 In line with the Home Office initiative to be more responsive to the public, Surrey Police decided to improve the quality of service they provide in their Contact Centre. The Surrey Police management team then looked to the commercial sector for high quality service-delivery procedures, which could be applied specifically for the police requirement.
The aim was to set Best Practice guidelines and develop a method to record results. Business Systems was chosen to help establish a new quality-monitoring programme.
Surrey Police's contact centre and crime reporting bureau has 155 call-handlers who are responsible for receiving 1.5 million calls per year; these consist of non-urgent calls, calls to the Crime Reporting Bureau and '999' emergency calls. Call-handlers must be able to manage the expectations of callers, offering appropriate reassurance and satisfactory service.
The Solution Delivered
A specialist quality-monitoring consultant from Business Systems spent two weeks in the contact centre, assessing needs. A Development Needs Analysis (DNA) report was then produced. The report outlined clearly which areas should be measured and what overall objectives should be achieved. The next step that Business Systems carried out was creating Best Practice Guidelines, including creating scoring sheets which would be used by supervisors when listening to recorded calls.
 Positive feedback quickly followed; "Business Systems learnt our unique call centre requirements quickly and adapted their experience of the commercial sector well to our environment working closely with us to ensure the end result was what was required," commented Karen Morris, the Surrey Police OSC Customer Services Manager.
Training was delivered to call-handlers and supervisors, which outlined the new call-handling procedures. New management reports were implemented, one of which helped identify common areas requiring development. This is now used as a guide pointing out which training courses are to be run for staff
Benefits of the new call handling procedure
What Surrey Police has achieved in consultation with Business Systems has now become the accepted standard approved by the Home Office as 'The Best Practice Guidelines' for all 43 police forces throughout the UK. Many forces regularly visit Surrey Police's Contact Centre to learn from their example.
"The program has eliminated confusion by setting clear standards," commented Karen Morris, OSC Customer Services Manager.
External customer surveys show a quantifiable improvement in satisfaction since the introduction of the program.
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