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Representatives from Knowsley Council have revealed to How-Do how the authority aims to become a sector leader in customer service and interaction. This will be achieved through online channels, with a fully comprehensive strategy overhaul that will see the council embracing the latest internet trends and developments.
Knowsley set about its campaign to reinvent itself as a web pioneer early this year, embarking on a tender process that eventually saw it select Manchester’s Reading Room as its agency partner back in May. Since then evaluation has progressed through numerous stages to the point where the Council has now tested various online components and is on target to launch a completely new website in time for the New Year. This will aim to push all aspects of customer service online, reducing the apparently huge number of calls the council currently receives on a weekly basis, while providing its customers with a convenient ‘one stop facility’ and itself with a powerful tool for data capture. Unfortunately the spokesperson that How-Do chatted to informed us that they could not be quoted in the media, but was nonetheless happy to delve into the project in some depth. The site that Reading Room is currently developing appears to be cutting edge, particularly for the local authority sector.  Making online life better However, according to the spokesperson, the site is about more than mere functionality and integrates web 2.0 services such as Flickr to actively market the council and the area itself to residents and other interested parties. More of the latest services will be integrated to enhance the ‘stickiness’ of the site and maintain traffic, although there would not be ‘an overload’ on the 2.0 front, which could impinge on user experience. As far as Flickr is concerned the spokesperson also noted that this could potentially be used as a revenue stream to sell some of the hundreds of professional pictures that are taken at council organised and sponsored events. The principal aims of the site remain clear though. The council wants to encourage the web, for the first time, as the main point of call, while establishing their site as one of, if not ‘the’, best local authority sites in the country. For its part Reading Room - which has apparently won other, as yet unnamed, public and private sector clients of late – has been signed up for a year-long contract, with the option to extend by three years if the site is as successful as the council hopes. In this respect, according to the spokesperson, the two can continue to revise what they believe will be a dynamic online presence, evolving and sculpting the site to suit the needs of council customers and make the most of the latest online trends. This is a long-term project, How-Do was informed, and one that will radically change the way the council interact with, and are perceived by, the people of the borough of Knowsley. http://www.knowsley.gov.uk/ http://www.readingroom.com/ Something to add? Then leave a comment below or email us now.
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