Argyll and Bute Council is using voice over IP (VoIP) to support a new virtual customer service centre (CSS), enabling staff to work from distributed offices throughout the mainland and islands.

Macfarlane CallPlus contact centre technology is embedded within a new Cisco IP infrastructure and integrated with Lagan Frontline CRM software to ensure relevant information is passed to council advisors, with customer details displayed on-screen to desktops as workers take calls.

The computer-telephony integration also delivers simultaneous voice and data transfer so that when calls are passed to back-office personnel for resolution, updated customer records are transferred to their screens at the same time.

The CSS, which went live in June, has four advisors handling 700 to 800 council tax queries a week at a single centre in Campbeltown, and the operation will expand to more sites.

The council’s CRM software integrates with its Northgate SX3 council tax system allowing advisors to change customer records without the need for double entry.

The council plans to move benefits, street lighting and roads, leisure bookings and its library catalogue into CSS by December, following business process re-engineering reviews.

Customer service personnel will also have access to a new online web portal and other self-service technologies to assist callers with over-the-phone payments.

‘Previously calls came into various council offices and were answered within hunting groups. We had no record of how many customer calls were being answered, how long they lasted or how many calls were being abandoned,’ said Mhairi Renton, customer services centre manager, Argyll and Bute Council.

‘With the Macfarlane system, we have all the information plus more. We can better plan for peak calling times and, if a call report throws up issues, we can rectify them.’ a