For many years now the delivery of services to the public by government contact centres has matched, and in many instances surpassed, those of the private sector in key benchmarks such as efficiency, value, technology and customer satisfaction. The integration of good governance with customer service, as well as increasing transparency and accountability, is of paramount importance to centre management as government contact centres evolve to become the primary interface for interactions between government agencies, businesses and the general public.

According to callcentres.net 2009 Australian Contact Centre Industry Benchmarking Report almost a third of contact centres in Australia are government operated and therefore it is not surprising that a lot of the innovation and demand for progressive approaches is coming from the rich source of talent and resources within the government sector.

Michael Meredith, CEO of the ATA, Australia’s peak body for the Contact Centre Industry believes government contact centres play a critical role in the continued evolution of the contact centre profession and industry in Australia, and in fact often act as leaders and early adopters that pave the way for ongoing growth, competition and improvements.

“We have seen the growing focus from our government members to drive the professional evolution that is taking place within our industry. The increasing sophistication in technology, multichannel customer management, training, development and people management is happening at a rapid rate, but what is interesting is that often the early adopters of new approaches and technologies are from within the government sector. This is not just because they may have the bigger numbers and budgets, but it is also driven by their need to demonstrate operational efficiency, ROI and agreed levels of customer service as part of their commitment to their core stakeholder group, the Australian public, ” said Mr Meredith.

At a recent industry presentation Dr Catriona Wallace from ACA Research revealed that customers actually place a higher level of expectation on waiting time for government centres then they do for private sector centres.

The effects of the GFC throughout 2009 and into 2010 in many ways leveled the playing field between government and private sector operators. Whilst there was tightening of belts all round, many contact centre operators took the opportunity to review operations and service delivery frameworks in order to maximize efficiencies and streamline processes. As a result, the contact centre industry was one industry that not only weathered the GFC well, but continued to grow and flourish.

This time of self-review revealed to many organizations and agencies the value of the contact centre to the business as a critical communication channel between the organisation and its customers. In Australia the entire contact centre industry is responsible for approximately 77% of all customer interactions, meaning contact centres are almost solely responsible for communication between a company and its customers. This is no different in government, in fact it is perhaps even more pronounced. As well as being responsible for upholding and enhancing the reputation of a government agency, the contact centre has also become a vast repository of business intelligence, which is fed back through the organisation in real time.

Some government agencies are taking customer relationship management to new levels of intimacy and sophistication, utilising newly emerging technologies such as biometric identification and even entering the pervasive new online channels of social media such as Facebook and Twitter.

A clear demonstration of the emerging dominance of government contact centres in regards to innovation and leadership is reflected in the success of government contact centres in the ATA National Awards of Excellence that recognize and celebrate the highest achievers and innovators in the contact centre industry.

“In our National and State Awards for example, the proportion of government centres is always very high and particularly in the last couple of years, the number of government sector State and National winners has been disproportionately high. Almost half our winners this year came from the Government sector, which is pretty impressive,” said Mr Meredith.

Another area of Government leadership in the Contact Centre space is through the adoption of the Contact Centre Standards and Accreditation (CCSA) Program. The Contact Centre Standards and Accreditation programme (CCSA) is a comprehensive programme developed by the ATA with industry consultation. It provides public and industry recognition that a contact centre has met all industry approved standards and guidelines and operates at a high level of competency.

The Fair Work Infoline run by the Federal government agency, Fair Work Ombudsman was the first Government Contact Centre to be awarded accreditation achieved by the ATA’s Contact Centre Standards and Accreditation Programme (CCSA).

At the time of accreditation, the Fair Work Ombudsman used the assessment process as an essential benchmark to build and improve processes for the newly formed Fair Work Infoline, which had come together from a number of predecessor organizations. Consistently high customer service was also a focus for the Infoline, which provides advice and assistance about workplace relations issues ranging from wages to anti-discrimination. It operates nationally from 8am to 6pm on 13 13 94 and fields about 4500 calls a day and it is expected to respond to up to 1.6 million calls this financial year. “As a new organisation it was a perfect opportunity to use the Standards program to figure out what we were starting with and evaluate what we needed to work towards. The Bronze level gave us a confidence that we were starting with a solid business model and approach, and it also provided us with a set of start-up operational benchmarks. “The submission process was thorough and rigorous, and where it revealed some gaps and holes in our model, we were able to use it as an opportunity to improve and fine tune, particularly in the areas of our business continuity plan and quality programs,” said Mr Michael Clark. “For us, the Bronze accreditation was a good starting point and we can definitely see the value of moving up to Silver Level accreditation as one of our business moving forward. It is important to us, as a government organisation that we operate to a standard and continue to perform at a high level and look to ongoing improvements. The Standards programme provides this at a national industry level,” said Mr Clark.

“The Australian contact centre industry has worked hard over the past 21 years to position itself as the regional leader, with centres demonstrating higher skills levels, adaptability, and customer service levels second to none” said Mr. Meredith. “The ATA’s Contact Centre Standards and Accreditation program is recognised as perhaps the best quality contact centre Standard in the industry and already there is widespread interest in adopting it throughout the Asia Pacific region and beyond. For both government and private sector contact centre operators, the adoption and successful implementation of the Standards will ensure the continued innovation and professional evolution of our industry and ensure we not only deliver the best in customer experiences but continue to create a valuable and competitive industry.”

CASE STUDY 1. Creating jobs: A collaboration with Industry and Investment NSW, the ATA and Contact Centres from the Hunter Region
In 2010 the ATA collaborated with Industry & Investment NSW and a diverse community contact centre in the NSW Hunter area to promote the region as a customer service hub and address lingering negative perceptions about contact centre careers. The Hunter region has a significant professional community of contact centres with more than 35 centres ranging in size from 6 to 260 seats. These centres are a mix of private and public sector organisations and industry sectors covering financial services, insurance, government services, health, tourism and hospitality, and consumer sales and services.

The collaboration had already established an industry networking community that facilitated regular manager forums bringing local professionals together to workshop issues and share knowledge and ideas. A continual challenge identified in the forum gatherings was recruitment and the image of the industry.

Suzette Gaff, Industry & Investment NSW, Business Development Manager for the Hunter region said one of the goals of the project was to overcome negative perceptions about call centre careers.

“Many people still believed it is simply invasive telemarketing, whereas that is not the case. We needed to communicate the broad skills and career opportunities that are available in the contact centre industry – from customer service and HR, to IT and management.”

With support from Industry & Investment NSW, the centres and the ATA developed a targeted PR and communications project resulting in a careers brochure showcasing the opportunities and diversity of employment within the contact centre industry. Employees from participating centres were interviewed and profiled and their testimonials were included in the brochure. These were distributed to all schools and careers advisors and placed in local Centrelink and job centres. The centres also used the materials to participate in new job forum expos.

One year on, the Hunter continues to thrive as a contact centre hub. Similar partnerships are being considered for other metropolitan and regional areas in NSW.

The Benefits of Working in a Contact Centre:

• Flexibility to maximise work/life balance.
• Appeal to large range of workers including disabled, people returning to the workforce after a break etc.
• Flexible working arrangements often available.
• Promote skills development which may assist progress within the industry.
• Multi level entry points.
• On the job training often provided which may lead to externally recognised qualifications and transferable skills.
• Qualifications achieved through on the job training may assist career progression.

Current Career Opportunities:

• Customer service
• Sales and marketing
• People management
• Business management
• Training
• HR management
• OH & S
• IT
• Administration

CASE STUDY 2 Dillwynia provides critical skills training for women offenders
Many may not be aware that from inside Dillwynia, a women’s prison at Windsor, NSW, a thriving telemarketing call centre is being operated by Corrective Services Industries (CSI).

Employment is a critical part in helping offenders reintegrate into the community. It helps to break the insidious cycle of re-offending. The Dillwynia call centre has 25 offenders who are trained up to Certificate II level and who have practical skills gained in a realistic and commercial environment. Regular employment expos are held resulting in positive outcomes for future employment. Women working at Dillwynia are committed employees in the State’s thriving Teleservices industry.

These women are work-ready and have employability skills. There are many benefits to business in employing these women either while they are still in custody, via a work release program, or when they are released. The women are assessed in terms of their work readiness and employability skills; they receive accredited vocational education and training; they are often highly motivated and loyal; and resumes and other assessments are often completed which can reduce recruitment costs. Crime costs the community billions of dollars. By forging strong links between employers and CSI which employs offenders in a wide range of work in custody, offenders can be supported to secure and maintain employment after release. The Teleservices industry is particularly relevant because it generally offers flexible working hours, excellent training and support and can be an introduction to other jobs in the organisation. CSI runs a number of other business units including making workstations and furniture and ergonomic chairs suited to the Telemarketing industry. CSI focuses on employability skills, education and reducing re-offending. CASE STUDY - Elizabeth had never worked in her life. She had been in and out of gaol a few times. On her last sentence she undertook the Cert II and began working in the Telemarketing business at Dillwynia. She loved the work and got a job with a call centre company as part of a work release program (this is where she went to work each day and came back to gaol each evening). When she was released the call centre employed her full time. Four years later she is in a management role for the same company. She is an inspiring and confident woman. She is a parent to her children and she contributes to society. This would not have been possible without the industry inside the prison and the investment her employer made.