Worcestershire County Council

- Trevor Norton, Corporate Services Director, Worcestershire County Council

Building on central government initiatives to improve efficiency by embracing new technologies, local authorities across the UK are reviewing their service delivery processes.  In Worcestershire's case, this has led to an innovative and exciting strategy. The county council has partnered with the six district councils and other public sector organisations to form the Worcestershire Hub, which aims to use shared technology and processes to improve service delivery and service access.

As prime contractor, HP Services delivered programme management, architecture design, implementation, support and other services including the design and implementation of the integrated telephony solution. Deloitte was responsible for the CRM implementation. The solution is based around a Cisco IP Contact Centre and Deloitte’s e-Shop Local Government configuration of the Onyx CRM solution. The core hardware platform consists of 34 HP ProLiant servers.

HP, working in partnership with Deloitte, has implemented a new customer relationship management (CRM) solution and infrastructure that supports the delivery of joined-up services to the citizens of Worcestershire in the UK. The Worcestershire Hub, a partnership between Worcestershire County Council and six other local authorities, now delivers services using shared technology and processes through seven one-stop customer centres, a virtual call centre providing joined-up telephone access, and a new Web portal.

• The Worcestershire Hub Programme (Worcestershire County Council and the six district councils) wanted to improve efficiency by harnessing new technologies in line with central government initiatives.
• The local authorities in Worcestershire, wanted to improve service delivery and service access.
• To achieve this, they had to find a supplier capable of delivering a new CRM solution and infrastructure.

• HP and its partner Deloitte were awarded a ten-year contract to supply the new solution.
• The solution is based around a Cisco IP Contact Centre and Deloitte's e-Shop Local Government configuration of the Onyx CRM solution, running on a core infrastructure of 34 HP ProLiant servers.
• The project encompassed new front-office processes, better integration between front and back offices, and re-engineering of back-office processes.
• For service delivery, seven one-stop customer centres have been created together with a virtual call centre and a new Web portal.

• The ability to provide a "joined-up" response to queries supports much better service standards.
• Some 80 per cent of enquiries are now resolved at first contact.
• Customer satisfaction exceeds 95 per cent.
• Back-office efficiency savings amount to £1.4 million (€2 million approx.) annually, representing an annual return on investment of 47 per cent for Worcestershire County Council.
• The flexibility of the infrastructure provides support for future innovations.

For more information on how working with HP can benefit you, please contact your local HP sales representative or reseller, or visit www.HP.com.

© 2004 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.

Publication Number: 5983-1134EE Written: February 2005

Additional information