Click4Assistance Breaks Through the Welsh Border for Councils

Over the years Click4Assistance has worked with many English councils to improve their online services to residents. Last year our solution reached into Scotland with Inverclyde being the first Scottish council to implement the instant communication channel.

Now we have broken the Welsh border with Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council procuring the online chat software.

They have an interesting adoption of live chat as they have both a Welsh and English version of their website; therefore their live chat service also needed to be replicated in both languages.

Setting up Multilingual Online Chat Software

To achieve this, 2 experiences needed to be set up within the Click4Assistance software. An experience defines what buttons and windows are shown, what order they display and who receives the enquiries amongst many other settings.

To streamline this process, experiences can be copied therefore it was easier to amend the default template within the solution to the first language. This was replicated and slight changes were made to make the chat relevant for the second language.

Buttons

All buttons are created within a programme such as Photoshop. To ensure both websites had a matching design our team provided the council’s designer with their chosen template. They then amended the image to read ‘Live Chat With Us’ in Welsh which was uploaded into the software and selected for the Welsh chat experience.

Windows

There are several windows throughout the chat journey. This includes:

• The prechat form
• Dialogue window
• Thank you notice

All windows can be edited within the solution as access to the HTML and CSS is provided. Unicode is supported by the software therefore this allows any text to be amended in any language.

Using Online Chat Software

The council approached Click4Assistance in 2018, never before having used online chat software, and eager to learn how it all works. Our demonstrations provided time for our team to understand what the organisation hoped to achieve and allowed the account manager to personally tailor the walk-through to show the council how the software could work for them.

They originally wanted to help with resourcing and teach customers to self-help so they could resolve their own enquiries next time. However, the chat has since been implemented within the fostering section of their website.

Residents can use the chat service for help with applying to foster, following up on an existing case or chasing up an application etc. The chats from each of the webpages are routed through to a central team, who are easily able to establish if it’s been directed from the Welsh or English version of the site and therefore enables the chat to continue in the required language.

Every account has access to Predefined Replies; these are a library of pre-agreed answers which are set up in advance and can be amended by an administrator at any time. An agent will have access to the replies where they can select the one they want and edit it before sending without affecting the original entry.

Predefined Replies can be organised into folders, grouping together certain topics or type of responses. This can include separating answers relating to council tax and waste refuge, or hellos, goodbyes, delayed welcomes etc. This is useful for Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council as they are able to split their replies into Welsh and English, helping operators to quickly select the answer they need in the correct language.

Click4Assistance has been providing online chat software for over 15 years, helping councils directly and through partnerships with companies such as Capita, Civica and oneSource with their digital transformation.

For more information on Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council’s implementation or our online communication services, contact our team on 01268 524628 or email theteam@click4assistance.co.uk.

Alternatively, we offer tailored demonstrations and a free 21 day no obligation trial, allowing you to evaluate the software and see how it can benefit your residents and staff.