829,000 recruitment questions were answered automatically online using eService for just one of Transversal's public sector customers in 2004 - an annual saving of £7 million compared to answering questions by email, or nearly £14 million if resolved by phone, according to Transversal. The amount of phone calls to public sector departments and call centres has risen sharply, from 67 million in 2000 to 95 million in 2003 . Yet despite the billions already spent on eGovernment, too many local authority web sites are still unable to provide basic answers online, frustrating citizens searching for information and unnecessarily increasing public service costs. This view is backed by the Society of Information Technology Management (SOCITM) , which represents public sector ICT managers. Following research and usability testing of 468 council websites SOCITM stated that a significant slice of the annual 2.5 per cent efficiency gain could come from transferring face-to-face and phone contact to self-service via the web. Local government has been set this efficiency target by the Treasury and is equivalent to £1.2 billion over three years.
SOCITM's research found that only 10 per cent of councils had A-Z content lists of sufficient standard and only 13 per cent had internal search engines that picked up common terms such as public transport, council tax, committee meetings and Freedom of Information. By handling large numbers of routine questions, self-service applications can significantly cut down on phone calls and emails that need to be handled by public sector staff and call centres. The private sector experience of self-service is that organisations can reduce contact volumes by more than 60%.
SOCITM's findings mirror a study carried out by Transversal in 2004, which found that nearly three quarters (73 per cent) of citizens hadn't noticed the impact of investment made in e-Government and that 50 per cent of respondents were unhappy with current levels of customer service.
"E-Government offers councils an unprecedented opportunity to reduce costs while actually improving services to citizens," commented Davin Yap, CEO, Transversal. "While local government is moving in the right direction there seems to be a gulf between what is offered and what citizens actually want - clear, easy to access and jargon free information. Failure to provide this will drive people to expensive channels such as contact centres and council offices - negating the £1.2 billion efficiency gains promised."
Quelle: Managing Information, 15.04.2005
