Channel shift

Achieving channel shift is what the council website is all about - about moving customer contacts and transactions from more expensive options (telephone, face to face contact, letter) to less expensive options (self-service on the web, self-service through automatic voice recognition systems, and through the use of SMS on mobile phones) - effectively by moving from services which require staff to be involved to those which do not.

Even if you have the best website in the world, people won't just flock to it unless you do something to encourage it. That needs a strategy - and that's where we can help. We can advise on how you can achieve channel shift. If you are not already doing the basics, look at the following:

• Do all council vehicles carry the council website address instead of a telephone number?
• Do council communications put the web address more conspicuously than any telephone numbers or office addresses?
• Is there a clear advantage offered to customers who use the web in preference to telephone - eg faster service?
• When customers phone the council are they always advised that it is easier and faster to use the web?

There is much more you can do, and our strategic approach will guide you through it.