The deadly embrace of front-line disempowerment

The central Whitehall switchboard 020 7217 3000 is way way better than it was, and works pretty well generally. But man when it goes wrong it looks bad from the customer end, and it’s a classic case of CRM-disempowered front line staff.

I try to call my friend G, who seems to have moved jobs. I get a delay, then a recorded message which says “Thank you for your call. Please be aware that your call may be recorded for staff-training purposes.” Then a polite and efficient sounding person asks who I want. I explain. They can’t find them listed (G hovers in and out of the more “trusted” parts of government) so they “go to HR” who appear to be a deeper source of wisdom. Then I get put through to a number. It rings for ages, and I’m back at ...

...a recorded message which says “Thank you for your call. Please be aware that your call may be recorded for staff-training purposes.” Then a DIFFERENT polite and efficient sounding person AGAIN asks who I want. I explain AGAIN. They AGAIN can’t find them listed (G STILL hovers in and out of the more “trusted” parts of government) so they AGAIN “go to HR” who STILL appear to be a deeper source of wisdom. Then I get put through to a number. It rings AGAIN for ages, and THEN YET AGAIN I’m back at ...

...a recorded message which says “Thank you for your call. Please be aware that your call may be recorded for staff-training purposes.” Then the same (#2) polite and efficient sounding person asks who I want. I explain that the system isnt working very well. Can I just have the number they keep putting me through to and I’ll try aghain later. Clearly he’s not answering the phone, and doesnt use an answerphone (fair enough; neither do I). This leads to a - perfectly polite - “It’s just not possible/I don’t make the rules” type conversation. The perfectly friendly but enfuriating advice is that I streamline the process in future by asking to go straight through to HR in future, so I can be more efficiently fobbed off by a deeper source of wisdom.

Somewhere in the bowels of some server probably in Plano Texas is a digital recording of an exasperated human being [me]protesting that this would be a perfectly sensible solution if my time were a free and infinite resource, and the polite person saying “I quite understand...I dont make the rules...” etc

Wibbi: the call-centre rulemakers heads appeared on a web site where we could launch custard pies at them.

Wibbi: There were no recorded message. Or if there was it said “Gracious taxpayer; we’ll sort out whatever you’re calling about as fast, efficiently and politely as humanly possible. If you’d like to record this call for service-feedback purposes please do so; just press # at the end.” ...and then again after the call is finished “Just to remind you; if you want this call recorded and checked by our customer satisfaction team, just press hash, and we’ll email you the URL where it can be found.”

Wibbi there was a free searchable civil service yearbook online (fume fume). Oh! Hold the fuming! Here it is! Not bad! But not free: £125/year. Not entirely up to date from what I can see. And it still doesn’t answer today’s question.

Published by William Heath on 20/02/08 at 2:04pm

Comments

Compare and contrast:
http://www.gold.gov.au/

Reply by Public Strategist on 02/21/08 at 9:28 am
That’s it! Not flash, is it. But it does the job; it’s clear, it has the details, it’s free. And it has the magic words right up at the top:
Should you wish to notify us of any required changes please contact the Government Online Directory feedback facility on this site.
. I feel we’re on the same side; I want to help them get it right.
Reply by on 02/21/08 at 10:53 am
Bearing the above in mind I took a look at DirectGov. Is it a web site that makes us want to help it? (Today it’s telling us drink tap water and how to tow our caravans). It’s got a whole section on how to link to DirectGov (which was pretty easy I’d have thought - I mean none of us has any problem linking to anything else, so why should DirectGov be different? Well, it is apparently:
Information, help and terms and conditions for linking to the Directgov website. Directgov welcomes and encourages other websites to link to it as the main UK central government website. By linking to Directgov you are deemed to have signed up to the terms and conditions.
Text links to Directgov

If you wish to use text to link to Directgov, you should describe Directgov in this way:

Directgov - public services all in one place

You can use the following source code for this link <blah blah blah></blah blah blah>
Association with Directgov - You should not seek to associate Directgov with your site or any non-Directgov content. Nor should you suggest any endorsement or approval by Directgov of you, your website or any non-Directgov product or content.

Framing and context of Directgov content - We do not permit our pages to be loaded into frames on your site. Our pages must load into a user’s entire window. Nor should you insert any graphic into, or play audio content over, Directgov content, nor allow a pop-up to appear simultaneously with Directgov content.

Restrictions on sites which can link to Directgov - We do not permit a website to link to Directgov if it contains material which is libellous, defamatory, pornographic, obscene, or is in any way a breach of the laws of England and Wales or infringes any third party intellectual property rights.

Removal of links - If we contact you to remove your links to Directgov, you must do so immediately.

Cripes. Did they sliip that into one of the anti-terror laws somewhere? Does it work the other way round? If a generally law-abiding taxpayer tells DirectGov to stop telling us to drink tap water or how to tow our caravans that DirectGov must do so immediately? After all, we pay for what they do. They don’t pay or what we do. They are the servant, and we the master.

Then there’s a sort of feedback thingy if you want even more bossy instructions
Further information on linking- If you need any further information about linking to Directgov please contact us through the link below.

Now there’s an invitation. What more about linking to DirectGov could one possibly ask?

Reply by on 02/21/08 at 10:59 am
Now here’s a bit of practical research you could try. You just have linked to Directgov. And have quoted the key sentence:

By linking to Directgov you are deemed to have signed up to the terms and conditions.

Wouldn’t it be interesting to find out what happens if you used the helpful feedback link to refuse agreement to the T&Cs…

Reply by curious on 02/21/08 at 6:59 pm
Richard S. writes
How times, and expectations change:

I used to phone some government departments where the
switchboard would only connect you after you stated
the name, extension number and department correctly:
Anything else and they would cut the call.

One establishment - based outside London - had a
better ploy: Their phone was answered by a harassed
sounding woman who spoke with a local accent, and gave
only their phone number;

There was always what sounded like a washing-machine
running in the background. You got the impression that
this “ordinary housewife” had been hanging out the
washing and had rushed inside to answer the phone!

Once past this, they had a modern phone system.
However, their budgeting officer banned staff from
making many outgoing or return phone calls so you had
to keep phoning until your contact answered.

Apologies to Richard that his comment got snagged in some anti-spam “you can only comment once every 3600 seconds” trick. Wholly unintentional - we’ll try to resolve.

Reply by on 02/23/08 at 12:19 am

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