Customers First
“We want to be a Council that is easy to do business with, at a time and in a way that suits people. Customer service has to be at the heart of everything we do and what people think matters. We need to take advantage of new technology to help meet new and existing demands if we are going to deliver efficient and effective services that people want.”
Cllr Neil Sorton, Resources Portfolio Holder
So What’s It All About?
The first stage of this project which was completed in July 2007, means that telephone callers can now expect a speedier, more co-ordinated response to their call as part of a new way of working that puts customers first. Gone are the days when you would be passed around many different people, having to repeat yourself and generally getting frustrated. A wide range of services has already been transformed so far, including:
- adult learning
- building consultancy
- council tax
- environmental and waste management
- leisure
- libraries
- planning
- transportation
We are now planning for the next stage of the project which is expected to run through to at least 2010.
How It Works
Specially trained advisers in our Customer Services Centre now use a sophisticated customer management system and this website to serve you. They either fully deal with your enquiry there and then, or arrange for other officers to carry out work for you for example handling stray dogs or repairing broken streetlights.
The first time you call, you may be asked for your personal details, which are confidentially stored in our database. When you call again, we can track your enquiry and follow-up calls more effectively, saving you time in the future. But if you’re only requesting information, like recycling collection dates, you won’t be asked for your details.
Greater Availability
The centre is open from 8am - 6pm, Monday to Friday, so many services are more widely available at times to suit you. For example, you can now order or renew books for any Poole library during this period, including lunch times and weekdays when your local library may be closed. Full details of which services now benefit from this wider opening can be found in your A-Z Guide of Council services which can be downloaded using the link to the right of this page.
Quality People
All advisers were selected for their customer focus and proven ability to deal with people effectively and received comprehensive induction training. They continue to develop knowledge and skills through on-going training and work towards National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs).
More Sophisticated Process
Our advisers use the new system as a kind of ‘search engine’ or encyclopaedia, as you would on your computer. If they don’t have the answer to hand, they can easily search for it elsewhere either on this website or specialist databases.
They can also arrange for work by specialist teams for things like pothole repairs or pest control, and indicate the normal time periods we'd expect for this type of work. And if appropriate, they can also send you additional information, application forms or receipts or even take payments over the phone.
And if it suits you, advisers can also e-mail specific website links to you so that you can access information on-line, 24 hours a day.
Contacting the Council
To get the quickest possible answer, select the number for the service you want in your ‘A-Z Guide’ which was issued to all recipients of Poole News September 07. You can also use the BT Phonebook or our online A-Z.
You can also ring the Civic Centre switchboard for any type of call – but they will have to transfer your enquiry on, which means a longer call for you overall.
Top Tips
We take more calls at the start of the week and are usually busiest in the mornings, especially if it’s raining! So if you can, we’d suggest:
- Try to avoid Mondays
- Call in the afternoon – especially after 3pm
- Use the Report It, Apply For It or Pay For It functions in this website at any time that’s convenient for you.
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