Case Study Synopsis
- Integrated with legacy systems
- Automated invoicing replacing a manual four-week process
- Eliminated manual data entry and errors
- Provided an agile solution to accommodate change
- Created dashboards for real-time KPI tracking and monitoring
Customer
Durham County Council‘s (DCC) Care Connect is a service aimed at supporting individuals, particularly those who are vulnerable, to remain independent in their homes using assistive technology. A dedicated call centre provides a 24-hour service, seven days per week, and assists people in navigating the complex landscape of equipment provision, working in partnership with social care.
Challenges
Care Connect faced critical challenges, including data quality concerns with its outdated and unsupported database. With time constraints looming, the team urgently sought a viable replacement to safeguard operations.
The outdated customer database recorded all customer data, including:
- Dates of referral to installation
- Equipment provision
- Changes in service levels and funding streams
- Financial information
- Service removals
Annual creation of invoice generation could take up to four weeks to produce and relied on a complex process of Excel spreadsheets, data filtering, and manual checks.
Care Connect also faced challenges with its outdated and unsupported Microsoft Access database with excessive and irrelevant fields, sluggish performance, and a lack of flexibility.
The team identified an urgent need to engage with a software provider to undertake a project to automate its critical business processes.
As a supplier listed on the government’s G-Cloud 13 tendering framework, Care Connect was able to draw on Excelpoint’s experience and significantly reduce the procurement process timeframe.
Solution
The primary goals of the new system were to guarantee:
- Equivalent and enhanced functionality
- Compliance with procurement regulations and standards
- Minimised manual intervention and duplication and optimisation of electronic workflows
- Seamless integration with the existing financial management system Oracle
- Development of a live dashboard for key performance indicators
Despite only starting the project in October 2023, the solution went live in January 2024. It immediately managed the customer accounts and service provision of over 11,000 vulnerable customers, achieving:
- Integration with Oracle
- Automated invoicing for paying and funded customers at the click of a button, replacing the manual four-week process
- Elimination of manual data entry and errors, saving significant time and resources
- New fields and functionalities to accommodate growth, continuous improvement of service delivery, and an enhanced customer experience
- Reduced reliance on outdated software and manual workarounds realising cost savings and operational efficiencies
- Stakeholder access to dashboards for real-time KPI tracking and monitoring
Testimonial
“Overseeing this project with Excelpoint within Care Connect has been a game-changer. This innovative solution has revolutionised our approach to customer management and service provision, replacing outdated systems with streamlined automation. From significantly reduced processing times to seamless integration with Oracle for invoicing, Excelpoint has brought tangible improvements to our operations, enhancing our ability to deliver excellent service and support.”
With Excelpoint in place, we are not just improving our current processes – we are laying the groundwork for future growth and innovation, ensuring that Care Connect remains at the forefront of service delivery in the years to come.” – Joanne Carr, Business Support Team Leader at Care Connect, Durham County Council.
