South Cambs DC: A corporate website that saves time and money
South Cambs DC: A corporate website that saves time and money
Before Christmas 2012 we completed the first phase of a 3 year contract to redesign, build, support and help to maintain South Cambridgeshire District Council’s corporate Internet and Intranet sites.
The new corporate website (click here or the image to visit the website) was launched on 17th December 2012 and marks a key stage in our use and development of Drupal, the open source content management and web development platform. [more]
One of the key features of the new website is a design and layout to encourage residents and businesses to use the ‘self service’ facilities that are available online and to undertake transactions over the web rather than over the telephone or face-to-face in Council offices around the district. The new online facilities accessed via the website are expected to save the Council thousands of pounds per year with estimates showing that a transaction carried out online costs an average of 15p per transaction while an equivalent transaction costs £8 if the customer needs to visit a Council office.
The new Home page for the Council website provides a focal point for the thinking behind how the website has been designed and built with priority given to user engagement and guided interaction as highlighted by the key phrases: Pay For It, Apply For It and Report It. The website forms an integral part of a series of improvements being made by the Council to enhance its award-winning customer care services.
Customer care is at the heart of how we are providing our services under the 3 year contract. The contract is based on the same model we use for our Software as a Service that covers a range of web-based software we have developed over the years. The South Cambs web team have been an integral part of the project team from day one. In addition to regular on-site meetings their direct input is managed via our ticketing system that allows them to view, report and assess on how the project is progressing and comment on individual features and functions of the website as they are developed and tested.
We will be providing full on-site training to the Council’s web team in the website’s CMS and will continue to provide ongoing support and maintenance over the course of the contract as the corporate website and its CMS reside on our servers.
The next phase of the project, to build the new corporate Intranet site, is already well under way and is also being built using Drupal. We’ll let you know more about that project on the Portal so keep coming back!
