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The 1823 Call Centre has won the Hong Kong MAKE (Most Admired Knowledge Enterprises) Award 2009. The annual award was organised for the first time in 2008 by the Knowledge Management Research Centre of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. 1823 has won the award for the second consecutive year.
1823 offers a round-the-clock, one-stop service to answer the public's enquiries and complaints on behalf of 20 Government departments. Through its Knowledge Base, 1823 is able to improve service quality by integrating the most up-to-date and comprehensive database on departmental services with enquiry and complaint handling procedures.
"Dedicated to providing quality services for the local public through knowledge management, 1823 is proud to have won the award for the second time in a row," a spokesperson for the Efficiency Unit said today (October 21).
"Each month, 1823 handles approximately 250,000 incoming phone calls, of which 190,000 involve enquiries about a wide range of government services. Topics of interest include matters relating to the Employment Ordinance with the Labour Department, vehicle and driving licence applications with the Transport Department, and the Continuing Education Fund. Thanks to the comprehensive Knowledge Base and effective knowledge management, the customer service officers of 1823 are able to offer accurate, consistent and quick responses to enquiries. Over 95% of enquiries can be answered immediately. All enquiries are logged and complaints are tracked to ensure that response is given. The aim is to give convenient and efficient service to the public. It also lessens the phone enquiries workload on participating departments, enabling them to focus on handling their duties, so enhancing the overall efficiency of public services," the spokesperson said.
"The key to implementing knowledge management in 1823 lies with taking the opportunity to make good use of the questions and complaints that are received so as to refine the system. 1823 analyses all enquiries and complaints received in order to update and improve the Knowledge Base and identify room for quality enhancement both within 1823 and in the departments that we provide services for. This shows how knowledge management helps ensure constant improvements to our services."
Apart from the Hong Kong MAKE Award 2009, 1823 was also honoured with the Merit Award (Small Department Category) in the "Service Enhancement Award" under the Civil Service Outstanding Service Award Scheme and "IT Case Excellence" in BIZ . IT Excellence 2009 organised by PC Market.
1823 is operated by the Efficiency Unit, which reports to the Chief Secretary for Administration and is responsible for pursuing Government's commitment to improve services to the community by formulating, securing support for and co-ordinating the implementation of public sector reform.
Ends/Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Issued at HKT 16:57
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