{"id":12566,"date":"2020-10-07T10:01:23","date_gmt":"2020-10-07T09:01:23","guid":{"rendered":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/?p=12566"},"modified":"2020-10-07T10:01:23","modified_gmt":"2020-10-07T09:01:23","slug":"covid19-communications-public-sector","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/covid19-communications-public-sector\/","title":{"rendered":"What COVID-19 Taught Us about Communications in the Public Sector"},"content":{"rendered":"

We all know communication is changing. As public chat services like WhatsApp and iMessaging have gained popularity, enterprises and public services have put focus on digitising their customer service. The goal is to increase efficiencies and gain a competitive edge through improvements to speed of service delivery. That includes minimising costs through lower cost per contact channels, which people prefer to use in communications with customer service departments.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

According to consumer research firm MRI-Simmons, voice was the most popular way to communicate in 2012, with 94% of survey respondents having done so up to a week before the survey. By 2020, voice calls had fallen to least popular position, behind texting, emailing, posting on social media and using chat apps. 60% of Gen Z respondents<\/a> said they were likely to hang up if their call wasn\u2019t answered in under 45 seconds<\/span>. <\/span>Email is another tool that also led to the decrease of voice calls and helped businesses make contact with customers on their own time. It was becoming apparent that it was important to provide customers with the option of multiple channels to establish contact. In this discussion, voice became branded as the \u201cleast efficient way to contact someone\u201d. Some experts began claiming \u201cvoice was dead\u201d as a communication channel.<\/span><\/p>\n

Where we\u2019ve lost our way with how we view voice communications, especially in critical public services like healthcare<\/a>, education<\/a> and social welfare, is that we have failed to ask our citizens: <\/span>in what way do they feel most comfortable interacting with UK public services in different scenarios? <\/b>With this question in mind, this blog argues that voice communications is not dead in the UK public sector, but is undergoing a renaissance.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Read the situation: communications are customised to the situation at hand<\/h2>\n

Not everything can be texted. Voice plays a critical role in delivering sensitive, private and difficult messages. <\/span>For example, during a crisis such as the current coronavirus outbreak, people naturally pivot toward a human response. These situations can initiate a temporary return to traditional communications, which can often be overlooked when planning the digitisation of public services. <\/span>Statistics published to date during the COVID-19 pandemic indicate voice calls have increased by up to 40%. This is not a local phenomenon, but is rather a global trend.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Voice calls also give a sense of security to citizens. For example, important calls such as those from hospitals can be securely identified on the device as coming from the hospital, and clearly indicate the reason for the call, such as \u201cTest Results\u201d or \u201cHealth Services\u201d. Sensitive test results are not texted to a citizen and thus voice plays a critical role in delivering important and sensitive information in a manner that is thoughtful and deliberate. While we can use enhanced calling technology to intelligently route calls and give a preview to the receiver of the subject of the scheduled voice call by SMS, we cannot ignore the role voice calls play in delivering critical and private medical information.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Know your audience: communications are customised to the receiver<\/h2>\n

In certain situations, some problems can only be resolved by speaking with a person. For instance, in the private sector, high-value transactions are frequently conducted over the phone by request of customers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The UK public sector’s omnichannel approach needs to be led by data, where each local authority knows why and how they should be communicating with a citizen based on their preferences and the time and nature of the enquiry. This means that local authorities should always be able to evaluate how to contact a citizen before initiating an engagement. Some examples of this are as follows:<\/span><\/p>\n