Why Do Cities Need a 311 and Citizen Request Management Software?

Around the world, local and state governments use 311 and citizen request management software to manage the influx of citizen requests for non-emergency services. 311 services help people with questions about municipal services, reporting graffiti, broken streetlights, potholes, building violations, tree trimming, and sewer inspections. Local governments must use comprehensive citizen request management software that includes online and mobile applications. This includes portals. This is because technology and citizen expectations are evolving.

What's a citizen request management software?

Municipalities, counties, and 311 agencies of all sizes benefit from 311 and citizen request management platforms. These solutions enable all participants to be well-informed 24/7 while successfully servicing their communities. Municipalities and public works departments use citizen request management software most. This converts service requests into actionable tickets that are then sent to the appropriate individuals for resolution.

311 and citizen request management software lets users submit service requests from a mobile-friendly interface, which makes it easier and faster. This allows civic leaders to turn important conversations into trackable service requests for departments like public works, which helps to maintain accountability and transparency. Read on to learn more about some of the most important elements of citizen request management software and what makes it so invaluable.

Automated workflow

It's difficult to follow up on every service request in a municipality with so many roads, streetlights, etc. Citizen request management software streamlines the process of connecting with relevant team members and informing citizens on their requests. If you can see each request's status, the system will automatically remind you, making the request management process more efficient for everyone.

No more duplicated requests

A big advantage of centralized databases is that the government can store all information in one place. This makes it easier to prevent duplicate citizen requests, which may clog up workflows. Also, the government has to deal with a variety of concerns all at once.

By avoiding duplicate requests, governments will be able to respond more quickly to citizen requests.

Because their staff will be focused on prioritized tasks, they won't have time to complete multiple requests. As a result, the general population will be much better happy with the services they receive from their representatives.

Quick access to request history

The ability to see the history of requests is important for a 311 and citizen request management software. Before, people relied too much on paper and manual request fulfilment.

This made it hard to find request history and follow-up deadlines. Plus, it undermines the public's trust when government records aren't obtained on time or at all.

It's thus a great improvement that citizen request management software now makes it easy to view all request history in one place. This helps to improve every aspect of the process from the beginning to the end, from online request capabilities to complete history searches.

Data security

Personal information about thousands of people is protected by a 311 and citizen request management software system, which guarantees that their data is safe. regularly backed up, and kept confidential. To make their infrastructure as secure as possible, the cloud service providers of citizen request management software make significant expenditures in security. This guarantees that their customers' data is well protected.

Cloud servers do a better job of protecting data than in-house servers, and they're more likely to avoid future risks.

311 and citizen request management systems give lots of benefits to both residents and governments. These are only a few of the advantages 311 and citizen request management software solutions have.

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Treating your citizens as customers when managing citizens’ requests

Businesses are finding new ways to be more efficient, which leads to improved service for clients. This acceleration in change is happening more quickly than ever. Businesses that succeed understand that putting the customer first is important to improve customer experience and increase trust and engagement. They also understand that failing to match the expectations of their target audience would result in a loss of not only revenue, but also confidence.

Customers are also citizens, so they have the same needs for a customer experience from the government as businesses do for their clients. Unfortunately, in practise, the public sector often falls short of these expectations, causing irritation and an erosion of public trust in the organization's abilities.

‍This is where 311 and citizen request management software come in useful. It's allowing governments to provide people with the same level of personalized care that companies provide to their consumers.

Elected officials will have all the tools they need to serve their communities thanks to citizen request management software specifically designed for cities. The ability to automatically follow up with departments to make sure work orders are fulfilled on time saves time and improves the customer experience.

At the same time, automatic follow-ups with asking citizens guarantee that communities are kept informed and involved and boost public confidence in the government.

All of this is handled through a multi-channel communication system, including voicemails, phone calls, text messages, web forms, chatbots, and good old-fashioned walk-ins. This not only provides a comprehensive solution for successful communication, but it also centralizes demands into a single, unified system.

As a result, identical requests are removed. City staff can solve more user problems without getting distracted by different demands. City employees, citizens, and elected officials can see work orders: for example, if a citizen has a request, and if there are similar requests. This can help them identify patterns, sentiment, and recurring issues. For this reason, 311 agents and field teams can respond to requests more quickly and successfully.

There are a lot of significant advantages for citizens as well. For example, they could contact their elected representatives at any time, without waiting for the call center to open or close. Citizens can use a specific software solution to access their local government's online platform at any time, day or night.

They can file complaints or make requests easily, because the platform is available all the time. 311 citizen request management software, which employs geographic information system software and document attachment functionality, lets citizens provide photographs of damaged property, for example, or any other visual proof related to the issue in their requests.

The centralized system allows the government to quickly follow up on citizen requests by the method they prefer, which increases public involvement and satisfaction.

Why bet on Gestisoft as your transformation partner?

We understand the reality you face, and the human and technological challenges an e-transformation project entails. We've been in business for over 25 years and have a lot of knowledge about technology solutions. We've implemented hundreds of business tools for a wide range of sectors, and we understand how difficult it is to share information across teams.

As a result, Gestisoft developed the Civio 365 solution to support you in swiftly implementing Microsoft Dynamics 365. It's a comprehensive citizen request management system geared to the reality of cities and the needs of their communities. Our specialists know a lot, so use that knowledge and expertise. We've helped other cities in the past.

Get started today: Need help to accelerate your e-transformation? Make an appointment with our consultants.