09.06.20
Council uses GOSS Bookings amid easing of lockdown measures
Content provided by Goss Interactive, editorially reviewed by Public Sector Executive
Clackmannanshire Council make innovative use of GOSS Bookings in the wake of the easing of lockdown measures.
With the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions starting to ease across the UK, many local authorities are beginning to re-open certain public services such as waste and recycling centres. However, for many residents across the country, the lockdown has left them with an accumulation of bulky waste and recyclable items, which now require disposal. With that said, local authorities are now faced with the challenge of needing to manage the huge peak in demand for these services in a way that is safe, maintains social distancing practices and doesn’t overwhelm waste and recycling services and centres.
Clackmannanshire Council have been able to do just that with a simple booking solution which will help them safely manage the demand placed on their Forthbank Recycling Centre. With the lockdown restrictions in Scotland easing from June 1st, the Forthbank Recycling Centre has now re-opened for residents to begin disposing their waste. Using their already existing GOSS Bookings solution, which has previously been used by the council from managing Badminton tournaments to event attendance and appointment bookings, this system now also empowers the Council to adhere to government guidance and social distancing practices for waste disposal.
Using the GOSS Bookings solution Clackmannanshire Council have delivered a time-slot-based booking system which enables their residents to choose an allocated time-slot to dispose of their waste. Enabling residents to book a time to drop off their waste in 10 minute slots, the bookings solution also permits the up to a maximum of 5 vehicles allowed into the Recycling Centre during each 10 minute slot, thus controlling the flow of traffic into the Centre and improving overall customer experience.
Presented using a calendar-based style, and currently only limited to bookable slots for the week ahead, Clackmannanshire Council can safely manage the volume of citizens wanting to access recycling services. As a result, the Council avoids the need to employ additional resources at the recycling centre to manage the volume of citizens and the traffic into the centre. Citizens can see availability, pick a slot and book online quickly and easily. Furthermore, on site at the tip, crews can access daily bookings through the secure staff interface, check vehicle registrations as they enter and further supporting social distancing a non-contact approach.
Ben Short, Web Manager at Clackmannanshire Council said:
“Using the GOSS Bookings module was quick and easy. We had some advice from the GOSS Team on its configuration and got some useful insights from their Slack Community of other Councils implementing similar solutions as us. Utilising an existing service is great, it keeps the customer journeys consistent, maximises our investment, and gives us additional ideas about how we may further the use of products within the Council.”
With this new waste and recycling bookings service now available to their residents, Clackmannanshire Council has already received a record level of bookings, with all slots offered for the forthcoming week having been booked within 7 hours of the service going live. As bookings become more of a feature of daily life for Clackmannanshire citizens, the ability for the council to re-purpose an existing GOSS solution to suit new services is vital to their continued investment in digital and online transformation for the Council.