Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Richard Levell.

No declarations were received.

RESOLVED that: The Service Delivery, Performance and Customers Executive Advisory Panel agreed the minutes of the meeting held on 21^st March 2022 as a true and accurate record of the meeting.

The panel received a presentation that provided an outline of the current position with regards to telephony platforms across North Northamptonshire Council and detailed the rationale to procure and implement a new cloud-based telephony system to upgrade and unify the Council’s telephony estate. This procurement would allow the delivery of a single system to staff and customers who interacted with the Council through the Customer Services department.

It was noted that although the decision to procure would be taken by Executive at its meeting on 19^th May, a number of future updates would be brought to the panel in relation to a new telephony system, with regular details of progress in regard to the procurement and implementation. It was considered that as the project would impact every single customer of the Council, it would be extremely beneficial to have the panel’s feedback on the processes involved.

It was heard that the existing infrastructure inherited from the former sovereign councils was outdated and negatively affected the customer journey and hampered effective customer service, having capacity and navigability issues. A new cloud-based system would offer minimal downtime, economies of scale and flexibility. In addition, the option was beneficial to the environment reducing the number of separate infrastructures in operation.

Current customer journeys when making contact by phone were provided to  members who noted the current convoluted arrangements. The newly procured system would streamline the processes involved for reaching the right department or individual significantly and would be configurable to provide the best service for customers. In addition, a call-back facility would allow customers to make an informed decision as to whether to stay on the line.

Members thanked officers for a comprehensive presentation and asked questions in relation to:

·         The reliability and perception of the call-back function

·         How an Out of Hours system would operate using the new system

·         Procurement and implementation timescales

·         Whether the system would be phased in or ready in its entirety from “day one”

·         Projected costs of the new system compared to the cost of the existing legacy systems

·         Obtaining service feedback from customers following the conclusion of their query

·         Security standards of any system procured

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Members received the Executive Forward Plan and the work programme for the panel and noted upcoming items for both, including two items for the next meeting:

·         Garden Waste – Future Service Provision

·         Kettering Town Centre PSPO

To receive items relating to Service Delivery, Performance and Customers scheduled to be considered by Executive at its meeting on 14^th July 2022.

Members noted the date of the next meeting of the panel.