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Modernising council services

Aberdeen City Council traditionally relied on over-the-counter payment collection for services such as council tax, benefits, parking permits and school payments. These face-to-face transactions were time-consuming, costly to administer and placed pressure on reception staff and advisers.

Discover how Aberdeen Council teamed up with Cammax to modernise their payment collections’ services with two self-service kiosks and improve the customer experience.

reduce customer wait times and staff workload

A person interacts with a self-service kiosk, retrieving a receipt. The screen displays a completed payment message. The mood is efficient and modern.

Following an internal audit of its Customer Service Centre, Aberdeen City Council interviewed staff and customers and reviewed key processes (Council Tax, Benefits, Parking Permits) to identify bottlenecks such as queues and high staff workload. The subsequent objectives were to:

Reduce costs

Decrease staff transaction handling (FTE) and lower out-goings related to payments

Offer payment choice

Enable a wider range of payment methods across multiple service types (e.g., school payments).

Introduce self service technology

Provide a simple self-service payment platform for customers accustomed to a face-to-face experience

Solution

As part of the improvement plan, the council selected and installed two self-service payment kiosks supplied by Cammax Limited at the Marischal College Customer Service Centre through a competitive tender.

“The payment kiosks have greatly enhanced customer experience at Marischal College Customer Service Centre and may even bring additional revenue to Aberdeen City Council as well as potentially saving money through a reduction of staff numbers (FTE) required at the Customer Service Centre”

Craig Farquar, Project Executive

Aberdeen City Council

Outcomes

  • Average queue times for non-payment transactions fell by 31%, enabling staff to focus on more complex enquiries
  • Cash handled by customer service advisers dropped by 97% (against a target of 74%), significantly reducing health & safety risks and improving staff morale
  • PayPoint transactions were reduced by 5% in the first eight months, saving up to £4,475 annually.
  • Customer complaints relating to cash payments for Council Tax or rent dropped to zero
  • Customer satisfaction:survey: Over 90% of users found the kiosks ‘convenient’ or ‘very convenient’ and around 92% said they would use them again