Contact Islington, the council's one-stop shop customer service centre, has been named Customer Service Contact Centre of the year. The award, for call centres with up to 100 seats, was given at the National Customer Services Awards on Tuesday 19 September.
According to the judging criteria, Contact Islington demonstrates "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". The council fought off tough competition from entrants from the public and private sectors to win the award.
Cllr George Allan, Executive Member for Customer Focus, said: "Contact Islington is there to make life easier for residents. It has been extremely successful and well-received in its first three years, and we have ambitious plans for the future. Islington Council offers residents around 400 different services, and our aim is to make it simpler and more efficient to use them."
Through Contact Islington, residents have a single phone number - 020 7527 2000 - for all council enquiries. Behind the scenes, Contact Islington uses one single information database that allows staff to answer queries and manage transactions that were previously dealt with in several separate departments.
Contact Islington opened in October 2003, bringing together five separate call centres. In the past three years it has expanded to accommodate 72 staff in the contact call centre - and the service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Residents can also drop in to Contact Islington's customer service base at 222 Upper Street to pay bills, make enquiries, report problems or to seek advice.
Contact Islington was also short listed for the award for Innovation in Customer Service, for the Sign Video service, pioneered in Islington, which allows deaf customers equal access to services.
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Page Last Updated: 29 July 2008