KENT County Council hopes to save nearly £2 million a year by updating its IT systems.

As part of a £10 million project which includes switching its phone systems to a data network, the authority expects to cut running costs by £1.7 million a year.

Switching its phone system to a data network will initially cost more than £2 million but will mean the council is not charged for internal calls and could be able to make free calls between KCC and the county's schools, fire service, district councils and higher education centres.

It will take more than a year to switch all the phones, on 1,200 sites, to the new network.

The plan follows a similar change to the council's e-mail system, and will bring both activities onto the same data network.

Pascale Blackburn-Clarke is KCC's access and assessment project manager. She said: "We get a huge number of customer inquiries which are not for our services for the simple reason people don't know which council does what. Our view is that they should have a seamless transfer between organisations."

KCC is also looking at producing a number of mobile phone apps.

Mrs Blackburn-Clarke said that introducing the apps, which could include a way of reporting potholes in the county's roads, was not about reducing face-to-face or phone services.

She added: "Our customer services strategy is how can we make it easier for customers to contact us. There is a huge number of people using smart and mobile phones who maybe do not have access to the internet but could use their smartphone to make purchases or find out how to apply for things or report things like potholes."

The council is also looking at ways to improve the way people pay online for services such as adult education courses, which are the largest single area of payments the council deals with.

Paying online is typically much less expensive but portfolio holder Roger Gough said the authority wanted people to have a good experience of paying online.

He added: "As we move towards more of these online transactions we have to take seriously the quality of the experience. We are doing quite well, but have to set ourselves a benchmark of being as good as the Amazons of this world."

The project updating the council's IT network is also looking at extending mobile working for some staff.

Peter Bole, the council's head of ICT commissioning, said that mobile working was more expensive from an IT perspective but that savings might be possible if it meant KCC could close some of its buildings.

The county council has been looking at ways to rationalise its property portfolio by sharing centres with other organisations such as district councils.

Mr Gough said: "The biggest overheads the council has are people and buildings. It's a trade-off between having a physical presence in the community and efficient use of the estate."