...a commitment to ensure that public services are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week where there is a demand... ...joined-up government in action - including a clear commitment for people to be able to notify different parts of government of details such as a change of address simply and electronically in one transaction. ...a new target of all dealings with Government being deliverable electronically by 2005 [brought forward from 2008]. ...making sure that public service users, not providers, are the focus, by matching services more closely to people's lives ...a big push on obstacles to joined up working, through local partnerships, one stop shops, and other means... ...a big effort to involve and meet the needs of all different groups in society Information age government: we will use new technology to meet the needs of citizens and business, and not trail behind technological developments. ...an IT strategy for Government will put in place cross-government co-ordination machinery and frameworks on such issues as use of digital signatures and smart cards, web sites and call centres... Extract from the Executive
Summary More information is available from the
Modernising Government website at |
By 2005 every local authority in the UK is expected to be able to offer all its services, wherever practical, electronically to citizens and businesses. Local government faces unprecedented challenges in the time leading up to the target date for ‘joined up government'.
Of course, this is part of a much wider picture. People now expect to be able to deal with organisations by many different means, not just traditional 'face-to-face' contact. Telephone contact of course has been common for many years, and developed through the introduction of telephone banking services in the 1980s which gave rise to the 'call centre'.
But today we see a broadening of people's expectations in several directions:
the need to be able to contact organisations by various means, such as the Internet, as well as traditional telephone and face-to-face contact.
an expectation that any organisation they deal with can provide this level of service access
a deepening of the 'relationship' between the individual and the organisation
Electronic service delivery and managing relationships with citizens are therefore at the top of local government's agenda. Electronic delivery of services embraces many different delivery 'channels' between the authority and the citizen. These range from the telephone to the web, from conventional paper to email, and from face-to-face contact through to interactive television and beyond. It's vital that communication via these diverse channels can be co-ordinated and streamlined: this is the role of what is now known as the multi-channel contact centre.
And for a contact centre and a wider service delivery strategy to be fully effective the authority must embrace the existing departmental IT systems - which hold so much valuable information about customers - and the proven processes which surround them. It’s here where Business Resources can help.