Complementing its recent organisational restructure, Redland Shire Council has identified the need for a customer call centre. This is currently being set up to accommodate 10 staff.
According to Chief Executive Officer Hayden Wright the key is to have technology in place to ensure that such a centre can deliver. He said people have made it clear they prefer to have telephone or electronic communication with Council for information and payments.
“It is important to move with the times and be able to do business seven days a week, including extended hours,” he said. He said Council’s target is to have 85% of queries solved at the Call Centre point.
Dedication to this high level of service earned Council an award at the 1998 Australian Customer Service Awards presented in Melbourne in October. Mayor Eddie Santagiuliana said the award is a credit to Council staff particularly in the Cleveland and Capalaba Customer Service Centres.
“Our staff work particularly hard to attain a very high standard, and this award reflects this,” he said. “Our Customer Service Officers are the front line and they rely heavily on other staff members to ensure customers are supplied with accurate information and services.”
Surveys conducted over a number of years have shown an increasing level of satisfaction with Council. In a recent survey conducted by Roy Morgan Research, Redland was identified as the highest performing Council in Queensland and sixth in Australia in terms of meeting community expectations.
