Microsoft Aims Hight with First UK Local Authoity CRM Win

NEWS RELEASE Tuesday 18th May, 2004

MICROSOFT® AIMS HIGH WITH FIRST UK LOCAL AUTHORITY CRM WIN Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea on target to meet e-government objectives with Microsoft Business Solutions - Customer Relationship Management

Microsoft Business Solutions today announced that the Directorate of Transportation and Highways at the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea has successfully implemented a sophisticated correspondence management system based on Microsoft CRM.

Implemented by ETC Global Solutions, the technology provides a cost-effective, intuitive way of evolving the Directorate’s previous paper-based correspondence tracking and filing system, and also means that over time, the department will benefit from a centralised database recording all communications and correspondence. This in turn will improve the way residents in the Borough communicate with the Council, and is also in line with the government’s e-agenda.

The benefits of the Microsoft CRM system include: - Online tracking of all correspondence with comprehensive searching capabilities - Accurate reporting for key performance indicators, such as turnaround or response time for correspondence - Access to an online Microsoft CRM knowledge base, which will be used to store information about an organisation’s policies and can be easily retrieved by staff when replying to queries

Councillor David Campion, Member E-Champion, Lead Member for the Leader on IT and Chairman of the Computer and Communications Advisory Group for the Royal Borough, said: “The Council is always looking to improve the way it serves its residents and other customers. We pride ourselves on the way we handle communications and this system will help to ensure the consistency of our responses. It will also contribute to the Council meeting its e-government targets.”

Anita Clifford, Director of CRM systems at ETC Global Solutions, said, "Microsoft Business Solutions CRM is a highly scalable, customisable application, which ETC has adapted to fit the Council's exact requirements. The phased approach taken by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, to implement the system in a single department and then expand upon a solid base, is proving very successful."

Michala Alexander, CRM product manager at Microsoft Business Solutions, explained; “This implementation is a very important one for us, as it is our first Microsoft CRM implementation in the public sector. By working with partners like ETC that have considerable heritage in the CRM sector, we are able to let businesses take advantage of technology that drives customer service and efficiency, and will continue to provide a backbone of support in the future.”

Implemented in autumn 2003, the system went live in November, and the Royal Borough plans to roll the system out to other departments in future.

About the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Kensington and Chelsea is a unique location at the heart of London.

Although primarily a residential area, the Borough is also home to internationally recognised shopping centres, significant office provision, an internationally renowned arts and museum complex and the second largest concentration of hotel beds in any London borough. All this and much more is packed into just five square miles of land.

Kensington and Chelsea has a population of around 190,000 and is the most densely populated borough in the United Kingdom. About ETC Global Solutions (www.etcgs.com) ETC Global Solutions is a UK-based IT consultancy, software house and leading Microsoft Business Solutions partner with over 30 years of experience. Based in Amersham, with systems installed worldwide, ETC are fully accredited for Microsoft CRM, Great Plains and Navision delivering industry leading front office and ERP solutions. For the public sector ETC offer IT solutions, including Microsoft CRM, which enable local authorities to deliver customer and resident focused services, meeting e-government targets and deadlines. Contact Anita Clifford at ETC Global Solutions (01494 720 600) or visit www.etcgs.com for more information.

About Microsoft Business Solutions Microsoft Business Solutions, a division of Microsoft, offers a wide range of integrated, end-to-end business applications and services designed to help small, mid market and corporate businesses become more connected with customers, employees, partners and suppliers. Microsoft Business Solutions’ applications optimise strategic business processes across financial management, analytics, human resources management, project management, customer relationship management, field service management, supply chain management, e-commerce, manufacturing and retail management. The applications are designed to provide insight to help customers achieve business success. More information about Microsoft Business Solutions can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/uk/businesssolutions/.

About Microsoft Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software — any time, any place and on any device.

For more information, press only: Matt Stewart / Marc Sparrow Inferno Communications Tel. 0208 735 9100 Email. [email protected] / [email protected]

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