Products - Pulse (Local Authorities)

Pulse is an on-line service for Local Authorities to:

• Capture live information on service and customer satisfaction levels
• Design citizen, staff and 'mystery shopper' surveys
• Review and analyse, in real time, management information concerning the performance of the authority in delivering its services
• Provide dynamic reports of how the authority is performing to stakeholders, for example council officers, elected officers, citizens

Pulse is an easy to use 'browser based' application delivered as an internet service. Authorities using the service subscribe on a monthly basis and authorised staff are able to connect to the service from any browser. No additional hardware or software is required.

Citizen Consultation and Pulse
Delivering effective local services can only be done if services are attuned to the needs of the public. Understanding the needs of the community is central to the concept of Best Value and ensuring the services you provide are built around the needs of your citizens is one of the key principles that underpin the e-government strategy.

Traditional consultation exercises tend to be slow to report the views and experiences of the citizens who respond. Paper based questionnaires can take weeks to send out to citizens, after often weeks or even months being designed and printed. Once the citizen has responded the analysis phase will typically take weeks to complete. Costs associated with this process can be very high (printing, design time, analysis time) and the information received can be weeks or even months old when it is finally used as a basis for action.

Pulse questionnaires are designed on-line, can be easily edited and feedback is captured on-line and in real time. The feedback is then automatically analysed and graphically presented to those who have access to it.

Pulse essentially provides an electronic scorecard for service and citizen satisfaction levels. Access to this information is made available to you over a secure link. We use the very latest technology and security to ensure a reliable solution.

Staff Feedback
The issue for many large organisations is the immediacy of management information. Staff issues and morale levels need to be in front of decision makers quickly in order for effective corrective actions to be taken.. Often staff issues become big problems because senior officers are not fully aware of the existence of any issue quickly enough. Pulse is a tool that can establish real dialogue between management and staff.

Performance monitoring
Pulse can be used to monitor competency performance. The Pulse questionnaire can be designed to mirror a competency framework and report on the performance of individuals, teams or the whole organisation.

Data can be captured from coach or manager monitoring activities and the results collated and graphically presented. Using consistent frameworks for questionnaires enables comparisons and benchmarking and trend analysis. It is a powerful means of identifying training needs. Coupled with data collected from customers or 'mystery shoppers' managers can target much more effectively any training and development requirements.