Warwickshire Calling! Customer service in the spotlight
Warwickshire County Council is putting the customer service achievements of its staff in the spotlight as part of this year’s National Customer Service Week (2nd – 8th October).
Last year, the council’s Customer Service Centre handled over 850,000 phone calls. The Service Centre, which is often the first point of contact for members of the public and incorporates the council’s central switchboard, employs 39 full- and part-time team members – and the job is certainly varied!
Adrienne Bellingeri, Customer Contact Manager, said: “In addition to switchboard enquiries, our team handles enquiries for thirteen Warwickshire’s libraries as well as enquiries about Disabled Parking Badges.
“We also carry out adult care assessments on behalf of Adult Health and Community Services for the whole of the county, where we ask questions about the caller’s situation to find out whether we can offer them any services.
“The team also deals with reports from members of the public about faulty street lights, abandoned vehicle reports through the Car Clear scheme and handles highways enquiries. Our Customer Service Team does a very important job and we want this to be recognized during National Customer Service Week.”
Did you know…?
Last year, the Customer Service Centre dealt with the following customer enquiries (in addition to switchboard enquiries):
· Adult care assessments – 32,600 calls
· Disabled parking badges – 20,700 calls
· Abandoned vehicles (via Car Clear scheme) – 1,200 calls
· Libraries – 111,600 calls
· Street lighting – 7,450 calls
· Highways – 42,800 calls
Future plans to further improve customer service include the opening of a number of one-stop shops across the county, where members of the public can receive face-to-face information and advice on council services.
It follows the successful opening of the ‘Warwickshire Direct – Kenilworth’ service, a joint venture between Warwickshire County Council and Warwick District Council, at Kenilworth Library last year.
If you have an enquiry you think can be dealt with by Warwickshire County Council, call the Customer Service Centre on 01926 410410. The Centre is open from 8am to 8pm on weekdays and 9pm until 4pm on Saturdays. ‘Warwickshire Direct – Kenilworth’ is open Monday to Saturday during library opening hours.