The National Computer Board (NCB) has awarded a S$11.5 million contract for the design, building and operation of the One-Call Infrastructure to a consortium led by Hewlett-Packard Singapore (Sales) Pte Ltd. The other partners ...
Singapore, 29 December 1997 | For Immediate Release
The National Computer Board (NCB) has awarded a S$11.5 million contract for the design, building and operation of the One-Call Infrastructure to a consortium led by Hewlett-Packard Singapore (Sales) Pte Ltd. The other partners in the consortium include Admiral plc and Keppel Communication Pte Ltd.
The One-Call Infrastructure is designed to give the public a one-number access to information and services within each government ministry via the telephone. It is made up of a Government Call Centre and several Ministry Call Centres. The Government Call Centre is a centralised, shared computer cum telephony infrastructure that supports the Ministry Call Centres located at the various ministries' premises. The shared infrastructure will reduce the cost and time required for individual ministries to set up similarly sophisticated systems on their own.
For a start, three pilot sites will launch the Ministry Call Centres. They are the Ministry of Labour (MOL), the Local Enterprise Upgrading Centre (LEUC) of the Singapore Productivity and Standards Board, and the Customs and Excise Department (CED) of the Ministry of Finance. All three Ministry Call Centres will be operational by FY1998.
Members of the public will be given a telephone number for each Ministry Call Centre. A caller will first be connected automatically to the Ministry's Interactive Voice Response system housed at the Government Call Centre. However, the caller can choose to speak to a Customer Service Officer at any point. The call, together with any transactions made on the Interactive Voice Response system, will then be routed to a Customer Service Officer at the Ministry Call Centre. As the components of Government Call Centre are tightly integrated to the databases at the Ministry Call Centres, the Customer Service Officer is able to search and retrieve the relevant information to assist the caller quickly and accurately. For more specialised and complex matters, the call will be transferred out of the Ministry Call Centre, to be handled by officers who are experts in the respective fields.
The benefits of the Government One-Call Infrastructure includes:
a) Faster turn around time as calls will no longer be transferred from one department to another.
b) 24-hours accessibility to government services with the Interactive Voice Response system.
c) Greater accuracy and consistency in answering calls.
d) Fewer trips made to government counters for information.
e) By riding on the shared infrastructure, government agencies can save costs as compared to acquiring similarly sophisticated systems on their own.
f) More simplified, streamlined and integrated government service to the public.
If this pilot project proves to be successful, the NCB will expand the scope to 20 Ministry Call Centres by the 5th year of operation.
The One-Call Infrastructure is in line with the PS21 vision to exploit information technology not only to bring about new levels of efficiency and productivity within the government, but also to provide better services to the public.
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