DigiTV offers a bureau service to Local Authorities and public sector partners who are keen to get going with digital interactive TV and mobile, but who are unable to find resource to create and manage their site.

The idea came about as DigiTV found that a lot of Local Authorities were interested in digital TV and mobile channels, thought the price of the Starter Kit was very reasonable, felt that it complemented their other e-channels well, but just could not find the resource to create the service due to other projects and priorities.

DigiTV realised there was a problem and wanting to encourage use of DiTV for Local Government services by getting more Local Authorities involved, built into the business model the ability to offer a bureau service to Local Authorities strapped for resource, but raring to go. Now, creating a service takes as little as two weeks from start to finish and some of the best performing sites on Looking Local are managed by our bureau team.

The bureau service is a proven, templated DiTV and mobile solution, that enables a Local Authority to gain a useful presence on the major DiTV platforms as well as mobile phones, without the need for internal editorial or technical resource. The bureau service templates are made up of eight key content areas which from evidence citizens find useful. They consist of:

• Services
• Request it & Report it
• News
• Contact Us
• Jobcentre Plus
• Transport Direct
• Legal Help
• GP Services

DigiTV maintains this content on a monthly basis. 

 To see a screenshot of a standard bureau site click here.

Steps required from an Authority for bureau build include:

• Agree a launch date for the service with DigiTV
• Confirm which region the site should be listed under on Looking Local
• Select a colour screen from the five templates
• Provide a lead contact for the duration of the microsite build
• Provide a list of towns, villages and postcodes to be covered by the microsite
• Review the microsite once the build has been created by DigiTV

There are also specific Fire Service and Police Authority and Housing Association bureau services available offering bespoke services, based on experience with a number of these organisations. Please do contact us for further information on these.

The cost for the bureau service is £3,000 on top of the annual subscription of £12,000 (if you have no cable coverage at all in your area then the annual subscription price is £10,000). Once the site is up and running, DigiTV can train your representatives and then in year two you can decide whether to maintain the site inhouse or continue with the managed service.

Wrexham 

The first site to go live via the bureau service was Wrexham in May 2006, also the first Welsh site to go live.

Helen Gerrard from Wrexham wrote, " We found the bureau service an excellent way of developing a presence on Digital Television and Mobile phones. The knowledge, expertise and support of the national project was invaluable throughout the development. With limited resource implications for ourselves we now have one of the first fully interactive Digital TV and Mobile sites offering Council services in Wales."   

You can see the Wrexham site by clicking here

You can read other bureau customer references here