Agenda - Council - 07/24/2001 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I MEMORANDUM Date: September 1, 2000 To: Mayor and City Council James E. Norman, City Administrator From: Klm Moore-Sykes, Assistant City Adn4nistrator Rhonda Heryla, Human Resources Manager Consideration of City's Telephone System As you are aware, Dawn A. Ilen, who was hired for the receptionist position, resigned after one week of employment with the City. In her written resignation letter, she stated that. found the phone system to be "antiquated". '1'he Human Resources Manager, in speaking with Ms. Alien, determined that the telephones were mostly the cause for her exasperation as the receptionist. Unfortunately, she did start her employment during one of the busiest weeks we have had this summer and the phones seemed to ring nonstop. In discussing the situation with Staff, many felt that Ms. Allen's departure was premature and she was too quick in evaluating her future with the City of Ramsey. However, it was agreed that perhaps the telephone system is not adequate to handle the large and increasing volume of telephone calls that we receive. This situation is all the more apparent when the current staffing level for Administration is reviewed. Not withstanding the vacated receptionist position, Administrative Services currently relies on 1.5 secretarial staff whereas is the past, this department had three secretaries, all of whom were able to pick up the phones when necessary. This situation will only get worse as the City continues to ~ow and city facilities expand, i.e. the new fn'e station. As an alternative to adding more administrative staff to handle the increasing number of calls, perhaps th/s is the time to explore up~ading of our current phone system or purchasing a more sophisticated and larger capacity telephone system. Some of the features that would meet our needs include: ~ A Direct Dial feature would allow callers to dial directly to a specific staff member instead of going through Administrative Servibes. This is not to say that we would abandon the idea of having a receptionist. Some callers do prefer to have their call answered and directed by a person. Also, callers are requesting direct dial numbers for staff. With direct dial numbers, Finance would be better able to track long distance calls back to various departments for billing purposes. Staffwould also have the ability to receive calls outside of business hours to finish with a project or issue. -145-