Citizen Engagement Blog

Federal, State and Local governments are promoting shared services to check some critical boxes:

• Saving money by taking greater advantage of existing IT resources
• Improving citizen customer service with limited resources
• Reducing redundancy from multiple distributed and duplicative IT functions
• Taking the next step in IT optimization, which began with datacenter consolidation
• Supporting the move from on-premise infrastructure to the cloud

Take stock of shared service options and benefits to increase citizen customer service efficiencies. These facts and proof points will help.

Transportation depends on fast customer service to serve citizens on-the-go. Today we announced our latest implementation of voice self-service and speech technology implented to solve government and citizen needs.  This new contract introduces IVR self-service to a large initiative to support its modernization goals to bring:

• Better customer service
• Improved customer experience (CX)
• Secure, improved way to interact with common transportation interactions

Read the full press release to learn more.

With the need for more personalized and secure customer service on the rise, right along with the rise in costs and complexities of managing a contact center, government agencies have to be as smart as possible when contracting and managing technology projects. A dynamic IVR is one way to beat the budget vs. customer experience challenge for public sector customer service. Even Millennials would agree.

In a previous blog post about modernizing state contact centers, we encouraged government agencies to introduce digital engagement opportunities via web, mobile web, and mobile apps as part of their contact center modernization efforts. But that doesn’t mean agencies should dismiss or downplay traditional phone calls. Here’s why:

While the world watches as Donald Trump is inaugurated as the President of the United States, many government administrations and programs wait in limbo. What will this mean for citizen services, state of customer service in the near future, and frankly, your job?  Citizens will always need customer service, and agencies will always need affordable, effective options to solve citizen needs.  Technology modernization is a critical component of that future outlook.

Governing Institute’s new study “Citizen Engagement Modernization in the State Contact Center” examines how the modernization of contact centers can both improve citizen engagement and address operational needs. In Part 1 of this post series, we examined how research results identified methods to improve the citizen experience. Now in Part 2, we discuss how research results identify backend modernization needs  that address outdated technology, inefficient processes, and staffing and operational burdens to improve state worker productivity.

New research by the esteemed Governing Institute validates that state governments realize the impact outdated technology and inefficient processes have on citizen engagement and operational burdens. In this post, we examine the research findings that answer how modernizing contact centers can improve citizen engagement. Watch the early findings video, read more, and get the Governing Institute infographic.

Now, more than ever, health and human services agencies face a variety of challenges in your efforts to protect and enhance the health and well-being of your constituents. You are under pressure to balance resources and demands while executing your services effectively and efficiently.  

A recent Governing Institute study on Citizen Engagement investigated where state agencies stand on contact center modernization to support their citizen engagement efforts.  HHS leaders were strongly represented in the survey results.  Let's take a look at how they're doing... 

Government Agencies and Technology Providers (affiliates, vendors, consultants) must work together in a cooperative manner to address the needs of constituents and governments alike.