Falkirk Council’s contact centre has achieved the TSA - Quality Standards Framework certification for the seventh year running.

Following a stringent audit, the external auditor for TSA, the industry body for technology enabled care services, was impressed with the work being undertaken by the contact centre, highlighting:

• Staff are well trained and locally developed training programmes are very effective.
• The contact centre exceeds TSA standards, answering 97.5% of calls within 60 seconds.
• Business continuity is very strong, and the new cloud-based telephony system is benefitting Falkirk’s citizens.
• There is clear, strategic leadership to support the Council’s telecare service as it moves into the digital age.
• Working with MECS has provided learning opportunities for the contact centre and other telecare service providers.

Ian Whitelaw, Customer & Business Support Team Leader, said: “Technology enabled care, such as our Mobile Emergency Care Service (MECS), provides vulnerable residents with an easy way to summon help and assistance by simply pressing a button on a range of technology that links directly to our contact centre. This allows them to continue living independently at home.

“Gaining accreditation for our telecare service not only provides hundreds of MECS users with reassurance that the service meets, and in some areas exceeds, industry standards, it also highlights the training provided to our staff is second-to-none.”

The full audit report will be available over the coming weeks.

Phase one of the Council of the Future Next Generation Contact Centre was completed last July, transferring the old analogue system to a cloud-based one, helping to future proof the contact centre. Phase two is currently being developed and will look to:

• Introduce 24/7 automated payment services.
• Integrate the new telephony system with Falkirk Council’s Customer Relationship Management system.
• Implement an email management system to manage customer emails.