Ending confusion, duplication and frustration
Situated in the southwest, Somerset is England’s seventh biggest county by area. Residents used to be served by five separate local government authorities including Somerset County Council (SCC). Together, they provide a wide range of public services, including education (schools, libraries and youth services); adults and children’s social care; highway maintenance; waste disposal; emergency planning; consumer protection; and town and country planning.
Each local authority had its own contact center with different phone numbers; opening times; out-of-hours coverage; and technology, including telephony systems, case management systems, workflow/CRM lite, IVR options and routing strategies. Competencies like knowledge, skill sets and work practices varied, too.
This fragmented approach caused confusion among customers navigating their way through 155 council functions and 1,073 separate services, as well as internal management challenges. All of this negatively affected contact center performance and created duplicate costs and efforts. The time to reach the right team and resolve issues added to customer frustrations.
Focusing on a single vision for Somerset
The organization launched a major change program known as “One Somerset” to bring everything together under a single organization, ending confusion over which council and department does what.