Council makes it easier to pay bills with new contact centre

CORK County Council has become the first local authority in Ireland to roll out a multimedia contact centre which will make it easier to pay refuse charges and motor tax online.

The contact centre, which has been set up with BT, will be based in Ballincollig and will initially employ ten staff who will be able to handle specific inquiries from any of the county’s population of 324,000.

The centre will have a direct link to council departments allowing staff to handle customer queries.

BT Ireland will also provide voice and data lines which will save the council considerable money.

BT’s Chief Executive, Danny McLaughlin, said the local authority was innovative in driving down cost while improving efficiency. “It is Ireland’s first county council to launch such a leading edge public service and we’re delighted to have partnered them on this unique project,” he said.

The county council’s head of information technology, James Fogarty, predicted the new technology would result in “significant improvements” to customer care.

“The demand for council services is ever growing and could not have been met through the existing infrastructure. We are the first council in Ireland to lead the way with a completely integrated system and hope to continue to develop it in other facets of the council’s business,” Mr Fogarty said.

He added that council officials were impressed with BT’s expertise in communications technologies, as well as its proven track record and knowledge in driving organisational change.