2006 Contact Centre of the Year!
Press Release

Contact Islington has been awarded the prestigious title of Customer Service Contact Centre of the Year (up to 100 seats), at the National Customer Service Awards.

Demonstrating "high standards of customer care and support, delivering first class results to the organisation in keeping with their aims through a stable and well-motivated staff", Islington Council faced tough competition against entrants from both the public and private sectors to win the award.

Cllr George Allan, Executive Member for Customer Focus, said, "Contact Islington has allowed the council to open up our services to residents. We have made good use of staff training and development, new technology, and thorough planning to create an evolving contact centre that typically launches a new service every 3-6 months."

Opened in 2003, Contact Islington brought together council staff and services from 5 existing call centres. Working to deliver integrated services, staff met the challenge of making rapid improvements to meet new customer service standards. Staff training and motivation are central to the proven success of the call centre, and the face-to-face contact service provided at Contact Islington's centre on Upper Street, N1.

Contact Islington is a 72-seat call centre, operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with 107 staff covering three shifts.

One of the driving forces behind Contact Islington was to move away from a 'silo' approach to customer service, using multiple databases and contact routes, to 'One Islington' - providing a single contact resolution for 80% of all transactions, and seamlessly integrated front and back office systems for the benefit of Islington's residents.

New technology has played a pivotal role in the success of Contact Islington. The Sign Video Call Centre, for instance, allows deaf customers to have equal access to services.

Ends

Notes for editors

1. Full details about the awards can be found at: www.customerserviceawards.com/categories/
27_CSContactCentreUnder100.htm

2. Contact Islington has handled almost 520,000 calls through its 020 7527 2000 number in 2006 alone.

3. Cllr George Allan, Executive Member for Customer Focus, and Richard Hill, Director of Customer Focus, are available for interview. Contact 020 7527 1855.

For further information please contact Verity Cork on 020 7527 1855.

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