1. Citizen Service - 311 Teresa Richardson Avaya Practice Leader Local Government/Public Safety
2.
3. Why Embrace Citizen Service Initiatives? Is the problem solved? Can citizen satisfaction be measured? What work order? Which department? Phone number? Who to call? Resolution Status? Service Request Work Order Agency Departments Executive Office Citizen Call General Services Remote Agency
4.
5.
6.
7. What Changes are Projected? 2007 2010 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Phone IVR Only Web Email Web Self Serve Chat Source: Yankee Group
8.
9. Technology for Citizen Service Contact Center Work Order System Analytics & Performance Reporting CRM
22. Calls from home or work CSR Intake screens are used to capture information required for each type of service request and display location information on a map 3-1-1 Call Center Operations Mobile Phone Calls Search Knowledge Base Call Center answering 311 & other customer numbers IVR is used to provide status and play pre-recorded messages when emergencies occur Calls where caller selects IVR Phone Switch Search Existing Requests Create a new Request
40. Providing Superior Citizen Service How do you redesign work for optimal performance & superior citizen service and maximize efficiency in an economic downturn? Reduce costs through self service options Deliver consistent, personalized customer experience across voice, email, chat, and video Automate outbound communications Agents spend more time on positive, productive citizen interactions Share investment across agencies Control workforce costs with home agents & blended work flows Leverage the best agent talent regardless of location
Yankee Group, 2007: Phone 77%, IVR only 13%, Web self-serve 4%, Email 4%, Web Chat 2% Forecast for 2010: Phone 60%, IVR – 15%, Web self-service 10%, Email – 8%, Web chat – 6 or 7% “Although the voice channel may lose some ground to new access channels to information and customer service, it will retain its dominance as the number one channel of access throughout 2010 and likely for many years to come. Therefore, although the importance of a multi-channel contact center interaction strategy is becoming obvious and mission-critical to enterprise customer service planning, the voice telephone channel should be a major consideration well into the future. Integrating the multiple silos of knowledge and information that have evolved in the contact center is key to planning future customer interaction strategies. In the future, contact centers will focus on the convergence of applications, information and data stores into a unified knowledge set that will optimize customer service interactions. This optimization will be based on a unified customer data model that draws actionable information from marketing, sales and customer service, keeps it current and builds intelligence into the system based on the real-time monitoring of customer activities. This unified customer data model is the fundamental building block of the intelligent contact center.”
Datamonitor’s 2004 US Public sector Technology Decisionmaker Panel (TDP) results indicated that organizations preferred their constituents to contact them through electronic channels such as email and web-portals, rather than through traditional channels such as phone calls and mail. With a push for local governments to adopt multi-channel facilities, there is a danger of isolating those constituents who cannot interact through multi-channels, such as email or interactive TV. The development and adoption of e-Government and web-portals is an important initiative for authorities to take to promote a modern system of government. Yet, it is also important to bear in mind the profile of constituents, as this can affect the contact center applications adopted by local authorities. A combination of electronic communication complemented by the telephone is a good mix of channels in enabling authorities to reach all constituents, as the majority of citizens will still be reliant on the telephone as a contact channel. For the local authorities that have the budgets to integrate a CRM package, efficiencies have been discovered and constituents are better managed than previously. An example can be seen in the US, where one of the leading drivers of CRM adoption is for local governments to automate the constituent interaction and workflow management processes of 311 contact centers, a quick access to non-emergency police and other local government services. The main objective of 311, when introduced in 1997, was to alleviate the congestion on the 911 emergency number circuits and improve the effectiveness of the 911 system. Many 311 contact centers are now seen as multi-channel contact centers. Contact centers ‘in-a-box’ can provide an economical solution for budget-conscious public authorities. Vendors can offer a service though an all-in-one system using best-of-breed components such as ACD, CTI, Outbound, IVR, QM etc. Integrating a CRM solution into this service will benefit both vendors and government authorities. Contact center vendors can leverage their existing strategic alliances with CRM vendors to drive more business. Public sector authorities that invest in CRM technologies would be able to offer a faster and more efficient service to their constituents, provided the integration is successful. Recently the UK’s National Audit Office reviewed the Department of Work and Pensions contact centers, which serve pensioners, the jobless, the disabled and carers. It cited that the poor implementation and integration of CRM, lack of adequate agent training, and poor scripting adaptation meant constituents woes were being left unaddressed. Vendors must therefore be aware of this issue when implementing contact center technologies, as authorities are coming under increased pressure to be accountable to their constituents.
Citizens are going to use the channel most convenient to them at any given moment. The key is to deliver a consistent interaction across all channels. Collecting valuable information upfront from the caller can reduce call times and provide the agent with critical information. For example, routing by ANI or CSR # can provide agents screen-pop information to allow them to immediately have information at their fingertips when they answer the call. IVR can provide citizens self-service options to eliminate long hold times during peak call times or extend the hours of your center. Adding Natural language speech recogniation can enhance the success of IVR applications. Email is an inexpensive channel for citizen request. Email features like auto reply for confirmation of receipt, intelligent interpretation and response suggestions are technology solutions that provide efficiency & optimization of agent time. Web allows citizens to visually self-serve. Enhancing web interactions with features like “call-back” scheduling, “click-to-call” & live chat provides citizens the assurance if they don’t find what they are looking for, help is just a click away. Leveraging industry standard protocols like v-XML allow you to utilize the investment in your web portal as the intelligence behind the IVR system. This provides citizens a consistent experience across all channels.
Think about what is driving you. Most people have access to the web today. Term “self service” term is morphing. Used to be IVR, now shifting to be web, self-service. See chart, take look at avg. costs. For web, 50 cents/transaction. Compare to phone – avg. is $5.50/transaction (loaded). Substantially less expensive to self serve themselves when it is appropriate. Look at email – about $5/transaction. Requires agent intervention, response, specific skill set. Real-time text chat is also high. Think about – how can your customers do more self-service when appropriate. Ask your customers “What is the cost of doing business? What and how are you stimulating customers to contact you?” Example - are you publishing an 800 number boldly on a mailer or are you publishing your web site? Are you stimulating people to dial into your contact center? Is that the first choice you want to give your customers? That is for you to decide based on your customers needs and expectations - but let’s have a look at the typical transaction cost in a contact center. According to a study by the Yankee Group earlier this year: Average cost for Self Service Web interaction (NON-agent assisted) - .50 cents Average cost for Self Service IVR session (NON-agent assisted) - approx .50 cents Email - average cost $5.00 per transaction Text Chat - $7.00 per transaction Agent Assisted call (phone call) - $5.50 per transaction
Multi-Channel is not just for your citizens, internal communication is greatly enhanced by leveraging multi-channel communications. The goal of the center is first call resolution. It may be necessary to quickly find an expert to assist with a citizens question. A common practice in commercial contact centers is the use of Instant Messaging to quickly find an expert to address questions not in the knowledge database. This quick access to experts reduces the need for citizen call back, improves citizen satisfaction and improves agent performance & knowledge. Susan, can you share your thoughts on delivering a consistent citizen experience?
Susan 1 minute – wrap-up/summary of previous slides Consistency is key. As much as possible, citizens should have the choice of how they interact with government – whether it is through the web, or IVR, or talking to a live agent. The goal is seamless service. The cost of a permit and the location of brush crews should be the same on all channels. The Contact Center should have the same November performance report for pot hole work orders as the Street Department does. The best practice is to have a single or integrated knowledge base and to use the same or interfaced applications as the agencies delivering the service. This results in happier customers, reduced calls and complaints, and more efficient operations on the backend.
How do you decide what channels to implement? The first priority is to consider the demographics of your community. For the service areas that are addressed by your contact center – for example, code enforcement - , what is the preferred option of those citizens? Going back to citizen engagement, do they mostly use the phone or the web or walk-in? Find out their preferences. You can help with access to multiple channels by adding kiosks at different City/county locations or public computers at libraries to support access to the web. According to a 2007 Pew Internet study, 71 percent of respondents use wireless technology to access online information; eight in 10 Internet users looked online for health information; 51 percent of online adults use the Internet to view or download video; 55 percent of youths ages 12 to 17 use online social networking sites. The recent presidential election demonstrated the value of emerging technology such as Web 2.0, RSS feeds and text messaging. Technology tools will play a significant role for contact centers in expanding communication channels and further engaging citizens. Many government contact centers transition call reps from various service departments or agencies into the center, bringing specific expertise. In addition to customer service skills, call reps must have or develop knowledge of city or county services, processes, procedures and contacts, as well as technology related to the telephony system, CRM, and work management systems. Depending on the community, a contact center also may require second language skills. ACD capabilities can automate the process of directing calls to certain skill groups, including finding the needed language skill. IVR systems can quickly direct calls to the right person, and offload informational calls. Agents can encourage citizens to use web & self service for future contacts. The critical foundation for managing multi-channel communications is ensuring consistency of information across all channels. One area that sometimes is problematic for government contact centers is linking the center to service agencies or departments. Coordination is essential from the planning stage, in establishing policies, procedures, performance metrics, and developing service level agreements. Service FAQs need to be maintained and updated regularly to all contact channels. One of the ongoing challenges for contact centers is ensuring current and accurate information is presented consistently for each communication channel. This can be difficult since the information is coming from a lot of different departments or agencies. Integrated systems, can reduce duplicate work orders, eliminate time delays & duplicate data entry, and provide more accurate performance data. A characteristic of a best practice contact center is the integrated as much as you can across systems and service departments.
Contact statistics, such as volume of calls, provide clear direction for resource planning and allocation, and can put forward a solid case for funding those resources. Data on agent productivity provide insight in how to strategically assign and move agents to best handle calls and improve performance. Service Request Statistics, looking at work orders, whether they are open or closed, can help identify problem areas for service delivery and identify opportunities for service improvements. Agency Statistics can provide a customer service scorecard for the organization. Remember, the citizen does not distinguish between calling the mayor, the contact center or the department. A best practice strategy is, beginning with your baseline start point, to review, assess progress and manage your performance data on a regular basis – not just around budget time. And don’t just look at your call data, use your access to a full range of statistics to help achieve service and organizational success.
Soft Phone Functionality is provided via a dial pad shown here. Telephony features such as dialing, conferencing and transfers can be completed with the Soft Phone. Similar to speed dial, Admin defined – supervisor names and other frequent numbers can be programmed; and an operator may use this feature if they need to bridge in a support group to best respond to the citizen.
![Agenda ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)