I want my GRO

I had to visit one of the Council's call centres this morning for a chance to see the GRO in action. It's basically a computer programme intergrated with our repairs system that allows the user to see diagrams of pipes, baths, sinks, windows etc and the various common faults associated with each. It's designed to help the call centres find the root of the problem from tenants' descriptions minus the 'techno-speak'.

So I'm paired up with Handan who logs her phone into the repairs system only. This means that when a call comes through on the repairs line, it will go straight to her phone first. All the phones can be programmed to pick up one or all of the lines the centre deal with (repairs, council tax, graffiti, parking, benefits) and the centre is a buzz of phones constantly ringing and constant chatter. It was really cool to see another office at work and how different everything was from my own office. The women on the desks around me were surprised when I said how people came into work in jeans and trainers, and that it wasn't uncommon for people to yell or swear across the room every ten minutes. There is a very different working environment in a depot from an office!

Anyways, this GRO system is a doddle. You click on the pictures, the repairs come up, click on the repair button, and the order is all written and ready to print at one of the depots. I was amazed at how easy it was. In the time it would have taken me to manually type out a works order, Handan has answered a call, identified the problem, issued an order, and set an appointment. I'm lost for words at how much easier my job would be if I had this programme. Unfortunately it doesn't cater for asbestos-related problems, so unless they upgrade, I'm still manually typing out my orders.

Anyway, I managed to entertain everyone with my extensive knowledge of asbestos and described the removal process to Handan, because her friend has suspected asbestos and may need it removed before she rennovates. So I did my party piece! And I decided that, despite the easy job logging process, I wouldn't wanna work there. Endless telephone work, limited use of email, and one computer monitoring every single call and conversation everyone has in the centre. Big Brother eat your heart out - the Council is watching you!