R&B Survey: Views on Call Recording

Overview

Chris Rooney wrote to R&B staff on 27 July about the working group that has been established to consider the use of call recording in R&B:

 “As a frontline service, Revenues & Benefits has a clear focus on delivering a quality service to our customers.

A significant part of this service involves dealing with telephone calls from ratepayers regarding rates and rate arrears. I understand the challenges staff face in our telephone interactions and I appreciate that many conversations are difficult and, on occasion, some customers may overstep the mark in how they communicate to us.

 Many other frontline service providers use call recording as a tool to improve service quality, to support complaints investigation and to protect staff when faced with allegations of poor service.

 Previously, R&B has not been able to make use of call recording due to technology limitations, however, our current telephony system is going to be replaced with a new modern system in September/October 2022. Further information and training will be provided by the LPS Service Support & Improvement Team closer to the time.

 This new system will also allow R&B to record calls and I am considering introducing this technology into our new system. In order to fully understand the operational implications of call recording, including concerns or queries which staff and managers may have, a working group has been established to consider and make recommendations to R&B SMT on whether we should implement call recording within R&B phone teams and if so, how would we.

 The working group includes representation from across all R&B teams, and the group will consult and engage with local Trade Union representatives throughout the working group phase.

 The working group is anticipating that it will submit its recommendations to R&B SMT within the next six weeks, and I will provide further updates in due course.”

Why your views matter

The working group would like to gather feedback from R&B staff on their views about the potential implementation of call recording, and any issues or concerns they may have.

Please take five minutes to let us know what you think. All responses are anonymous.

What happens next

Thank you for taking the time to complete our survey.

Your views will be considered by the R&B Call Recording Working Group.