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In response to media enquiries, a spokesman for the Efficiency Unit (EU) made the following response today (April 19) to the investigation report by the Ombudsman:
"We accept the recommendations of the Ombudsman. We have reviewed the 1823 Call Centre's complaint handling procedures and case management system to better identify repeated or related complaints. The Call Centre has implemented the following measures to improve complaint handling:
(i) Staff are required to check with the caller if the complaint is a repeated one. The answer from the caller must be recorded in the system. Repeated complaints from the same complainant are treated as one case and consolidated for processing.
(ii) When a complaint has been escalated to the management level for handling, the Complaint Handling Team will update the system so that frontline staff are informed of the latest position.
(iii) The Call Centre has strengthened staff training and reminded staff of the need to provide accurate information according to the knowledge base when handling enquiries and complaints. If information is not available in the knowledge base, they will record the case details and consult relevant departments before replying to the complainant.
(iv) The Call Centre has established new guidelines to limit the number of internal call transfers to one time only. If a member of staff is not familiar with the work of a department and an internal transfer is required, he/she will give a brief account of the case to the next handling colleague. In addition, if the staff member is unable to handle the enquiry or complaint after receiving a call transfer, he/she will record the case details and seek help from supervisors.
(v) The improvement measures mentioned in (i) and (ii) will help to identify repeated or related complaint cases for consolidation. Frontline staff have also been reminded that they should inform the Complaint Handling Team if replies from departments indicate that the same complaint has been received from different complainants."
In addition, the Call Centre has recently launched a mobile application to help citizens make enquiries and lodge complaints. The application supports photo upload and location identification, which will help the Call Centre spot repeated or related complaints.
"The Call Centre is also planning for the replacement of the systems and will include new functions to enable the Call Centre to continue to improve services to the public.
"The Call Centre attaches great importance to complaint handling. We will continue to learn from experience and improve our operations with a view to providing quality services to the public," the spokesman added.
Ends/Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Issued at HKT 16:01
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