No answer muni? We put them to the test
After several complaints, Review contacted the Polokwane Municipality for answers as to why residents' calls were left unanswered.
POLOKWANE – Many residents have complained in recent months that their calls to the Polokwane Municipality were left unanswered, while other suggested that the listed numbers do not work at all.
During last night’s power outage, the same issues arose and a Polokwane Review journalist decided to give the Polokwane Municipality’s numbers a call.
He contacted the municipal switchboard at 015 023 5000. This was the only number that did not yield the “this number does not exist” or “the subscriber you have dialled is not available at present” response.
Review contacted the municipality’s Communications and Marketing Manager, Matshidiso Mothapo, about his struggles to get hold of an operator.
“A huge part of the city area and Seshego was affected by an electricity outage last night. Unfortunately, the control room was also affected by the outage and was not functional during the period. The control room has a backup generator and for some reason the generator did not kick in to operate the control room. However, the technical operator was immediately called in to deal with the generator,” he explained.
Mothapo said this explains why he could not get through at the times he contacted the municipality.
“The numbers are working, however, the current challenge is with regards to the software and hardware being utilised because it is not automated and does not give the operator an option to answer incoming calls while they are busy with another client on the line,” he added.
Mothapo said it must also be borne in mind that during any given service disruption, the numbers are flooded and in their current state they cannot handle the influx.
“The municipality will be implementing the development of a fully-integrated high-end call centre to enhance the experience of efficient service delivery experience for the residents when calling the municipality,” he noted.
A consultant has been appointed to develop designs and planning for this project.
“It is still a process that would involve supply chain and appointment of contractors, however, once the plans and designs have been approved, the process will go onto the next stage of construction,” he concluded.
