Until recently, Minneapolis's 400,000 citizens often had to call a series of different departments to gain access to specific city services. Studies by the City of Minneapolis showed that as much as 20 to 30 percent of these calls from citizens to the City were misrouted and unresolved. Citizen requests for service were cumbersome to track, and determining the status of a request was challenging.
In response to this feedback from citizens, the City of Minneapolis decided to research 3-1-1 center successes, as seen in other regions, by searching initially for "work order management systems" and ultimately discovering Citizen Relationship Management (CRM) software along the way. The City's objective for a new system was to track citizen requests and establish a management accountability tool for citizen follow up and measurement of departmental effectiveness.
According to Don Stickney, 3-1-1 Call Center Manager for the City of Minneapolis - "In addition to creating a centralized 3-1-1 call center, we wanted to implement a complete CRM system. Ideally, we wanted a solution that would add value at the first point of citizen contact, provide a method for tracking and accountability, while at the same time, help to relieve the back-office resolution work for our various departments and divisions."
To help meet these requirements, the City of Minneapolis chose integration partner, Unisys Corporation (NYSE: UIS) and Lagan's Frontlink 3-1-1 CRM software. The implemented solution would create a consolidated 3-1-1 call center; a centralized number for citizens to call when seeking non-emergency services and information. The new 3-1-1 solution would also alleviate the problem of excess, non-emergency call volume into the city's 9-1-1 call center, thereby keeping the line open for truly life-threatening events requiring immediate response.
Solution
After several months of implementation and consultation, The City launched the Frontlink solution live in January 2006. Frontlink is hosted at the Unisys outsourcing service center in Eagan, Minnesota and the 20+-person call center is located near downtown in the Minneapolis Police Department's 3rd Precinct. As part of the implementation, Lagan provided on-site software training for call center agents at their new state-of-the-art call center.
The City of Minneapolis deployed Lagan's Frontlink CRM solution across all of the City's 16 departments and launched the call center to the public on January 4, 2006. The consolidated city call center provides a centralized location for Minneapolis residents to call regarding any type of city department request, including Public Works, Regulatory Services, Community Planning and Economic Development, Animal Control, Police, Fire and Human Resources. More than 150 different service request types were created in Frontlink in order to facilitate requests and questions pertaining to their various departments.
Now live and fully operational, the Frontlink 3-1-1 system allows citizens in Minneapolis to choose their preferential communication channel -- telephone ,face-to-face, email, internet, fax - to directly interact with the City. Frontlink creates a detailed interaction history for every contact, including key milestones tracked by agency-defined service level agreements, to provide a clear escalation path and improved agency responsiveness and accountability.
Call center Manager, Don Stickney, said, "The City of Minneapolis chose Lagan's Frontlink because of its open architecture, which allowed it to easily integrate with the city's legacy systems. Flexible service request configuration and scripting were also key decision factors."
To support the Frontlink implementation, the city of Minneapolis instituted a number of parallel projects that were implemented simultaneously. These included:
- Complete call center software
- Call center switches and ACDs
- Upgraded phone systems
- A complete 3-1-1 facility build-out including construction, networks and furniture
- Upgraded desktop technology
- Call center forecasting and scheduling software
- Enhanced call logger / recorder technology
- Updated TTY / TDD technology
- Process modeling and documentation tools using Casewise Corporate Modeller
- Updated Cognos reporting platform
- Robust internal and external public relations and communications plan
- Instituted 3-1-1 department responsible for solution management and success
Results
Since the consolidated 3-1-1 call center has been up-and-running, the City of Minneapolis has seen an enthusiastic citizen reaction and a dramatic reduction in shadow or "churn" calls -- those costly, irritating calls and transfer connections required in order to obtain the solicited information.
According to Frontlink generated reports, in its first month of operation, Minneapolis 3-1-1 operators assisted nearly 19,000 residents, workers, and visitors in accessing city government information and services. Most of the issues handled by 3-1-1 operators were addressed within seconds.
The City reported that an average of 1,140 calls were answered each day. Initially, the City's goal for the first month in operation was to answer 90% of calls in 20 seconds or less. Aided by the Frontlink system, that goal was surpassed, with an average call waiting only seven seconds until answered
During January, 48-percent of callers were primarily in search of information. The top area of interest involved public safety, which accounted for 17 percent of inquiries. Second was housing, with 12 percent of inquiries. License and permit inquiries was third, accounting for nine percent of calls, followed by traffic and parking which represented eight percent of calls.
Approximately 12 percent of total calls made to Minneapolis 3-1-1 consisted of service requests, with the top request being for snow and ice removal from roads and sidewalks. Following that, were reports of abandoned vehicles, and complaints involving residential conditions, such as loud neighbors.
"Our new 3-1-1 system provides benefits on many levels, not only for city departments, but particularly for residents, who now have an efficient, streamlined way to access local information and services," said Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak. "The City's 3-1-1 technology partners have delivered a system that enables us to provide services more effectively and efficiently than ever before."
Future
About 40 percent of calls to 3-1-1 were referred on to experts within other city departments-a number that is expected to decrease in the coming months. Today, the 3-1-1 agent is the first and only person with whom most callers need to speak. In the next few months, agents expect to be able to handle more diverse service requests, resulting in fewer transfers.
The city of Minneapolis also expects to see the scope of 3-1-1 to grow, including 24 hour service, seven days a week. The city also hopes to expend 3-1-1 offerings to other City independent boards, to the suburbs and neighboring counties.
According to Stickney, "Residents and citizens across the country are clamoring for easier access to City services and information. They are also asking that City governments to be more accountable for their performance. 3-1-1 and CRM are critical components for this achievement."
Autor/Author: Lagan
Quelle/Source: Line 56 News, 25.05.2006
