Hounslow Council has introduced a new software solution from Q-Matic to help manage bulky household waste collections more effectively and in so doing help reduce potential fly tipping. The department, called Tidy Town allows householders to contact a call centre to book an appointment for Council teams to collect bulky household waste. To help improve the overall efficiency of the service, Hounslow Council has deployed Q-Matic's calendar function software.
The setting
Hounslow Council's customer care call centre receives between 50 and 60 calls every day from residents wanting assistance with disposing of bulky household waste such as old furniture and refrigerators. The Council's Tidy Town service is a paid for service, although the Council does waive charges for certain disadvantaged residents who may be on benefits. Every day the Council makes 24 collections and has to coordinate drivers, loaders and vehicles across the catchment area.
The challenge and requirement
Coordinating such a service manually was very challenging for the Council. Sixty calls per day equate to a call every seven minutes and the sheer workload meant there was always a risk of mistakes being made.
The other challenge for the Council was the fact that the call centre is housed at a separate location to the cleansing services office which meant the appointment information had to be transferred either verbally or on email. As the system wasn't updated instantly, this arrangement could result in double bookings.
Cleansing Services Office Manager Paul Siggery
As Robert Della-Sala, Head of Customer Services, points out, "We needed a system that could accommodate several users booking appointments at the same time, with a requirement that these time slots could not be overwritten before the data was saved."
The need to replace the manual system had been clearly identified and had to accommodate multiple users, preventing double booking of resources by call agents. The system was also required to offer full database search ability to allow the call centre to establish whether the caller qualified for a free service and if they did have to pay, to allow payments to be processed electronically.
Finally the new system would also have to be able to show overall resource availability both in terms of the number of vehicles available, the number of bookings already taken, as well as making provision for vehicle servicing and planned maintenance.
The solution
Hounslow Council turned to Q-Matic to help find a solution to the challenges faced at the call centre. The Council already uses Q-Matic software in its Civic Centre to help manage performance and maintain a high quality face to face service.
Working in conjunction with Q-Matic the Council was able to have Q-Matic's calendar booking software adapted for use by the call centre. The software was tailored to allow call centre staff to take call requests from customers and to book out time slots for collection vans. Importantly the system enables staff to change appointment dates and times quickly and easily and can accept bookings up to twelve months in advance.
The calendar function tells call centre staff how many slots are available at any given time and whether a vehicle is off the road for maintenance. The system also provides a full database look up facility to allow call centre staff to ascertain whether the caller qualifies for a free service or not.
The system automatically updates the screens at the Tidy Town Depot so the Depot Manager has total visibility of bookings for the day ahead. It also allows the manager to remove vehicles from the schedule for maintenance or because they have broken down.
The benfits
Since deploying the solution earlier this year the Council has already seen significant improvements in service levels and the management of bookings has also improved.
As Robert Della-Sala points out, "Using Q-Matic to book time slots on the vehicles has substantially improved the management of the bookings, especially when a customer needs to reschedule, or we have to reschedule because of a vehicle breakdown. The calendar shows at a glance where the available time slots are."
The system has also helped simplify the payment procedure and the correct identification of customers who qualify for a free service and to ensure those who are eligible only receive their allocated one free booking per year.
As Robert Della-Sala comments, "The introduction of the calendar solution has improved utilisation and operating efficiency which in turn means a better service for our customers and ultimately that means Hounslow is a much tidier place with a lot less waste."
Robert Della-Sala, Head of Customer Services at Hounslow Council