Rother makes it easy to get in touch

The new Contact Centre will handle all customer telephone calls and emails across the district.

"It's making it as easy as possible for someone who wants to get in touch with the council, whether they live in Ticehurst or Bexhill," said Rother chief executive Derek Stevens. "It gives them one number, one point of contact and one officer who will deal with their query."

Residents told the council, despite the popularity of face-to-face contact offered at the community help points in Bexhill, Battle and Rye, they were looking for the same quality of service through the internet and on the phone.

This led to the creation of the Contact Centre and putting those facets of communication under one roof.

A reorganisation of staff and redeployment of resources allowed the scheme to be set up as a cost neutral exercise.

Rother residents can now have multiple enquiries answered without even leaving their homes - often with one phone call or a quick visit to the council website.

The centre is a first for any authority in the county, with staff able to deal with questions on the full range of council services.

Kim Ross, manager of customer services and development, said: "What is special about the contact centre is that you can talk to us about your bin, your planning enquiry or even pest control all at the same time.

"I know other authorities have centres designed to deal with just one aspect, but nothing like this ..."

Director of services Tony Leonard added: "Certainly the county council and other authorities are already looking at Rother in terms of best practice.

"The idea is to deal with things in one phone call. We can't guarantee that every single time, but that would be the aim."

A crucial part of the operation is recognising the importance of the internet.

An increasing number of people are looking to the web as a source of information and Rother's site will allow people to help themselves "24/7".

The website now features links to the council's various departments with helpful information. A list of frequently asked questions deals with the most common enquiries.

Mr Leonard added: "What we are trying to do is encourage people to contact us through the website, which is efficient and not using resources, but if they prefer they can use the email or the phone. The face-to-face contact is still there with the community help points."

Dealing with a range of subjects requires staff to have a sound knowledge of council matters.

That means centre workers have gone through extensive training so they can deal with calls and emails more efficiently.

Staff even have language expertise with Portuguese, Polish and German covered should the need arise. They are also trained to deal with questions which don't lie within Rother's remit and liaise with partner organisations such as East Sussex County Council, the police and fire authority.

Having listened to residents, the centre will also be test running a later closing time on a Wednesday - a time when traffic to the centre is predicted to be heavy.

The success of the project will be measured on customer surveys and asking users what they made of the service.

Already a mystery shopper has given the centre a positive score in just its early stages.

Kim said: "Customers have told us what they want and hopefully we are giving it to them."

Contact Rother by visiting www.rother.gov.uk or calling the new contact centre number on 01424 787000.

* Officers will be visiting areas across Rother during launch week to demonstrate the new service and what is on offer via the internet, emails and telephone.

On Tuesday, September 23 the team will be at Little Common Community Centre from 6pm to 8pm and on Saturday, September 27 at Devonshire Square from 10am to noon.