Cabinet considered an upgrade of the council’s telephone system at a capital cost of £273,000. The Lead Member explained that this was the next stage in the Delivering Differently program for Libraries and Resident Services. Following extensive research, the proposal was to upgrade the current system. This would take less time to introduce and enabled the council to work with a known supplier. It was also more cost effective. A project manager would be on-site for the duration of the upgrade over one weekend, to resolve any issues.

The current system was 12 years old. The council received between 600-1400 calls per day and therefore needed a system to meet the demand and allow flexibility. The upgraded system would allow information to be recorded directly and stored straight away. Abandoned calls could be returned and those on hold would be told where they were in the queue. Staff had done well to improve the performance in relation to calls answered in 60 seconds from 60% earlier in the year to the current figure of 89%. The system would also bring benefits for staff. It was planned that the upgrade would be in place by the end of November 2017.

The Principal Member for HR, Legal and IT commented that the proposals were much needed and would make a significant difference to both residents and staff. She was supportive as the proposals would allow more efficient and flexible working, including the taking on of contingency staff when required. Both HR and IT would be looking how flexible working could be promoted; this was the first step.  A contract strategy, flexible working strategy and IT infrastructure plan would be worked on over the next year.

It was confirmed that both the software and hardware would be upgraded. The Lead Member for Finance explained that the council was undertaking a capital investment with a variety of revenue implications, one of which would be the confidence with which the council would be charging Optalis and Achieving for Children for selling its availability., It would not change the value of the investment, but the council would be generating a confident return from it.

Councillor Jones stated that she was very supportive of the proposals. She asked for confirmation that the system was flexible enough to change with any changes made in the council and was robust enough to cope with future demand, rather than being a stop gap. The Lead Member confirmed that this was the case and that the number of licences could increase or decrease as necessary.

The Chairman highlighted the detailed questions that had been submitted by the Chairman of the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Panel, and that detailed answers had been provided by officers.

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That Cabinet notes the report and:

i)     Approves capital budget of £273,000 in 2017/18 to upgrade the existing customer service centre and wider council telephony system.

ii)    Notes the continued improvement in telephony performance, and requests quarterly updates on contact centre performance as part of the Performance Management Framework.