Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency

About the Customer

Responsible for over 50 million driver records and 40 million vehicle records, DVLA plays a critical role in maintaining the safety of UK roads, supporting law enforcement, and collecting around £7.3 billion in Vehicle Excise Duty annually. Serving millions of citizens, DVLA is dedicated to improving public services and operational efficiency through modern technology solutions, ensuring that its communication infrastructure supports these critical responsibilities.

Rob Holohan, the Contact Centre Product Owner at DVLA, expressed excitement about the benefits the technology will bring, including expanded customer contact options, improved service measurement and continuous improvement, and a more personalised and efficient customer experience. The new solution will revamp IVRs, automate simple inquiries, and offer round-the-clock customer support.

The Challenge

DVLA’s vast operations involve over 6,000 employees across Swansea and Birmingham, with 1,200 working as advisors in the contact centres. Handling large volumes of customer interactions through both digital and traditional channels, DVLA recognised the limitations of its existing telephony and contact centre services. The organisation needed a more modern, flexible communication solution to improve customer experience and optimise internal processes.

To meet these needs, DVLA launched a procurement process to find a solution that would support its diverse communication requirements. Taking a technology-agnostic approach, DVLA encouraged innovation by allowing bidders to propose a range of solutions. This resulted in bids for on-premise, fully hosted, and hybrid options. Wavenet, a trusted partner of DVLA, collaborated closely with its project team to advise on improving the customer journey, operational efficiency and implementing new services in line with DVLA’s objectives.

The Solution

DVLA ultimately selected Wavenet’s fully integrated, AI-enabled, cloud-based communication solution, secured through the Lot 10 (Unified Communications) framework of Network Services 2.

Wavenet’s solution, powered by Content Guru’s storm platform, was designed to integrate seamlessly with DVLA’s existing telephony and web channels. The transformation provided several features for the contact centre, aimed at enhancing both customer and employee experience.

Justin Griffiths, the Project Manager at DVLA, highlighted the transformative nature of the project, emphasising the integration of Content Guru’s storm platform with existing web channels and telephony services. The solution will empower customers with more self-service and automation options while providing DVLA staff with enhanced communication tools.

The Results

• Multi-Channel Contact History: Advisors accessed complete customer interaction histories across all channels, enhancing efficiency and personalisation.

• Improved Customer Experience: Faster, more personalised interactions led to higher customer satisfaction.

• Automated Email Responses: The platform managed 50,000 emails monthly, freeing up advisors for more complex tasks.

• Intelligent Automation for Driver’s Medical Service: Automation improved first-contact resolution and operational efficiency.

• Enhanced IVR System: Reduced time spent in IVR by 50% and allowed customers to hold their queue positions.

• AI-Powered Web Chat: Handled 300,000 sessions monthly, with 30% of interactions now managed through self-service, saving an average of 150 seconds per chat interaction.

• Automated Simple Enquiries: Routine inquiries were handled automatically, freeing up advisors for more complex issues and improving response times.

• Round-the-Clock Customer Support: The platform enabled 24/7 support, ensuring customers received assistance anytime.

• AI-Enabled Sentiment Analysis and Transcription: Aided the Quality Management Team in assessing advisor-customer interactions for continuous improvement.

• Increased Self-Service: Enabled customers to resolve issues independently, saving time and reducing the burden on contact centre advisors.

• Smaller Computer Footprint: The cloud-based solution reduced the need for physical hardware, minimising space and energy consumption.

• In-House Configuration and Autonomy: DVLA administrators and developers can now handle configuration changes in-house, eliminating reliance on third-party integrations and giving the DVLA greater control over service optimisation.

• Upskilled Service Architects: This autonomy has upskilled DVLA’s Service Architects, helping the agency meet key goals for reducing running costs, hitting efficiency targets, and enhancing organisational agility.

• New Customer Feedback Channels: CSAT surveys were deployed across voice, email, and web chat to capture direct interactions feedback. Responses are filtered by channel and monitored daily to promptly address complaints related to specific features.

• Scalable operations: Rapidly deployed a 150-seat contact centre in Birmingham within two months, ensuring operational flexibility.

• Cost Savings: Achieved savings of £8 million over the contract term.

DVLA is now empowered to deliver a better overall customer experience, gather insights to fuel ongoing improvements, scale to match future growth targets and reduce costs while doing so.

You can find out more about the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency here.

www.gov.uk/government/organisations/driver-and-vehicle-licensing-agency