Putting empathy at the heart of UK public services

Guardians for UK security and prosperity

The UK Home Office provides services central to ensuring a safe and productive life for its citizens and visitors. However, outdated technology was getting in the way. As the lead government department for immigration and passports, drug policy, crime, fire, counterterrorism and police services, the Home Office needed to make transformative changes.

Assisted by digital transformation consultants Netcompany, the Home Office conducted early market engagement to compare offers from leading Contact Center as a Service providers. They analyzed the market based on omnichannel and AI capabilities, compliance, trust, responsiveness and value for money, as well as being able to successfully deliver a pilot project — and after a competitive tendering process, selected BT and Genesys to deliver this ambitious program.

Transformational change

“BT were key contributors to the success of the transformation based on their extensive technical knowledge, design and transformation experience,” said Robbie Warwick, Head of Voice and Video Platforms at UK Home Office. “BT, in their Elite Partner relationship with Genesys, worked closely with Netcompany and Home Office teams to deliver an outstanding contact center migration. The success is a credit to the applied experience, commitment and professionalism of the teams involved.”

“Genesys stood out for its strong focus on customer and user experience,” added Warwick. “We knew we’d be buying something that would keep getting better and better, not standing still. And that’s been proven as we’ve seen our KPIs improve, and closer relationships develop with internal business units. Genesys operates with an approach a lot like a start-up. I don’t know how they do it, but you’re always made to feel like you’re their only customer and top priority.”

As key delivery partner to the Home Office, Netcompany’s delivery experience and an in-depth understanding of the organization was integral to the success. “Netcompany ensured that the needs of our internal customers and UK citizens were at the forefront of delivery decisions. Netcompany brought their skills and experience to supplement the civil servants in the team, working seamlessly with all stakeholders to deliver results in record time for the Home Office.” said Warwick.

The migration to the new cloud platform was completed in just 10 weeks, with all 22 contact centers transitioned smoothly. Agents now manage omnichannel interactions from a single unified desktop, reducing handle time by 15%. The Home Office has seen a 37% increase in agent satisfaction and a 79% web messaging customer satisfaction rating. The project is projected to realize $12.5–$13.8 million in annual benefits.

Citizens can now choose their preferred method of contacting the Home Office, with all calls, email, chat and SMS conversations managed from a single desktop. Web messaging has enabled customers to independently resolve their own requests or escalate to an agent. Workforce engagement management has improved routine tasks like forecasting, scheduling and quality management, with agents able to instantly see their KPIs. AI-powered speech and text analytics help supervisors track customer sentiment and uncover frustration points.

Mission and contact center alignment

The benefits, said Warwick, are immense. Along with the reduction in handle time and increase in agent satisfaction, the Department is able to plan its staffing in a more effective, predictable way: Intelligent routing enables the Home Office to serve higher urgency inquiries in real-time channels like voice while moving less urgent inquiries to asynchronous communication channels such as email and web messaging. IT operations have also benefited from 100% platform uptime and a 62% reduction in reported faults.

Yet, the numbers only tell half of the story. The project has enabled the Department to tightly mesh its mission with highly agile contact center operations. This includes adding new agents, sites and capabilities at will, instead of waiting several weeks or months. Home-based workers can access the same tools and data as their onsite colleagues. And HR teams can recruit from larger catchment areas and talent pools.

By reducing call handling time as well as complexity and administration, the Department can redirect its energies to these primary goals such as reducing terrorism and crime, controlling immigration, and providing world-class public services that contribute to economic prosperity.