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Revolutionising the Citizen Experience: How Royal Borough of Kingston Council reduces call volumes by a third with Puzzel

The Royal Borough of Kingston Council, serving the vast community of Kingston Upon Thames in Greater London, stands as a pivotal local authority among the 32 borough councils in the United Kingdom’s capital city. Proudly acting as the initial and concluding touchpoint for their 179,000 citizens, the council manages an array of enquiries, ranging from bin collections and birth registrations to marriage notifications, council tax queries and more. With 2,000 to 2,500 calls pouring in weekly, they shoulder the responsibility of being the primary and ultimate point of contact for the Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames.

We sat down with Tom Mann, their Customer Service Team Manager to learn how their contact centre uses the Puzzel Platform to not only optimise operational efficiency but also champion the delivery of exceptional, empathetic customer service—all while adhering to council budgets and ensuring a seamless experience for the citizens of Kingston Upon Thames.

Delivering on their promise of reliable and effortless customer service

In 2022, the Royal Borough of Kingston Council sought a new contact centre provider after experiencing downtime with their legacy system. “Our old telephony system was unstable and unreliable. We’d have downtime once or twice a week,” remarks Tom. Their requirements were clear: UK Government-approved (G-Cloud framework RM1557.13), reliable, secure, and aligned with a forward-thinking vision.

The solution came swiftly in Puzzel, offering a cloud-based omnichannel platform. Tom Mann, Customer Service Team Manager, found in Puzzel the ideal match to meet growing contact centre needs, prioritising scalability, remote and user-friendly interfaces.

With Puzzel’s ISO 27001 and ISO 9001 certifications, the council gained assurance in delivering not just customer service, but the highest quality service and security for their citizens. The move marked a transformative step, ensuring elevated standards and an exceptional customer service experience.

“We saw the value in Puzzel straight away. First thing we noticed was the reliability and no downtime. Soon after that, we saw the value in the data and insight. We can not only see how many calls we have coming in but more importantly, what those calls are for, enabling us to get to the core issues for why citizens are contacting us,” shares Tom.

Streamlining customer interactions with automated workflows and self-service journeys

Kingston Upon Thames has seamlessly embraced Puzzel’s cloud-native omnichannel contact centre solution, revolutionising their customer service strategy, “Puzzel’s end-to-end customer engagement platform integrates voice, email, webchat, and case management, consolidating all channels into a robust, user-friendly system,” comments Tom.

Previously handling 3,000 to 3,500 calls weekly, Kingston Upon Thames has streamlined their operations with Puzzel, now managing 2,000 to 2,500 calls per week. “The vast reduction in calls is all thanks to the efficiency of Puzzel’s IVR,” comments Tom. Leveraging Interactive Voice Response (IVR) journeys, they’ve empowered citizens to report issues like fly-tipping, subscribe to garden recycling, apply for blue badge parking, and more.

Not stopping there, Kingston Upon Thames has enriched their online presence by creating knowledgebases. These resources allow citizens to effortlessly access information about services, set up direct debits, explore services for the elderly or vulnerable, and find answers to frequently asked questions. Puzzel’s innovative solutions have helped elevated Kingston Upon Thames’ customer service strategy, providing an integrated and efficient experience for both citizens and the council.

Forging ahead: Spearheading First Contact Resolution through the power of AI

Driven by a commitment to enhance both the agent and citizens experience, Tom and the dedicated team at Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames Counil are set on resolving customer inquiries seamlessly at the very first contact. In collaboration with Puzzel, Tom envisions a transformative journey ahead.

“Our plans for the future include the implementation of Smart Chatbot, AI Knowledgebase, SMS survey, Customer Insight, Video, and co-browsing with the aim to improve first contact resolution. And we hope to continue to do that with the help and use of Puzzel,’ shares Tom.

This forward-thinking approach aims to not only meet but exceed the evolving needs of both agents and citizens, fostering a more intuitive and efficient citizen interaction landscape.