Training Prepares Borough Council of King's Lynn and West Norfolk for AUDDIS Migration
Maximising the Benefits of Direct Debit
The Borough Council of King's Lynn and West Norfolk provides a range of services to businesses and residents in the local area. The council collects payments for these services and for council tax and business rates. Parts of the council have been using Direct Debit and the Automated Direct Debit Instruction Service (AUDDIS) to collect payment for some time, and the rest of the organisation plans to do the same. Sarah Arthurton, Senior Accountancy Technician at the council, says: "We're trying to maximise the take up of Direct Debit because it's a cheaper way for us to collect funds and there's not much administration on our side." The council's National Non-Domestic Rates and Council Tax departments had migrated to AUDDIS and the council wanted its Sundry Debt department to take advantage of the service too.
Understanding the Direct Debit scheme
While staff in other departments had taken a course on Direct Debit, the Sundry Debt team was new to the rules and requirements of the scheme. The council decided to give these employees additional training on the Direct Debit scheme and AUDDIS. Arthurton says: "We wanted everyone to have the same level of understanding, so they could check current procedures and also understand AUDDIS in more detail." In the past, the organisation had been dissatisfied with training from a third-party provider and this time it was determined to find something better. The Sundry Debt team received information about a course from Direct Debit Limited. After talking to one of Direct Debit Limited's payments specialists, the council decided to book an onsite Direct Debit Essentials Plus course for six of its staff.
Addresses specific areas of concern
The council found that with an onsite course it could focus on areas of the scheme that were particularly relevant to its needs. Arthurton says: "On some courses, there are so many other organisations that it's often hard to adapt the information to your own situation. Whereas, the Direct Debit Limited trainer adapted the onsite course to our needs. For example, he looked at copies of our letters and explained how we could change them in line with the scheme rules."
Improves understanding of scheme rules
Arthurton was impressed with the course. "It was excellent," she says. It was much better than the previous course we'd had." The trainer explained the scheme rules to the team clearly, unlike the other course, which had left many participants confused. Arthurton says: "We came away with a good understanding of Direct Debit on several levels."
Accommodates all abilities
Direct Debit Limited has created its training courses to ensure that Direct Debit novices and Direct Debit experts alike improve their understanding of the scheme. This was a real benefit to the Sundry Debt team, which was made up of team members who knew a lot about Direct Debit and other team members who were new to the scheme. Arthurton says: "The way our trainer structured the course and accommodated different levels of understanding was fantastic."
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