It’s often the quick thinking of frontline employees that help find solutions to problems that arise in a crisis, and being encouraged to think outside the box during the pandemic has helped our Contact Centre and 24/7 Control Teams come up with some creative ideas to help others.
Answering the call
Since lockdown on March 23rd, the 41-strong Contact Centre Team has logged c.24,800 from the public seeking information about council services and thanks to the capabilities of the Next Generation Contact Centre they've done this while working from home.
As well as answering c.13900 MECS alerts from vulnerable residents over the past four weeks, the 11-strong Control Team has had to put processes in place to safeguard team members and ensure social distancing while monitoring MECS in an office-environment 24/7.
The teams have also:
- Created a new process to help another team continue to meet customer need.
- Trained call handers to answer life and limb calls.
- Reached out to another Service to put a new work pattern in place to ensure employees could continue to deliver vital services.
Working together to find solutions
When the team responsible for issuing blue badges asked the Contact Centre for help to ensure disabled residents received their badges quickly following lockdown, they put on their thinking caps and created a way to process applications using the secure Payment Line. To date, they’ve helped process 151 applications.
To ensure additional support is on hand should it be needed during the pandemic, the 24/7 Control Team has trained 5 call handlers from the Contact Centre to answer MECS alerts.
Reaching out to another Service Manager has also helped establish a work schedule for one member of the 24/7 Control Team and her partner currently working in Bereavement Services. By talking to each other the managers co-ordinated the employees’ hours so they could continue to do their vital work and share childcare duties.
Stuart Ritchie, Director of Corporate & Housing Services, said: “These examples highlight how reaching out to one and other can help create simple solutions that have a hugely positive impact on individuals, teams and customers. We need to continue to support each other in this way, as working together will help us through these challenging times.”
If your team has come up with new ways of working to ensure services continue to be delivery during the pandemic, or if you have a story about helping our communities, whether through your job, by volunteering or in your personal time, we’d love to hear from you. Email details to communications@falkirk.gov.uk.
Pictured: four Contact Centre Call Handlers working from home (top row, left to right) Margo Sturrock and Sharon Anderson (bottom row, left to right) Lynn Roncone and Carmella Macgillivray.