Bedfordshire – 17 July 2012 – Shepway District Council in Kent has installed a new customer flow management system from Qmatic in its central Folkestone offices.  The review of its existing system was carried out as a result of a more joined-up approach to its council services and to assist in the addition of extra services being offered through the Front Office.

Like many other councils, Shepway District Council has seen the number of services from its central offices grow and along with this, the number of customer advice points has increased.  The previous system was struggling to cope with the increased demands being put upon it and was restrictive in terms of management information.  This meant that evidencing the effectiveness of customer services and implementing the correct resources was becoming more difficult.

Following a three-way tender process, Qmatic provided Shepway District Council with a full suite of customer flow technology, including a ticket printer, Qmonitor Software for LCD display, voice interface, Qmatic site user software and Qmatic management portal software, which enables reporting and analysis.

One of the key benefits that the system has brought to Shepway is flexibility in terms of messaging via the LCD displays.  Information has been displayed to advise customers about peak times and average wait times.  Sarah House, Senior Front Office Officer at Shepway District Council comments:  “Being able to provide information about our peak times has helped us to spread the workload.  Increasingly, people recognise our peak times and as a result, they are timing their visits to alternative times of day, which has helped reduce bottlenecks.”

Underpinning the queue management system is Qmatic Management Portal, management information software which provides a range of intelligence to support the planning and resourcing of the customer advisor areas.

David Anahory, CEO of Qmatic comments:  “The management portal has enabled Shepway District Council to quantify the volume of people coming through the customer service centre, their average wait times and the number of people currently waiting.  This allows the Council to predict peak times and add extra resources during periods of high demand.”