Tuesday 04 Nov 2008 @ 15:05
SOCITM (Society of Information Technology Management)
SOCITM (Society of Information Technology Management)
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Website take-up service to provide automated means to capture web transactions for council NI 14 (avoidable contact) returns
• Existing subscribers to get additional benefit at no extra charge
• New subscribers can satisfy web element of NI 14 and get all the other benefits of the take-up service too
The Socitm Insight Website take-up service is to be enabled from January to provide a low cost, automated means of capturing the information about website transactions that local authorities will need to make as part of their NI 14 (avoidable contact) returns required from next April.
The Website take-up service, established in 2004, tracks usage of and satisfaction with council websites, using information gathered through an exit survey offered to every fifth visitor to participating councils’ websites. In September 2008, 29,506 visitors completed the survey – an average of 324 responses during the month for each of the 91 councils already participating in the service.
The survey asks why visitors have come to the website, and can identify instances when they are there to carry out web transactions like booking facilities, making payments and reporting problems relating to a list of specific service areas. It goes on to ask whether they have been able to do what they came to the website to do. If they answer ‘no’, then an avoidable contact is created, because they will now have to make another contact with the council in order to do what they had intended to do through the website.
By making a small adjustment to the survey to align the services covered with the NI 14 required service list, the Website take-up service will, therefore, enable collection of all necessary information about web transactions needed for NI 14 returns.
‘This will be a very cost effective method for local authorities to satisfy the website element of the NI 14 requirement’, says Martin Greenwood, programme manager of Socitm Insight, that runs the Website take-up service. ‘For as little as £750 a year plus £300 for initial registration, a shire district will be able to meet this part of the requirement with no additional expenditure of time and money. Moreover, they will get all the other benefits of the Website take-up service as well – including valuable information on the performance of their website in terms of usage and customer satisfaction, both over time and in comparison with other, similar councils.’
Subscribers to the Website Takeup service will get an opportunity to hear more about this new development at their next best practice & networking event, to be held on 5 December 2008 at Leicestershire County Council. Non-subscribers are also welcome to attend the event. Further information is available at http://www.socitm.gov.uk/socitm/Events/How+to+build+up+website+take-up.htm
Notes for editors
NI 14 is one of the 198 indicators against which local government will be assessed within the new Performance Management Framework. Local authorities will first report NI 14 data in April 2009, and will be expected to report annually on performance against NI 14 to the Department of Communities and Local Government.
Avoidable contact is defined as that caused when:
• Unnecessary clarification is sought by the customer when inadequate information was supplied at first contact
• Poor signposting or call transfer result in the customer having to repeat the contact
• The customer has to repeat the same information about eg a change of address to multiple parts of the council
• Customers are progress chasing, asking for reassurance or making other unnecessary service delivery follow-up
• Repeat contact is required after premature closure of a previous contact
Service areas covered include:
• Children’s services
• Highways
• Housing
• Environmental Health services
• Street scene
• Council tax
• Planning services
• Building control
• Trading standards
• Adult Social Services
• Electoral register
• Parking services
Web transactions covered include:
• e-Payments
• e-Bookings
• e-Forms
The Website Take up service is part of the wider Customer Access Improvement Service launched earlier this year to enable councils to measure and benchmark their performance on customer satisfaction and value for money across a range of different channels, principally web, phone and face to face. Other components of the service are:
GovMetric - an automated method of capturing and reporting the quality of customer interactions with a local authority across web, phone and face to face channels.
Channel value benchmarking – a service to support local authorities in identifing the total cost of providing access via web, phone and face to face channels and to enable them to compare these with those of other, similar local authorities
Further information
Vicky Sargent or Rob Adams, Socitm Press Office
Tel: 07726 601139 e-mail: vicky.sargent@socitm.gov.uk or rob.adams@socitm.gov.uk
Martin Greenwood, Programme Manager, Socitm Insight
Tel: 01926 498703 or 07967 383755 e-mail: martin.greenwood@socitm.gov.uk
• New subscribers can satisfy web element of NI 14 and get all the other benefits of the take-up service too
The Socitm Insight Website take-up service is to be enabled from January to provide a low cost, automated means of capturing the information about website transactions that local authorities will need to make as part of their NI 14 (avoidable contact) returns required from next April.
The Website take-up service, established in 2004, tracks usage of and satisfaction with council websites, using information gathered through an exit survey offered to every fifth visitor to participating councils’ websites. In September 2008, 29,506 visitors completed the survey – an average of 324 responses during the month for each of the 91 councils already participating in the service.
The survey asks why visitors have come to the website, and can identify instances when they are there to carry out web transactions like booking facilities, making payments and reporting problems relating to a list of specific service areas. It goes on to ask whether they have been able to do what they came to the website to do. If they answer ‘no’, then an avoidable contact is created, because they will now have to make another contact with the council in order to do what they had intended to do through the website.
By making a small adjustment to the survey to align the services covered with the NI 14 required service list, the Website take-up service will, therefore, enable collection of all necessary information about web transactions needed for NI 14 returns.
‘This will be a very cost effective method for local authorities to satisfy the website element of the NI 14 requirement’, says Martin Greenwood, programme manager of Socitm Insight, that runs the Website take-up service. ‘For as little as £750 a year plus £300 for initial registration, a shire district will be able to meet this part of the requirement with no additional expenditure of time and money. Moreover, they will get all the other benefits of the Website take-up service as well – including valuable information on the performance of their website in terms of usage and customer satisfaction, both over time and in comparison with other, similar councils.’
Subscribers to the Website Takeup service will get an opportunity to hear more about this new development at their next best practice & networking event, to be held on 5 December 2008 at Leicestershire County Council. Non-subscribers are also welcome to attend the event. Further information is available at http://www.socitm.gov.uk/socitm/Events/How+to+build+up+website+take-up.htm
Notes for editors
NI 14 is one of the 198 indicators against which local government will be assessed within the new Performance Management Framework. Local authorities will first report NI 14 data in April 2009, and will be expected to report annually on performance against NI 14 to the Department of Communities and Local Government.
Avoidable contact is defined as that caused when:
• Unnecessary clarification is sought by the customer when inadequate information was supplied at first contact
• Poor signposting or call transfer result in the customer having to repeat the contact
• The customer has to repeat the same information about eg a change of address to multiple parts of the council
• Customers are progress chasing, asking for reassurance or making other unnecessary service delivery follow-up
• Repeat contact is required after premature closure of a previous contact
Service areas covered include:
• Children’s services
• Highways
• Housing
• Environmental Health services
• Street scene
• Council tax
• Planning services
• Building control
• Trading standards
• Adult Social Services
• Electoral register
• Parking services
Web transactions covered include:
• e-Payments
• e-Bookings
• e-Forms
The Website Take up service is part of the wider Customer Access Improvement Service launched earlier this year to enable councils to measure and benchmark their performance on customer satisfaction and value for money across a range of different channels, principally web, phone and face to face. Other components of the service are:
GovMetric - an automated method of capturing and reporting the quality of customer interactions with a local authority across web, phone and face to face channels.
Channel value benchmarking – a service to support local authorities in identifing the total cost of providing access via web, phone and face to face channels and to enable them to compare these with those of other, similar local authorities
Further information
Vicky Sargent or Rob Adams, Socitm Press Office
Tel: 07726 601139 e-mail: vicky.sargent@socitm.gov.uk or rob.adams@socitm.gov.uk
Martin Greenwood, Programme Manager, Socitm Insight
Tel: 01926 498703 or 07967 383755 e-mail: martin.greenwood@socitm.gov.uk
