Blog Post

Technical consultancy for Coventry Independent Advice Service


We’ve just complete a consultancy project for Coventry Independent Advice Service (CIAS), a charity that provides free advice and support to residents in Coventry. Residents currently contact CIAS through the website or by phone and can book an appointment for face to face advice.

Sheaf Digital were asked to look at how other social media/communication tools could be added to the CIAS website so that residents have more choice when they want to contact CIAS.

We looked at WhatsApp, Skype, Facebook Messenger, a more extensive online helpdesk system and an online appointment booking system. The brief was to look at the current website and work out what needed to be done at a technical level to integrate one or more of the tools. We reviewed the technical documentation and were then able to give CIAS as estimate of the software development work involved and the cost of integrating each tool.

The costs of technical integration are modest and the work is straightforward. CIAS now have a clear way forward - a simple implementation plan for a phased approach and advice on which tools to choose and how they can be integrated into the CIAS website.