Putting our customers at the heart of everything we do.
Short message service - SMS / Reminders
Employees of Derby City Council send letters to, and make appointments with, hundreds of customers each day. At these appointments, customers are required to provide information or carry out specific actions. If customers fail to turn up for the appointments, forget to bring key documents or forget to carry out certain actions, resources are not used effectively and customers can receive a less effective service.
Derby City Council is running a pilot which aims to test the concept of using SMS - text messages - to reduce the cost and improve the quality of service, by reminding customers of appointments and to encourage them - when necessary - to contact the Council to re-arrange the appointment, when customers need to collect a book they have ordered or to provide updated information.
The pilot is being led by the Customer Services Department. We will be using the PageOne automated messaging service to communicate with customers. The pilot will incorporate four services – Pest Control, Libraries, Board and Lodge and Benefits.
How does it work?
An automated message is sent to your mobile telephone to either remind you or to ask you to do something.
Who sends the text message?
The text message is sent on behalf of the Council from PageOne. PageOne is a company with 20 years experience in mobile messaging and paging services and is a Government approved supplier of messaging services to Public Sector organisations.
Do I need to respond to the text message I receive?
For the purpose of the pilot, you are not able to respond to the message, as it is simply a reminder or a request. If you are already aware of your appointment, you need do nothing further other than ensure you have the relevant information with you when you attend.
If you are unable to attend you must ring the relevant department on the telephone number quoted, to make alternative arrangements.
Will I receive marketing or junk texts from this?
No. The service is totally confidential. The only information stored is your mobile telephone number, which is deleted from the PageOne system after a period of 31 days.
This service will not generate any other marketing or text messages to your phone and no other company or organisation will be given your number for marketing purposes.
Information in large print, braille or other languages
Please tell us if you need this in large print, on audio tape, computer disk or in Braille. You can contact us on 01332 293111 or on Minicom 01332 255116 or fax 01332 256121.
Please contact us if you have any difficulty reading this and we will help you.
