Durham County Council
Durham County Council link refuse collectors direct to CRM with Waste Collector
Sedgefield is one of the seven Durham Districts which formed a Unitary Authority in 2009, and operates weekly residual waste collections for approximately 40,000 households. Kerbside collections of glass, cans and paper are contracted out to third-parties.
Sedgefield is a predominantly rural borough with a low population density. Properties can be well spread out and missing collections is consequently easier than it might be on an urban street. The waste department needed a comprehensive system to reduce errors on the rounds and to streamline the way calls were handled in the CRM system.
The Oracle CRM system is crucial to the provision of services to the public in Sedgefield. All householder enquiries are handled by a single, centralised call centre and efficient communication of information between crews, the Street Scene management and the call centre was seen as essential to streamlining the operation and improving services.
After an extensive trial, Sedgefield implemented Waste Collector Live! on their complete vehicle fleet. To achieve maximum benefit, the system was integrated with the Council's Oracle CRM system from the outset.
Jimmy Bennett, StreetScene Manager at Sedgefield, explains the benefits of the system.
"Within days of implementing the first vehicle we saw a substantial increase in the amount of data collected by crews and were equally impressed by the quality of this information. Crews were recording every 'bin not out', damaged bins and a wide variety of other useful data. It was clear that the drivers had very quickly come to like and depend on the cab computer.
As an example of how Waste Collector Live! increases our efficiency, we have noticed that bin repairs and replacements are improved. Whilst we might previously have known that there was a problem and little else, we now know the bin type, the nature of the damage and the exact address. As a result we are able to attend with the right parts and deal with it far more effectively."