Toowoomba council inks managed services deal with QPC

After a comprehensive tender process, Toowoomba Regional Council has struck a managed services contract with QPC to ensure ongoing support of its contact centre and telephony applications.

Under the terms of the deal, QPC will provide third-party support for future upgrades to the council’s existing Interactive Intelligence Customer Interaction Center (CIC) omnichannel customer engagement software suite, as well as consultancy support and regular health checks to ensure that the council is using the technology to maximum advantage.

Previously, council deployed Interactive Intelligence following the 2008 amalgamation of local governments across Queensland which merged Toowoomba City and Milmerran, Clifton, Cambooya, Pittsworth, Jondaryan, Rosalie and Crows Nest Shire Councils into one ‘super council’ servicing more than 160,000 people.

More recently, it has continued to maintain its contact centre operations in eight separate centres staffed by 40 agents, but has extended the CIC functionality to include applications such as call back services, recorder and feedback modules, and workforce planning, the council said.

Toowoomba regional Council manager customer service, Kirrilly Rowan, said QPC met all of council's criteria for the managed services contract, including cost, expert team skills and range of services offered.

“As they are expert in driving great outcomes from the Interactive Intelligence technology we are very confident that the council will benefit from a seamless transition to QPC for our managed services requirements and contingency planning strategy,” Rowan said.

Thanks to the deal with QPC, council said residents now have one single point of contact for all council enquiries. Council will maintain a presence in each of the service centres, and provide automated routing to the correct facility or relevant department.

“Customers no longer have to think carefully about how or where they contact the council. A single telephone number offers 24 hour a day service and a centralised contact point for any queries. Incoming calls are automatically routed to the next, most appropriate phone operator regardless of location. Counter staff in regional offices also use the system to manage and log queries,” Rowan said.

Additionally, a workforce planning module helps efficiently roster staff while an auto call back option enables customers in a phone queue to leave their details and hang up without losing their place in the queue.

Toowoomba council is the ninth biggest local government organisation of the 74 regions in Queensland and governs a $4 billion asset portfolio. The council employs approximately 1800 staff across the region dedicated to delivering excellent customer service to the community, residents and visitors throughout the region.