Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General

State Attorney General’s Office Uses New Technology to Improve Constituent Service

The Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General manages a broad range of law and public safety responsibilities, including conducting criminal investigations and prosecutions, handling civil litigation on behalf of Commonwealth agencies, and dealing with consumer protection issues. For years, the agency relied on an outdated system for constituent communication, which was difficult to use and lacked the capacity to meet future needs. In March 2007, Microsoft® Certified Partner Smart Business Advisory and Consulting LLC (SMART) helped the agency deploy Microsoft Dynamics™ CRM citizen relationship management software, and then enhanced this solution with a Web application that automates all citizen contacts, including the processing of Web-based forms. Now, the agency gains from improved constituent service, increased workflow efficiency, and technology that supports continued growth. 

Situation

Headquartered in the state capital of Harrisburg, the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General consists of 1,000 employees serving 22 offices throughout the Commonwealth. As Pennsylvania’s chief law enforcement agency, it performs a range of functions, including criminal prosecution, consumer protection, and the defense of Commonwealth agencies.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM has played a key role in helping us quickly respond to virtually any constituent. George White, Chief Information Officer, Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General

In recent years, the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General has turned increasingly to technology in an effort to provide more responsive service to citizens and to help employees improve performance and productivity. For example, in late 2006 the agency deployed Microsoft® Office Groove® 2007 to improve information sharing between field agents and office staff. Office Groove 2007 enables teams to easily create, share, and store files in a centralized workspace, helping to streamline collaboration and increase efficiency.

As part of its strategy to improve process management, the agency had standardized much of its technology platform on Microsoft software and technologies, including the Microsoft Office system, Microsoft Office SharePoint® Server 2007, and Microsoft SQL Server™ 2005. But the agency still relied heavily on an outdated application and manual processes to track citizen contacts. This made it difficult to manage interactions over multiple communication channels, such as mail, phone, email, fax, and in-person visits.
 
In addition, the agency used a cumbersome, end-of-life application for correspondence management. This system—referred to informally as the “mail log”—was difficult to use and did not integrate well with the other components of the organization’s IT infrastructure. This meant that employees had to rely on manual processes and their own memory to track data through various departments and divisions. “We receive a large volume of correspondence every day—from citizens requesting services, to outside legal counsel, to legislators and government agencies. And we needed to be able to track and respond to all these inquires and requests in a more efficient way,” says George White, Chief Information Officer for the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General.  To streamline its system of communication, the agency sought a way to maintain a single profile for constituents and organizations that could be used to track contact and service history. 

While the agency’s IT and business decision makers placed a premium on out-of-the box functionality, they also expressed the desire for a highly flexible, future-oriented solution that would easily integrate with new applications and systems. “We not only wanted to provide better constituent service, but to create a platform that could support a broad range of future applications,” explains White. “We wanted a software package that could meet multiple requirements so that we could not only focus on immediate needs, but also look at how to build our system to keep improving our quality of service.”

Solution

In March 2007, the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General engaged Microsoft Certified Partner SMART LLC to create an agency-wide 311 System to improve its constituent communication capabilities. This comprehensive relationship management system provides the foundation for better communication with citizens, businesses, state and local agencies, and other constituent groups.

SMART LLC also helped the agency replace its aging correspondence management system. With their extensive industry and service experience, the advisory professionals at SMART understood the agency’s current challenges. “The mail log that the agency was using was an old green-screen, data-entry application built on MAPPER. It would take hours for employees to retrieve data from this system and that information couldn’t be shared easily throughout the organization,” says Mukesh Shah, Project Manager with SMART LLC.

In evaluating new citizen relationship management (CRM) systems, the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General decided to implement Microsoft Dynamics™ CRM software—a fast, flexible, and affordable solution. Microsoft Dynamics CRM enables agency personnel to provide responsive communication and targeted outreach to citizens through streamlined data management.

To gain even more value from the new system, SMART LLC worked with the agency to create a comprehensive 311 System designed to capture and manage all incoming constituent interactions. With application architecture built on Microsoft Dynamics CRM, this system integrates with all other systems in use, providing extensive search, information sharing, and reporting capabilities. The team from SMART further enhanced the Microsoft Dynamics CRM solution with a citizen-facing Web application that automatically ties data from forms submitted online to the agency’s workflow.

With Microsoft Dynamics CRM, employees no longer rely on a series of manual processes to manage correspondence, enabling them to respond to inquiries, complaints, and other task-oriented items with increased accuracy and efficiency. Using Microsoft Dynamics CRM in conjunction with the collaboration tools provided by Office SharePoint Server 2007, and taking advantage of the powerful data management functionality of SQL Server 2005, employees can quickly access and share real-time information. This gives the agency the ability to provide prompt, reliable constituent service—whether that means addressing a consumer complaint, answering a request from a Commonwealth agency, or connecting a group of citizens to local resources that match their particular areas of concern. 

Encouraging Greater Citizen Interaction
The public-facing Web application developed by SMART LLC lets the agency extend its enhanced correspondence management capability even further. This application, which integrates seamlessly with Microsoft Dynamics CRM, enables the agency to automatically capture and quickly process constituent complaints, requests, and other information submitted through its Web site. Citizens can now complete request and complaint forms on the agency’s Web site and submit them electronically. This transaction automatically initiates a workflow item in Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Agency employees can then quickly act on these items and track all related tasks until they are marked complete. 

Microsoft Dynamics CRM has helped us build a comprehensive constituent service system that ties together a broad range of initiatives. George White, Chief Information Officer, Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General

The ability to receive and automatically process correspondence generated from online forms has given the agency a powerful channel for connecting with citizens, as it continues to do through its 311 System and the Do Not Call registration program. For example, citizens interested in joining Pennsylvania’s Do Not Call list are able to complete the necessary registration form on the agency Web site. That information is then automatically transmitted to the agency’s Microsoft Dynamics CRM system. If the need arises to file a complaint, the information can be quickly retrieved and sent to the appropriate department for further action. “We’ve used Microsoft Dynamics CRM together with the application on our Web site as a kind of ‘front door’ to manage all of our correspondence with constituents so that we can provide the best service possible,” says White. 

Enhancing Outreach to Constituents  
The easy-to-use client profiles in Microsoft Dynamics CRM give the agency the power to create highly targeted outreach campaigns similar to those used by private sector companies. These profiles enable the agency to better serve the needs of citizens by making it easier to correlate events contained in a constituent’s contact history with topics of interest or concern to that individual. For example, if a citizen inquires about insurance fraud, that inquiry can be quickly added to the individual’s profile in Microsoft Dynamics CRM. At a later date, the agency can send that person a packet of information on consumer protection, or provide notification about new laws and enforcement programs related to insurance fraud and other areas of interest. “Because Microsoft Dynamics CRM gives us quick access to our entire interaction history with a particular constituent, we can tailor our response to their specific needs and can be even more proactive in how we communicate with them,” explains White.

Streamlining Workflow and Information Sharing
Before SMART LLC helped the agency deploy Microsoft Dynamics CRM, employees relied on repetitive data entry to transmit service requests throughout the agency. This occasionally led to correspondence being assigned to the wrong department or staff member, which often resulted in delayed response time, missed deadlines, and inefficient use of resources.

The Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General now takes advantage of Microsoft Dynamics CRM to manage all of its correspondence in a central repository. Whether the agency receives a hand-written letter or a form submitted electronically through its Web site, employees can quickly route the service request or inquiry to the appropriate internal resource, ensuring that all related tasks are completed in the most efficient manner possible. The integration of this system with Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 and SharePoint Server 2007 lets the agency rapidly communicate relevant data from Microsoft Dynamics CRM to its remote workforce, as well as to other state agencies, empowering employees to make decisions based on the most current information available.

The agency also uses this system to streamline its oversight of thousands of public contracts. Contracts submitted for review are linked to custom entities in Microsoft Dynamics CRM, which tracks each contract as it moves through the review process. By offering a reliable account of each step, this system gives stakeholders access to current information, making it easier to generate status reports and gain a quick overview of the entire process. “Microsoft Dynamics CRM provides visibility into the contract management process and gives us better control from the time contracts come in the door until we complete our review,” White says.

Benefits

The combined solution of Microsoft Dynamics CRM and the customer-facing Web application developed by SMART LLC has enabled the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General to achieve greater efficiency while providing improved service to the citizens of Pennsylvania. Through the use of a comprehensive 311 System built on Microsoft Dynamics CRM, the agency is now able to better track information derived from multiple communication channels. In addition, by implementing scalable and integrated technology to achieve these goals, it is better prepared to meet future challenges.  

Because Microsoft Dynamics CRM gives us quick access to our entire interaction history with a particular constituent, we can tailor our response to their specific needs. George White, Chief Information Officer, Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General

Improved Constituent Service
Since deploying Microsoft Dynamics CRM in early 2007, the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General has drastically improved its ability to manage correspondence. By providing a comprehensive and easy-to-use correspondence tracking system, Microsoft Dynamics CRM enables the agency to be more responsive in its communication with various groups—consumers, government agencies, or external legal counsel. This capability is enhanced by the extension of Dynamics CRM to the agency’s Web site through the application developed by the team from SMART LLC, which enables faster processing of constituent requests. In addition, with more in-depth information at their fingertips, agency employees are able to personalize service delivery to meet the specific needs conveyed in the request.

“We’re not in the business of selling products, but we are committed to providing outstanding service and support to our constituents. Microsoft Dynamics CRM has played a key role in helping us quickly respond to virtually any constituent request with superior service—whether it comes in the form of an in-person visit to one of our offices, by phone, or over the Internet,” enthuses White. 

Increased Operational Efficiency
In addition to making it easier to track its interactions with the public, Microsoft Dynamics CRM has helped the agency streamline its internal workflow processes. And because the agency now enters all contract information into this system, it can provide consolidated, current reporting on specific contracts under review to all regulatory entities and stakeholders, offering enhanced process control and eliminating concerns about transparency. “This technology has definitely improved our team’s productivity by automating a lot of the processes that we used to do manually,” White explains. Adding to this benefit, the agency’s offices are now able to share information more quickly and effectively through the use of Office Groove 2007 and SharePoint Server 2007 collaboration technology, as well as SQL Server 2005.

Enhanced Platform for Growth
The Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General seeks to strengthen its capacity for constituent communication as it expands its service portfolio. Because technology is a vital part of its strategy for continued growth and success, the agency chose a solution for its correspondence management needs that integrates with its current infrastructure, and also offers the flexibility to meet the demands of future growth.

“Microsoft Dynamics CRM has helped us build a comprehensive constituent service system that ties together a broad range of initiatives. When we saw the tool and the potential, we recognized that it was a very powerful platform for us,” says White.

 Microsoft Dynamics
Microsoft Dynamics is a line of integrated, adaptable business management solutions that enables you and your people to make business decisions with greater confidence. Microsoft Dynamics works like familiar Microsoft software such as Microsoft Office, which means less of a learning curve for your people, so they can get up and running quickly and focus on what’s most important. And because it is from Microsoft, it easily works with the systems that your company already has implemented. By automating and streamlining financial, customer relationship, and supply chain processes, Microsoft Dynamics brings together people, processes, and technologies, increasing the productivity and effectiveness of your business, and helping you drive business success.
 
For more information about Microsoft Dynamics, go to:
www.microsoft.com/dynamics

 

For More Information
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For more information about the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General products and services, call (717) 787-3391  or visit the Web site at:

www.attorneygeneral.gov

 

For more information about SMART/Public Sector management and Information Technology services, call 717-265-8601, or visit the Web site at:

www.smartgrp.com

 

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