Headlines: May 15th, 2000

People who have called up their local police station to report a crime would probably not say afterwards that they were treated like “a valued customer”. That is about to change. Police forces of England and Wales are looking at ways to get a better customer focus by improving their call handling services.Manchester Business School has been commissioned to carry out a study of call handling services. The fieldwork will be carried out by MBA students of the School who will work in groups of four and five to study 33 police forces’ systems. They will then deliver both oral and written reports to their respective forces, who will meet the expenses of the students. There will be a single summary report in the summer comparing and contrasting the forces’ call handling systems, with ideas and recommendations for improvement