The challenge
Runnymede Borough Council encompasses the towns of Addlestone, Chertsey and Egham as well as several surrounding villages. Runnymede’s existing technology couldn’t keep up with residents’ expectations. Under-investment had created duplicate systems, slow response times and declining service quality.
Having relied on email templates and data capture forms to update cases, which had led to lost messages and slow response times, the council needed a system to provide real-time responsiveness and simplify employee workflows. It was vital that the solution didn’t demand major retraining – it must work seamlessly with the tools that employees already used. The council’s leadership also tasked the Digital Team with delivering £250,000 in annual savings and a major improvement in customer services.
Intelligent, accessible connection between customer-facing interfaces and back-office
Runnymede Borough Council implemented a forward-thinking integration between the Jadu Digital Platform (part of the Netcall Group) and Microsoft Teams.
“Our old website had 21 email addresses. The public didn’t have a chance and we didn’t have the mechanisms in place to work collaboratively. We want to give a single view of the council, reducing silos and giving residents and businesses a complete overview of their interactions with the council. Jadu’s integrations, including single-sign on capabilities, are vital in making that happen. We can deliver more personalised and targeted services and help make digital channels the preferred method of contact.“
Linda Norman
Corporate Head of Customer, Digital & Collection Services, Runnymede Borough Council
The solution
Key processes transformed:
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Telephone callbacks: Missed calls are now logged automatically in Jadu, with an Adaptive Card sent to the relevant officer in Microsoft Teams, enabling immediate resolution and full traceability. This process is live and employees can respond and close the case, providing a full audit trail.
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Customer contact cases: Resident website submissions are routed to specific officers with real-time Teams notifications, cutting out delays caused by email.
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Corporate contact and post handling: Incoming mail is scanned, categorised via Power Automate and assigned to a team through Microsoft Teams. It then creates a case in Jadu.
No additional tools or systems are required for employees. Jadu is brought into Microsoft Teams, which employees are already familiar with. This ease of use has accelerated adoption across the council’s teams, particularly among field employees and senior leaders.
Using Jadu Connect and integrations with Microsoft technologies, the council now pushes real-time case data via Adaptive Cards directly into Microsoft Teams.
These cards act like dynamic forms within the Microsoft Teams chat interface, allowing employees to view and interact with case details, respond to service requests, close cases and maintain a complete, time-stamped record. All without leaving Microsoft Teams.
Selecting Jadu also put Runnymede in control of its website content management for the first time.
Today, Runnymede Borough Council has 1500+ web pages and 150+ forms on a single platform, delivering a significantly better service to residents. They have simplified the 21 contact email addresses to a single contact point which can be distributed to the correct teams automatically.
Their new website also offers excellent digital accessibility. Silktide, independent digital accessibility experts, ranked Runnymede as the joint first position in accessibility for 13 consecutive months.
Runnymede also integrated its telephony and CRM with the Jadu Digital Platform. Connecting all channels and simplifying its customer service has benefitted both Runnymede citizens and customer service representatives.
Within just 10 months, the local authority launched OneAccount, a payments and customer services platform. Together these technology advances have delivered significant revenue and savings: The Jadu Digital Platform has delivered £3.14 million in revenue for the council.
A particular example is in garden waste bin services, which has seen over 80% of users re-subscribe online and select direct debit payments. This has eradicated a complex system of allocation, missed bin collections, reminders and citizens calling the local authority.
The implementation of a reporting hub using Jadu Connect and open source technology is delivering business process savings of £190,000 in cost avoidance across the local authority.
These savings are reinvested into yet further improvements in the local authority, which has kept budgets from increasing.
“Once you build a flow in Power Automate, it’s easy to repurpose. This is a game-changer in digital transformation if councils are ready to embrace it.”
Katy McManus
Digital Delivery Manager, Runnymede Borough Council
The result
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£3.14 million in revenue delivered: The Jadu Digital Platform has delivered £3.14 million in revenue for the council since August 2021
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Over 80% online adoption: Garden waste services increased re-subscribers online, eradicating a complex system of allocation, missed bin collections, reminders and citizens calling the local authority
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£190,000 in cost avoidance: Business process savings delivered
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Top digital accessibility ranking: Ranked joint first in accessibility for 13 consecutive months by independent digital accessibility experts
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Utilising AI integration: Connecting back-office systems to customer-facing tools
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Increased efficiency: Employees action cases instantly, eliminating delays and reducing internal email volume
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Improved collaboration: A shared, real-time workspace strengthens coordination between customer services and back-office teams
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Greater accountability: All interactions are logged and accessible, ensuring transparency and service continuity
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Employee adoption: Leadership teams and frontline employees have embraced the change, valuing the simplicity and speed of managing customer interactions directly within Microsoft Teams
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Unified platform: Reduced from 21 separate email addresses to 1,500+ web pages and 150+ forms on a single integrated platform.
A digital layer connecting systems
In just 10 months, Runnymede transformed services to meet the digital expectations of its citizens. The launch of a new website, OneAccount, payments and customer services platforms have delivered significant revenue, savings and customer service benefits.
The council has also established a robust “digital layer” – connecting back-office systems to customer-facing tools in a transparent, efficient way that positions Runnymede to harness AI capabilities as they continue to evolve.