Tweeting customers to a better service

Everyone living in Warwickshire is being tweeted to even quicker updates on local services following the launch of a new Twitter 'feed'.

@WarksDirect, which can be viewed at
www.twitter.com/WarksDirect , aims to provide its followers with interesting and useful updates on local services.

By working closely with district and borough councils, plus other partners, the Warwickshire Direct Twitter feed will present local people with a host of varied and interesting information.

The main aim is to help local people stay aware of services and access them when they need to most.

Updates could be as varied as helping people to report potholes or even how to renew library books online.

Cllr Peter Butlin, Warwickshire County Council's support Portfolio Holder for Customer, Workforce and Governance said: "We get thousands of web visits every day, hundreds of people phone us, and many others call in to our one stops shops around the county to access services. What we are aiming to do with the new Twitter feed is to help make it even easier for people to access services.

"For instance, if our contact centre notices we are getting quite a few calls on a particular issue, we can instantly tweet this and direct people to a relevant web page or provide the information.

"Twitter gives us a way to communicate quickly and effectively with individuals, directly to their phones, home or work computers. It is not a stand alone way to communicate with people, but is an excellent way to help us provide an even better customer service in Warwickshire."