Residents Response System

I have been getting around the Cairns Council chambers building meeting people and increasing my awareness of what staff do in the different sections.

The team which works at the frontline taking all the phone calls which come into the Cairns Regional Council has very impressive operators.

(That's me with Narelle Wakefield who trains any new officers).

There are usually 7 people on duty at any one time. When the phone rings, the person next in line to answer calls says "Good morning, Cairns Regional Council . . . . . ," not knowing who is going to be on the end of the line or what their query will be about.

They field requests about lost cats, queries about what the council is doing about flood debris washed up on a beach, changes of address notifications, complaints about delays on the Daintree ferry, questions about development applications, opinions about fluoride being added to the water supply . . . . and, occasionally, a thank you for a problem solved.

Staff must be responsive, patient, knowledgeable and friendly for hours at a time and it was wonderful to observe this happening at first hand. If you do have a query, don't hesitate to ring. Your call will be taken seriously, recorded and passed on to the appropriate section for action.

Of course, there are glitches from time to time and people don't get the response they are looking for but for the most part the Residents Response team does an amazing job of being really client-focussed and helpful. It's great to see.