Fife Council struggles with new £20m phone system

Fife Council struggles with new £20m phone system

More than 100 faults a month are being recorded on Fife Council's new multi-million pound telephone system.

Figures obtained under Freedom Of Information legislation show that engineers were called 358 times in the three months to February.

The new £20m system, where callers have to dial 17 digits to get through, integrates the authority's telephones with its computer network.

The council has insisted that most of the reports were for minor faults. But there have been claims that the system is plagued with problems and has not improved the level of service the council provides. Around Christmas, an older part of the authority's computer network had to be shut down because of concerns that data would be lost.

Phones pick up 100 faults a month (BBC News, 31 March 2008)