29 - Dudley’s Digi TV site proving a hit

 

After just five months the innovative Digi TV site set up by Dudley Council has received 65,000 hits. The Digi TV national figures show that throughout last month (January) the Dudley site received a staggering 17,412 hits. This was second only to Birmingham which is the largest council in the country, which received 20,424.

 

Dudley Council became one of around 80 local authorities in the country to take on Digi TV when its site was launched at the start of October. And the Dudley site is enjoying continuing early success after being named the second most used Digi TV council site in the latest report from the service provider.

 

The free to use site means residents with digital interactive television packages such as Sky and Virgin Media (which includes Telewest and NTL) can access services 24 hours a day, seven days a week via the interactive button on their remote control.

 

Through the innovative service people can report things such as litter, potholes, vandalism, bin collections, council housing repairs, abandoned vehicles and street light problems.

 

And residents can also find out more about the council’s services by requesting benefits leaflets, recycling services, vote forms along with direct debit, blue badge, school register and housing register application forms.

 

On top of this, people can find out bus and train times, search for jobs and make appointments to visit their GP.

 

“It is still early days for the Digi TV service but it certainly appears that many residents in the borough are using it and making the most of this extra way to contact the council.  I hope more and more people will utilise the Digi TV site in the future and find out more about the wide range of services we offer.”

 

Dudley is one of the first authorities in the midlands and the first in the Black Country to take on Digi TV and people can access the Dudley site from anywhere in the country.

 

The Dudley Digi TV site also includes information on the council’s services in relation to care and caring, jobs and careers, home and housing, leisure and culture, transport and streets, rubbish and recycling, education and learning and community safety.

 

To access the site people simply need to press the interactive button on their remote controls and follow the interactive services through to local services. Users can fill in their details to request information using the control in the same way as texting from a mobile phone.