The following is an extract from the COI's advice regarding government call centres:

http://www.coi.gov.uk/ccg/

(Need to fill in some details before being able to view the documents)


"Better practice guidance for Government contact centres"

The better practice guidance is currently being updated for a second edition. However, because of movement in tariff structures, one section required more immediate attention and this is given below. This advice supercedes the previous guidance.

Cost to the citizen

3.45 Based on your primary target audiences, you should also consider the cost of accessing the service. Not only does this make sure that citizens on low income can afford to contact you, but it also encourages citizens to call by removing the cost barrier.

3.46 For telephone services, this involves decisions over whether to offer a geographical or non-geographical number such as an 0800/0808, 0845 or 0870 service.

The following guidance has been put together with input from Ofcom.

Free services (i.e. 0800/0808) would be appropriate if you are targeting those who may be deterred by the cost of a call (for example, the elderly, young people or those on low incomes or where the nature of the call is confidential) and is particularly applicable if your objective is to encourage as many people as possible to call. For example, with counseling services, if the call is free it will not normally appear on the phone bill and as such a free call is very appropriate. (Note that some mobile operators currently do charge for free number calls.) (1)

However 0800 can suffer from hoax calls and you may wish to consider a geographic number or 0845.(2) For example, the cost of calling is likely to be less of an issue for businesses, so 0845 may be more appropriate here.

0870 (3) is not recommended, particularly when targeting individuals as by dint of falling call rates for geographic numbers, 0870 numbers have become tantamount to a low end premium rate number, which can be significantly more expensive to the caller than a geographic number and act as a barrier to information that the citizen should have access to as a right. If 0870 must be used, we strongly recommend that other alternatives – i.e. a standard geographical number offered in parallel (4), the web or postal mechanisms should be considered and made available to give citizens a choice. 0870 might be appropriate in a business environment, but even here its use should be treated with caution.

[...]

3.49 You should always clearly communicate the cost to customers on publicity materials (see paragraph 3.75) and we do not recommend that you use any potentially misleading terms such as ‘local rate’, ‘national rate’ etc (5).

Notes:

(1) Work is being undertaken by COI together with other bodies to see if this difficult area can be addressed.

(2) 0845 has been known as ‘local-rate’ however this has the potential to be misleading. With the increased competition in the marketplace and resultant changes in tariff structures, 0845 rates may often be in excess of the rate for a local geographic call that citizens might be charged on their package. An 0845 call through some mobile tariffs can be significantly more expensive to the citizen than the cost of a geographic call and this should also be considered.

(3) Similarly the use of ‘national rate’ to describe 0870 also has the potential to be misleading. Calls to 0870 numbers can be considerably more expensive to the citizen in comparison with the tariffs they would normally pay for a national geographic call. Increasingly distinctions between local and national are fading in tariff structures anyway. 0870 also has the added issue of material revenue share. Whilst revenue share is also available on 0845 (depending on call volumes), this is at much lower levels than on 0870, and hence is much less of a problem from the public’s point of view. Revenue share on 0870 can be viewed negatively by the citizen who may feel they are being exploited by the Department.

(4) A number of networks can provide intelligent routing on standard geographical numbers and this should be explored as an option.

(5) At the time of writing (Summer 2004), an appropriate way to describe the cost of an 0845 call would be ‘no more than 4p per minute for BT customers (other networks may vary)’. For an 0870 call, an appropriate way to describe the cost of an 0870 call would be ‘no more than 8p per minute for BT customers (other networks may vary)’.

A useful bit of information, ibd.  

I will ask any government department that I encounter if they are following the updated guidance and if not , why not.

Great post! Very useful.

Yes, excellent find idb.
Surely this should be posted to Ofcom with a note that if this is the 'government' position then surely Ofcom should be promoting the same and insisting that cost details and alternative geographic numbers are always given.

and, of course, DVLA is presumably drafting its response explaining why, as an agency, the CoI recommendations do not apply.  >:(

wrote on Dec 21^st, 2004 at 12:30pm:

and, of course, DVLA is presumably drafting its response explaining why, as an agency, the CoI recommendations do not apply.  >:(

I suspect it is already doing just that. Yesterday I have once again written to the DVLA CSM asking why the agency chooses to ignore government advice on call centre handling. I have also written to the Chief Executive of DVLA this morning asking him to stop discriminating against my ability to contact essential government functions, such as the DVLA, based upon my geographic location. It is a scandal that those British citizens like myself who live and work overseas are denied access to basic government services. My focus on the DVLA is due to it being the worst offender in this area. Other agencies are just as clueless with particular mention going to the Immigration and Naturalization Directorate which publishes an 0870 number for immigration enquiries. Now if the IND is not a candidate for international inbound traffic, then I don't know who is. The whole use of 0870 by government is bordering on the corrupt and someone has to answer for this. I have included the COI advice in my response to the Ofcom consultation, and I suggest that those who are still to respond do the same.

Fantastic post!

Thanks a lot idb !! :)

idb

Send a copy of your letter to the DVLA on or after 1 Jan 05 and head it "Freedom of Information Act 2000".  If possible, ask specific and numbered questions.  If you are not satisfied with the reply, complain to the Information Commissioner.

How about asking them how much has been paid to them in revenue payments this year?

From 1st Jan 05 you can ask for a copy of any document (in writing or in electronic form) or if any document exists.  This includes minutes of meeting.  Documents dated prior to 1 Jan 05 are also included under the Act.

Updated advice, received from the COI on January 28, 2005.

>>>

Better practice guidance for Government contact centres  

The better practice guidance is currently being updated for a second edition. However, because of movement in tariff structures, one section required more immediate attention and this is given below. This advice supersedes the previous guidance.  

 
Cost to the citizen

3.45 Based on your primary target audiences, you should also consider the cost of accessing the service. Not only does this make sure that citizens on low income can afford to contact you, but it also encourages citizens to call by removing the cost barrier.

3.46 For telephone services, this involves decisions over whether to offer a geographical or non-geographical number such as 0800/0808, 0845/0844,or 0870/0871. Non-geographical numbers have traditionally provided advantages in terms of intelligent routing, which helps manage call flows and can provide a better service to the end customer (although the more advanced networks can provide intelligent routing on standard geographical numbers and this should be explored as an option.)

The following guidance has been put together with input from Ofcom.  

Free services would be appropriate if you are targeting those who may be deterred by the cost of a call (for example, the elderly, young people or those on low incomes or where the nature of the call is confidential) and is particularly applicable if your objective is to encourage as many people as possible to call. For example, with counseling services, if the call is free it will not normally appear on the phone bill and as such a free call is very appropriate. (Note that some mobile operators currently do charge for free number calls.) (1)  

However 0800/0808 numbers can suffer from hoax calls and you may wish to consider a geographic number or an 0844/0845.(2)  For example, cost is likely to be less of an issue for businesses, so 0844 or 0845 may be more appropriate here.  

0870/0871 numbers are not recommended, particularly when targeting individuals as by dint of falling national call rates, these have become expensive to the caller relative to a geographic call, which can act as a barrier to communicating information that the citizen should have access to as a right. If 0870/0871 (3) is being used then other alternatives – i.e. a standard geographical number (either in parallel with, or as an alternative to the 0870/0871 number), the web or postal mechanisms should be considered and made available.  0870/0871 might be appropriate in a business environment, but even here its use should be treated with caution.

3.47 If you are asking citizens to respond by coupon, we recommend offering a freepost address to avoid the cost and inconvenience of postage stamps.

3.48 If you are using SMS, you should consider the cost to the citizen of sending a text, and indeed a response may involve multiple texts back and forth.

3.49 You should always clearly communicate the cost to customers on publicity materials (see paragraph 3.75) and this should not use any misleading terms such as ‘local’, ‘national rate’ etc.

3.50 Premium rate revenue generation numbers should never be used for public services.

3.51 Tariff is often a decision that should be made as part of the wider
communications/publicity planning and should be given due consideration and the impact on the citizen discussed.



(1) Work is being undertaken by COI together with other bodies to see if this difficult area can be addressed.
 
(2) 0845 in particular has been known as ‘local-rate’ however with the increased competition in the marketplace and resultant changes in tariff structures, these rates will often be in excess of normal local rates that citizens might be charged on their package.  0845 (and 0844) costs through some mobile tariffs can also be expensive to the citizen and this should also be considered.

(3) 0870 in particular has been known as ‘national rate’, however this is misleading and 0870 can be very expensive to the citizen in comparison with the tariffs they would normally pay for a national call.  Increasingly distinctions between local and national are fading in tariff structures anyway.  0870/0871 more generally has the added issue of revenue share (this can be available on 0845/0844 but is smaller, less universal and less perceived by the public).  This can be viewed negatively by the citizen who may feel the Department is exploiting them, as even if the revenues are being utilised towards the costs of the operation of the service, this might not be fully understood.