Council call centre criticised for lengthy phone handling

Date: 12/01/2012

Individuals who call Service Birmingham's local phone number are being kept on the line for an unacceptable length of time, according to one councillor.

Labour group deputy leader Ian Ward has claimed the call centre needs to improve its handling of customer queries, the Birmingham Mail reports.

It was suggested people are being forced to wait on the line while operators search for information on the council's website.

Mr Ward claimed this system is inefficient as it proves to be "incredibly slow", meaning many local residents are forced to call the centre several times.

His comments were directed at the council's deputy leader Paul Tilsley, who is responsible for the centre's contract with Capita.

According to Mr Ward many of the calls to the information hub were due to individuals chasing up services that were "promised but not delivered".

Service Birmingham took over responsibility for operation of the council's contact centre in early 2010.