Scope of the contract is to cover the required out of hours customer call handling service for each party to the agreement in order to realise the benefits of a shared service contract.

Details of current usage estimates for current shared service, as well as estimated contract values can be found in the briefing note, available with a copy of the pre-qualification questionnaire.

Full details of the services to be included are contained within the specification of requirements but will involve taking calls from the public during periods when other borough call handling arrangements are not in operation, filtering calls to identify priorities, recording information in computer systems, and passing information to on-call duty staff who provide direct services.

These benefits will be realised by aggregating the out of hours calls of many London Boroughs and other contracting authorities into a single call centre.

Whilst the requirements are primarily for the delivery of an Out of Hours Service, there is interest in extending the Service to include call handling during daytime office hours. These daytime calls are likely to be similar in nature and complexity to Out of Hours calls.

In addition the framework contract will contain a requirement to provide 24/7 cover in case of emergencies.