Please see update below from our payment service. If you experience any issues they are currently under investigation.

We are aware of issues with our Income Management software preventing users from logging in & recalling balances. We are currently investigating as a priority.

In line with the information displayed on the scrolling banner at the top of the staff Interchange site Customer Services will be taking part in the 2 minute silence at 11:00 on 11/11/2024, please note the following:

Contact Centre:
• Emergency flag will be set at the earliest convenience before 11:00 to remove the possibility of calls being offered to Advisors during this time.
• Advisors should not log out during this time.
• Advisors should only be Not Ready during this time if you are wrapping a call.
• Calls from 10:55, if you are still likely to be on this call at 11:00, please take the customers details and advise that you will call them back ASAP after 11:02 as we are about to observe the 2 minute silence (if the customer won’t be available after that time, simply advise them to call back at a later time)

Reception:
• Public use phone, to be taken out of use between 10:45 to 11:15
• Notify customers/staff in the reception area shortly before 11:00 that the Fire Alarms will be going off at 11:00 & 11:02 to mark the beginning & end of the 2-minute silence.

If you have any questions, please email the senior mailbox in the first instance.

Kindest regards
Donna / Customer Service Team Leader

After a recent meeting, I’d like to share the following information/guidance in respect of the Registration Teams move to the HQ/Annexe complex from the week of 11/11/2024:

• Interview rooms due to the high number of appointments the Registration team have during any week, they will have sole use of interview room 1. Service managers will be made aware & I believe information may also be displayed on staff Interchange site. If anyone should approach reception, advising they’re not happy with this decision, please advise them that they will need to discuss with their line manager in the first instance as the allocation of Interview rooms are not the responsibility of Customer Services.
• Equipment in interview room one the Registration team will have a copier, phone & PC in this room for their sole use.
• Seating at reception for Registrars customers we have suggested that the Registrars team may wish to have, a small number, of seats located between the front door and meeting room 1 for customers attending for their appointments to use. Once available, customers attending for Registration appointments should be directed there to that seating area.
• Display of marriage notices these will be placed on the windows to the side/s of the Annexe front door & updated only by Registration staff.
• Displaying lair maps due to the size of maps, if the Registration staff need to lay these out for review by a member of the public during an appointment, Registration staff will be able to make use of the long desk near the barriers.
• Mail handed in any mail handed in should be placed in the Internal mailbox for collection/handling by mailroom staff.
• Footfall stats have been updated to allow staff covering reception to record members of the public attending for Registration appointments.
Customers wishing to contact/make appointments with the Registration team, should be directed to online services for contact details found here • . Reception WILL NOT be able to book Registration appointments. Please note the Registration contact details and address on this link will change in line with their move to the Annexe.

Please note, whilst it is important that the Registration team (and their customers) are welcomed to the Annexe, the project team have made it very clear that this move should have minimal impact on Customer Services workload e.g. directing customers to take a seat for their planned appointment, giving advice on how to contact the Registration Team.

The Registration team managers will be issued with contact details should they have any questions/queries, and their staff should be going to them initially. However, we’re all human so with this in mind, should anyone ask any questions at Reception, I would appreciate your support to advise them that they would be best to discuss with their line manager in the first instance.

Kindest regards
Donna / Customer Service Team Leader

Following on from the recent issues the CC has been experiencing with poor call quality. ICT are continuing to investigate this fault with BT.

An Openreach engineer was on-site at HQ this morning (31/10/2024) and following external checks on the telephone lines/telephone circuit here and at the local exchange, this sadly hasn’t unearthed anything therefore ICT have asked the Openreach engineer to pass the fault back to BT’s team who support the Council’s telephone system for further investigations.

So that we can continue to build a picture of the issues, ICT have asked that CC staff handling calls report all calls where poor quality is noted by a customer or Advisor, when reporting you must provide:
• Your softphone extension e.g. 2002
• Date of call (this will be assumed from your email)
• Time of call

Seniors (me in her absence) will collate and pass the details to the Support Team at the end of each day so that they can pass to ICT to allow the call to be traced.

Please continue to pass on details until advised otherwise, thank you in advance.

Kindest regards
Donna / Customer Service Team Leader