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Performance Monitoring

City Helpdesk now monitors the performance of its customer service advisors by measuring how long they spend on average on the telephone to customers.

Why do we do this?

• To check that we deliver a consistent and high standard of customer service.
• To ensure that each call received is handled in an appropriate length of time.
• To make sure that we are handling as many of those calls that we receive from customers as is possible
  

How do we do this?

• The total time taken for an advisor to handle each call is made up of two areas: the time spent talking to the customer, and the time spent completing the enquiry after the customer has rung off.
• By using these two figures, we can calculate how many calls per hour an advisor can deal with efficiently and effectively.
• In order that we monitor similar types of calls in the same way, we have grouped the calls we receive into three types:

• Short calls, for example: renewing a library book or asking about a leisure activity.  Our findings show that, on average, an advisor can deal with 22 or more of this type of calls in one hour.
• Medium calls, for example: reporting a missed recycling collection, asking for treatment for a mice problem, reporting a faulty street light or abandoned vehicle.  Our findings show that, on average, an advisor can deal with 16 or more of this type of calls in one hour.
• Long calls, for example: discussing financial matters with someone who is struggling to pay their Council Tax.  Our findings show that, on average, an advisor can deal with 10 or more of this type of calls in one hour.

What do we do with the results?

• We can use the results to identify when an advisor needs support, development or training in order to achieve the targets we have set.
• We can show customers, staff and other services within the council how we are performing.
• We can identify times when customers make more complicated enquiries than expected, and can work with the service to get better information or help to customers.
• If the results show that we do not have enough staff to handle all the enquiries from customers then we can try other approaches, such as the self-service system for customers that we are introducing for Council Tax enquiries.
• We also carry out quality monitoring of the calls we receive to make sure that the time in which we expect an advisor to handle a call is not at the expense of quality.
  

What else do advisors do with their time?

• As well as dealing with telephone calls, we also receive enquiries in person and by email, letter, fax and web form. 
• Our staff also carry out other work.  For example, for certain types of enquiries we call customers back to tell them how their enquiry is progressing.  We also handle complaints from customers on behalf of most services provided by the council.

If you would like to see further information on the average number of calls dealt with by each advisor, please click on the link below:

Associated documents:

  Average number of calls dealt with by each advisor  (0.01 MB)