TEWKESBURY BOROUGH COUNCIL

Transcription

1 TEWKESBURY BOROUGH COUNCIL Report to: Executive Committee Date of Meeting: 4 July 2012 Subject: Report of: Director: Lead Member: Number of Appendices: Replacement of the Council s Telephone System Tina Nicholls, ICT & Customer Services Manager George Hill, Director of Resources Councillor Ms A E Ricks One Executive Summary: A review of Tewkesbury Borough Council s telephony system concluded that parts of the existing system are no longer fit for purpose. The system is a mixture of old and new technologies added to over time, which has resulted in a complicated, disparate network which is time consuming to manage and expensive to maintain. The oldest parts of the equipment are 13 years old and are becoming increasingly difficult to maintain, exposing the Council to significant risk of equipment failure. Telephony communications are at the heart of the customer experience when interacting with front line services. The solutions proposed will enable the Council to adopt new ways of working such as hot-desking, mobile working and home working, whilst allowing Service Areas at the same time to improve customer service and become more cost efficient. As well as offering options for Council managers and staff, the solution will allow the home telephone or mobile phone of home-based Councillors to temporarily become an extension on the Council network for work-related calls. When a call is between Members and Officers this call does not incur any charge. Councillors will also benefit from an improved online telephone directory. This report sets out a proposal to replace the Council s existing telephony system with the preferred solution and seeks approval to funding for this. Recommendation: To consider the proposals within this report and RECOMMEND TO COUNCIL that capital funding of 87,000 for the telephony system, as set out in Appendix 1, is approved. Reasons for Recommendation: Replacement of the existing telephony system will enable business continuity and ensure that we continue to serve the residents of the Borough and other customers, through the provision of a robust and effective telephony system. The proposed system will support new, flexible ways of working, have low running costs, maintain quality of service and be future proofed. The preferred supplier has been evaluated as most appropriate following a recent Tender exercise.

2 Resource Implications: The Council has uncommitted capital reserves of approximately 12.5m available to finance this project. This report asks for 87,000 of these capital reserves to be allocated to the project whilst 3,000 of revenue one-offs will be found from base budgets. This gives an estimated total project cost, including contingency, of 90,000. It is anticipated that final costs could be significantly lower than estimated. It is projected that net ongoing revenue savings resulting from this project will be approximately 30,000 pa. Based on the anticipated costs and savings a pay-back period of 2.85 years has been calculated. Further savings can be realised within Service Areas by adapting business processes to benefit from modern telephone functionality. Legal Implications: The preferred supplier was selected as a result of the Council carrying out a procurement exercise in accordance with its contract procedure rules. Risk Management Implications: By not progressing with the telephony replacement the Council faces the following risks: any hardware failure may result in significant disruption to telephony provision for a prolonged period of time and will also have reputational implications. new systems may be unable to be deployed within the Council due to insufficient telephony functionality; any future possible efficiency savings achievable through the development of the telephony system will not be achieved; the Council s future vision to introduce new ways of working and the associated benefits of this will not be realised. A full risk register will be developed to manage project risks. Performance Management Follow-up: Subject to Committee and/or Council resolution, the Customer Services & ICT Manager will continue to oversee the telephony replacement project. Environmental Implications: Our environmental policies require us to make improvements in our own environmental performance and reduce our carbon footprint. In doing so the Council will lead by example for our communities and businesses in the Borough. The telephony replacement is an opportunity to implement environmentally friendly work practices and reduce the power consumption of the telephone hardware and handsets. The removal and disposal of any old telephony equipment as part of the proposed replacement will be carried out in accordance with current Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment (WEEE) Regulations.

3 1.0 INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND 1.1 The current telephony system was purchased in 1999 and is now 13 years old. Some elements of the system have already reached end of life, i.e. are no longer supported due to the age of the equipment. The existing system is inadequate to enable the deployment of new services within the Council, and as the telephone is the primary means of communication with customers, the quality of this service affects efficiency and the overall perception and reputation of the Council. There is significant risk of disruption should any piece of hardware fail. 1.2 A review was undertaken in November 2011 which considered a number of options in order to address the issues presented by the current telephony system. A more functional solution is required to support the deployment of more IT-based services, to cope with increased take-up of new service delivery arrangements and to support new ways of working and flexible working. The review concluded that the most suitable option for the Council was to replace its existing system with a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephony solution to allow additional functionality that would meet corporate requirements. 1.3 A specification was developed detailing the business and technical requirements for a new telephony system. Expressions of interest were requested through a prequalification questionnaire. Following evaluation of these questionnaires five suppliers were invited to tender. Tender responses were received from all five suppliers and these were evaluated against agreed criteria. Following the evaluation, one supplier satisfied all of the criteria with their proposed solution and has been proposed as the Council s preferred supplier. 1.4 Work will commence with the selected supplier to implement the solution to meet the Council s requirements, subject to approval of the funding and subject to successful contract agreement. 2.0 PROPOSED SOLUTION 2.1 A Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephony solution is proposed. VoIP enables telephone calls to be made over the Council s corporate network or the internet using existing network and internet connections and internet protocols. There are a number of business benefits to using VoIP: cost savings compared to traditional phone systems; simplified administration; additional features and functionality; and improved integration. All Council locations using the existing telephony system are in scope of the replacement system in order to ensure best value for money and service quality. This includes flexible options for Council staff located at Cheltenham depot, Cascades and the Tourist Information Centres. The proposal also includes options for employees and Councillors working from their home. Some upgrades to the corporate network will be necessary. This will replace current network switches that are 11 years old. This risk is included in the ICT operational risk register.

4 2.2 The proposal will put in place a modern, user friendly, future-proofed system to enable unified communications that will result in a better experience for customers and: ensure high availability & resilience of the telephone service; enable hot-desking in the office and audio voice conferencing; key users will have the ability to video conference and use an electronic softphone ; improve the handling of incoming calls, the routing of calls and making outbound calls; supply phone users with a modern phone handset offering a range of customisable functions; including follow me, find me as they change location, including connecting callers to their mobile phone or home phone when away from the office; simplify communications by integrating telephone with (voice and messaging & contacts), and support Instant Messaging; provide voic to nominated users either within the telephone system or their inbox; simplify the administration of the voice network and enable full monitoring & reporting of calls and performance; enable call to be recorded as appropriate for staff and customer benefit and for training purposes; and train staff and Councillors to benefit from the new telephone handsets and functions to improve the way they work. 2.3 The new system will enable the following cashable savings: Efficiency improvement Improved switchboard operator functions will ensure high volumes of calls can be handled quickly and accurately and enable improvements in corporate call handling (saving of 1 FTE in corporate support teams). Reduced spend on operational management of the telephone infrastructure Reduced annual maintenance costs (by 30%). Changes & additions to phone users can be made in-house at no cost (saving of 1,800 pa). Reducing the cost of calls made by moving calls to / from Cascades, Advice & Information Centres, Councillors and home workers onto the Council network (by 15%). Cease Cascades separate BT system (saving of 200 pa). Supporting other corporate projects Enabling Office rationalisation through introduction of hot desking and working from home (meeting targets for increased rental income from better utilisation of office space).

5 2.4 This project will enable future savings The new phone system will enable a range of service benefits through quicker, more responsive call handling. Improved first time call resolution will reduce the number of repeat calls. The solution will enable home working staff and Councillors to participate in meetings using audio and video conferencing saving the cost of travel. The proposal will enable working at home whilst using the corporate telephone network (i.e. same extension number at home as in the Office). This will reduce the need for home workers to have a mobile phone or to claim the cost of work calls. Implementation of the new solution will enable the removal of lines no longer needed and unwanted extensions and handsets. Moves and changes will take effect quickly and efficiently, allowing Office relocations as part of the office rationalisation to be quicker and more cost effective. Reduction in requirement for additional wiring and sockets as the telephones can utilise existing computer cabling. 3.0 COST OF PROPOSAL 3.1 Costs of the proposal are outlined in Appendix OPTIONS CONSIDERED 4.1 The following options were considered: Do nothing- things remain as they are now with high ongoing operational costs, many supplier relationships to manage and end of life issues having not been addressed. Adopt and Adapt- some of the more modern legacy equipment is upgraded and older elements are replaced and integrated with legacy equipment. Hosted solution- a telephony platform is provided by a hosting company and housed in a co-location site in the cloud leaving little ownership and control with the Council. 5.0 CONSULTATION 5.1 Service Managers have been consulted on the system specification and have been kept updated through regular briefing notes. 5.2 Subject to Executive / Council approval of the proposal, a full Communications Plan will be developed prior to the implementation of the new system to ensure all relevant stakeholders have been identified and a clear line of communication established throughout the project. 5.3 Communication and discussions will be undertaken with managers and staff at appropriate times during project implementation. 6.0 RELEVANT COUNCIL POLICIES/STRATEGIES 6.1 Corporate ICT Strategy Customer Services Strategy The new telephone system will support the aspirations of the Council Plan and Medium Term Financial Strategy.

6 7.0 RELEVANT GOVERNMENT POLICIES 7.1 The telephony replacement will be a key enabler for new ways of working/ flexible working; this is in line with Government proposals to reduce the cost of public services by making more effective use of Office accommodation. 8.0 RESOURCE IMPLICATIONS (Human/Property) 8.1 Officer time 8.2 Possible disruption during installation (this will be kept to a minimum and sensible time frames built into the project plan to avoid disruption to service). 9.0 SUSTAINABILITY IMPLICATIONS (Social/Community Safety/Cultural/ Economic/ Environment) 9.1 Social: There may be some disruptions whilst the new telephony system is installed. Whilst every effort will be made to keep these disruptions to a minimum, staff patience and co-operation will be required. 9.2 Community Safety: The installation of the new telephony system will enable the recording of telephone calls as part of appropriate action to safeguard members of the public and staff from abusive calls or verbal threats. 9.3 Cultural: The implementation of a new telephony system will require a culture change for the organisation, especially with regard to the introduction of additional functionalities and the familiarisation with new handsets etc. The project team understands that there may be barriers to this change but will work closely with HR, Equalities and Communications to minimise the impact. 9.4 Economic: The costs and benefits of the proposal along with the quality of service and product will be identified in order to demonstrate value for money for the Council. 9.5 Environment: The telephony replacement will improve customer services and maximise flexibility for staff. This replacement provides a unique opportunity to procure energy efficient technologies wherever possible, which will contribute to the achievement of the Council s carbon reduction targets IMPACT UPON (Value For Money/Equalities/E-Government/Human Rights/Health And Safety) 10.1 Value for Money: Value for Money is demonstrated through this procurement completed in a competitive process Equalities: Advice will be taken from the Equalities Officer when preparing an Equalities Impact Assessment for the telephony replacement E-Government: The telephony replacement will enable Council services to be delivered more efficiently and innovatively Health and Safety: The installation of the new system will comply with appropriate health and safety legislation. Additional advice will be sought from Environmental Health where required.

7 11.0 RELATED DECISIONS AND ANY OTHER RELEVANT FACTS 11.1 Executive Committee Report confidential - 4 July Background Papers: Executive Committee and Council reports can be obtained from Democratic Services upon request ( ). Contact Officer: Tina Nicholls, Customer Services & ICT Manager Tel: tina.nicholls@tewkesbury.gov.uk Appendices: 1 Costs of Telephony Replacement Proposal.