple

Non Urgent Complex/Vulnerable

Urgent Complex/Vulnerable

Non Urgent Complex/Vulnerable

Some examples:

Request for account breakdown

Transferring payments

Statement of Discounts and Exemptions

Real time appointment bookings

Planning – Specific cases

60%20%

15%

5%

Non Urgent Simple

Urgent Simple

Non Urgent Complex/Vulnerable

Urgent Complex/Vulnerable

Urgent Complex/Vulnerable

Some examples:

Emergencies

Bereavements

Benefit claim outstanding and received

Housing Eviction notice

SELF-SERVICE

Filter

Non urgent

simple

4,800 calls

Urgent

complex

400 calls

Non urgent

complex

1,200 calls

Urgent Simple

1,600 calls

8000 calls per month

Enquiries resolved

by Self Service

60% to 80%

of calls

resolved by

Self Service

15% 5%20%60%

Council call centre 5FTE’s

released

£125k

Medway Council Calls

Annual Revenue & Benefits Calls

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

35000

Total Calls

Calls to Payment Line

Calls to AgentTotal Calls 297,945

Transfer to Payment Line 41,458 (13%)

Transfer to Agent 57,983 (19%)

Calls Resolved by Self Service 239,962

Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar

16.66FTE Equivalent

£399,840Value/Savings

The Customer’s

Choice

NOT to speak to

a live agent

Given the

choice, the majority

of callers choose

Total Received

Calls

32.106

Average duration To Agent

5,582 (17%)

To Payment line

5,582 (9%) 0:03:38

Customer Services Survey

NO REPLYYESNO

Can you tell me if Self Service was

easy to understand?

3%

96%

1%

Did you have to speak to an officer

to resolve your enquiry?

NO REPLYYESNO

2%

15%

30%

4%

66%

83%

May 2009

Apr 2010

Overall were you satisfied with the length of

time it took for your enquiry to be handled by

the automated information system?

May 2009

Apr 2010

DISATISFIED

5%

21%

NEITHER

4%

17%

SATISFIED

62%

35%

VERY

SATISFIED

16%

4%

NO REPLY

3%

0%

VERY

DISATISFIED

33%

0%

What is Self-Service?

Self-Service

Comprehensive

capture of

Transactional

Enquiries

Customers

have access to live

operators when

required

24 hour

Access

Accurate +

Consistent

Information

Managed and

Hosted Service

Accessible via

telephone, email

and website links

Comprehensive

capture of

Transactional

Enquiries

Customers

have access to live

operators when

required

24 hour

Access

Accurate +

Consistent

Information

Managed and

Hosted Service

Accessible via

telephone, email and

website links

SELF-SERVICE

Filter

Council call centre

Choose how you

use Self-Service

5FTE’s

released

£125k

Front End 24/7

Council call centre

Choose how you

use Self-Service

QueueQueue

Queue Busting

SELF-SERVICE

Filter

SELF-SERVICE

Filter

Choose how you

use Self-ServiceOut of Hours

Council call centre

Office closed

SELF-SERVICE

Filter

Where can I use

Self-Service

Environmental

Services

Housing

Advice & Choice

Based Lettings

Planning and

Building Control

School

Admissions

Parking

Registrars

Revenues

and Benefits

Housing Repairs

Council call centre

Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6

Self-Service

Implementation

Bespoke Service

Construction

Service Customisation

Provision of

Generic Script

Week 6

Testing, Promotion

and Launch

DashboardThis is a genuine, client, in-house business case / costs analysis results dashboard for Inform 360 Self Service

**FTE equivalent Based on 1200 calls per FTE per month

Council Tax Planning

Parking Registrars

Cost

Analysis

Total

Number of

Calls

Received

Handled by

Self

Service

Total Live

Transfers

FTE

equivalent

handled by

Self

Service

*Est Cost

equivalent per

annum

PERIOD

Apr 09 to

Mar 10105,459 96,349 9,110 6.7 £167,272.57

Apr 10 to

Mar 1195,620 87,649 7,971 6.1 £152,168.40

Cost

Analysis

Total

Number of

Calls

Received

Handled by

Self

Service

Total Live

Transfers

FTE

equivalent

handled by

Self

Service

*Est Cost

equivalent per

annum

PERIOD

Apr 09 to

Mar 10

Dec 10 to

Mar 1118,016 8,618 9,398 0.6 £14,961.81

Cost

Analysis

Total

Number of

Calls

Received

Handled by

Self

Service

Total Live

Transfers

FTE

equivalent

handled by

Self

Service

*Est Cost

equivalent per

annum

PERIOD

Jun 09 to

Mar 10101,347 98,013 3,334 6.8 £170,161.46

Apr 10 to

Mar 11175,409 173,181 2,228 12.0 £299,828.60

Cost

Analysis

Total

Number of

Calls

Received

Handled by

Self

Service

Total Live

Transfers

FTE

equivalent

handled by

Self

Service

*Est Cost

equivalent per

annum

PERIOD

Nov 09 to

Mar 109,771 8,780 991 0.6 £15,243.06

Apr 10 to

Mar 1150,050 43,596 6,454 3.0 £75,687.50

FTE

equivalent

handled

by Self

Service

*Est Cost

equivalent

per annum

6.7 £167,272.57

6.1 £152,168.40

FTE

equivalent

handled

by Self

Service

*Est Cost

equivalent

per annum

0.6 £14,961.81

FTE

equivalent

handled

by Self

Service

*Est Cost

equivalent

per annum

6.8 £170,161.46

12.0 £299,828.60

FTE

equivalent

handled

by Self

Service

*Est Cost

equivalent

per annum

0.6 £15,243.06

3.0 £75,687.50

All service Totals Apr 09 to Mar 10 14.1 £ 352,677.09

All service Totals Apr 10 to Mar 11 21.7 £ 542,646.31

But don’t take our

word for it

The financial and operational case for

self-help services is truly compelling

- 18,000 calls answered in the first 2

months with zero complaints

Staff productivity is up, queue length and

processing times are down. The benefit

realised has exceeded the initial business

case, providing an improved level of service

that would have required an additional six

FTE’s - for less than the cost of two

Belinda Black

Director of Customer Services

Ealing Council

Self Service Sets your customers free

But don’t take our

word for itThe service has been a roaring success in

terms of providing 24/7 customer

service, answering and resolving large

volumes of calls and releasing resources. We

are now operating with less FTE’s than last

year

Having successfully answered 209,000

enquiries in the first six months, Self

Service has provided invaluable support

to our resources and has bridged the gap

between customer demand

and available resources.

Ewan Ogilvie

Assistant Head of Revenues & Benefits

City of Edinburgh CouncilSelf Service Sets your customers free

But don’t take our

word for it

Self-Service has played a crucial part in our call

handling strategy for 2011, and we are pleased to

announce we will be extending our partnership with

Inform Communications for another year

Since implementing Self Service within Sandwell

Council, the service has answered approximately 25,000

calls per month and successfully retained and resolved

64% of these enquiries. Self Service has therefore

provided the equivalent of 13.3 FTE’s with an associated

annual

cost of £332,500 – for less than the cost of 2 FTE’s

Ian Hubball

Revenues and Benefits Manager

Sandwell CouncilSelf Service Sets your customers free