DVTA Booking Service Celebrates 1 Millionth Caller
13 April 2006
A new telephone booking service, which utilises the latest call centre technology, is proving that convenience is a priority for car owners and would-be drivers in Northern Ireland.
The Driver & Vehicle Testing Agency\'s (DVTA) telephone booking service has notched up its 1,000,000th caller since its launch in February 2004 with an increasing percentage of the public now making the most of this practical method of booking MOTs and driving test appointments.
Thanks to technology from Northgate Information Solutions (formerly Sx3), the new service offers a paperless, instant and time-efficient alternative to the traditional option of visiting the local DVTA test centre in person to book and pay for services.
While call levels are up throughout the province, figures for January show that the new service is most popular at the Newtownards test centre where 57% of all MOTs and 75% of driving tests are booked via telephone. Users from other regions who also appear to put convenience first include Balmoral Test Centre (52% for MOTs) and Larne (78% for driving tests).
This contrasts sharply with regions such as Armagh, Enniskillen and Omagh where on average only 25% of books are made by the phone service.
Overall however, Sandra Grieve of the DVTA believes the general public is now appreciating the main benefits of the new system:
"This is a prime example of how technology is helping the government improve access to public services, but changing mindset remains an issue when it comes to established services such as MOTs and driving tests. Our research would indicate that many car owners visit their local test centre out of habit while others feel secure in the knowledge they\'ve booked and paid for their appointment in person - and this may always be their preferred option. Customers will continue to be offered the choice of using one of centres.
"However, the telephone service offers a viable and highly effective alternative, and recent figures suggest it is ideally suited to those who work full time or have limited free time. Armed with this information, we are now investigating extending the service to the internet, offering the full booking service at the click of a button."
According to James Turnbull, managing director of Infrastructure Solutions, Northgate-IS, this is a great example of how technology can make an impact on everyday life:
"We\'re delighted to celebrate our millionth milestone as this indicates how the attitude of consumers is changing, as is their approach to \'doing business\' with the public sector.
"Thanks to the technology deployed, the entire system is geared towards caller convenience - saving time and money for users throughout the process. Appointments can be easily cancelled and rescheduled, and if a suitable date is not available, users can check on a daily basis for a cancellation. This is definitely the way forward for every-day public services and the next logical step is to make the services available on line."
The DVTA Booking Service details are:
MOT - 0845 2472471
Driving Test - 0845 247 2472
TEXT service for disabled or hard of hearing users - 0845 247 2474
