Bellevue, Washington, provides “Service First” with Microsoft Dynamics CRM, plans future expansion
Like many cities today, Bellevue, Washington, is committed to delivering the convenience, efficiency, and economy of online government services to its constituents. But, unlike most cities, Bellevue has taken a much broader view of the way it provides services to the businesses and citizens that use those services. Rather than providing online services on its own, Bellevue partnered with eight neighboring cities to create the eCityGov Alliance. The Alliance, a separate government agency, provides seven Internet service portals to member cities and agencies. Use of the Alliance portals has expanded to some 40 member agencies in Washington State.
By working together, Alliance members can not only improve customer service dramatically through cross-boundary service portals, but they can also make these services more affordable for small communities—while saving larger communities significant time and money. Because Bellevue serves as the IT and fiscal host for the Alliance, it is uniquely positioned to explore and identify new regional service opportunities for the Alliance and its members.
This innovative approach is in keeping with Bellevue’s acclaimed “Service First” commitment to customer care, which extends from its City Hall service desk to the desktops and cell phones of its residents.
But even the most comprehensive e-government portal is not enough to guarantee good service. Bellevue needed a customer relationship management (CRM) system to ensure that each service request it received was correctly routed, appropriately assigned, and efficiently completed. The system should also be able to monitor and report results. After careful research and assessment, Bellevue chose Microsoft Dynamics CRM to generate service orders, track requests, and manage its knowledge base.
Microsoft Dynamics CRM meets the requirements
“We wanted a system that would integrate tightly within our existing architecture, would be very easy to use and introduce into the organization, and would scale well with our regional partners,” says Toni Cramer, Chief Information Officer for the City of Bellevue. The City needed a true enterprise solution that could expand effectively, along with its range of services and its growing list of participating partner cities.
Microsoft and its partner Ascentium worked with Bellevue to present Microsoft Dynamics CRM as a potential solution to the City’s complex needs. The robust set of tools in Microsoft Dynamics CRM can help local governments provide constituent-centric service by supporting the contact center, managing tasks and service requests, and distributing accurate, current information—in real time—to front-line service staff.
Ascentium spent several days with key City staff in Bellevue creating a demonstration that was geared to Bellevue’s specific requirements. The results looked promising, so Ascentium designed a custom solution for the City by using Microsoft Dynamics CRM software. Ascentium is also working with City staff to design a service portal linked to the Microsoft Dynamics platform.
Comprehensive, integrated, and usable
One of the major advantages cited by Bellevue in its selection of Microsoft Dynamics CRM is the tight integration with other Microsoft products, especially Microsoft Office Outlook. For example, service tickets can appear as e-mail messages in a Help Desk technician’s Outlook Inbox—users don’t have to learn entirely new software to be part of the customer service team.
Microsoft Dynamics CRM will not only provide Bellevue with a system for dispatching and managing service requests, but it will also serve as a platform to help gain a better understanding of what city constituents want and need. “We have to address customer service in a comprehensive way, not just react. We need to be able to spot trends when they emerge so we can head off problems,” says David Kelly, Applications Manager for the City of Bellevue. Microsoft Dynamics CRM will provide Bellevue with data for service analysis, planning, and performance management.
Steps to success
Bellevue expected that Phase 1 of the software would be deployed by late November 2008. This phase includes tracking and routing of all service requests. The project team expects to start with a limited set of service requests and then expand.
Phase 2 will include the Citizen Portal, knowledge base, and interfaces to back-end systems, such as Maximo, for work management.
Phase 3 will integrate with a 3-1-1 telephony system, creating a virtual call center and supporting around-the-clock customer service. “Our CRM portal will take the knowledge base and services available from City staff and make them available to our customers twenty-four by seven,” says Toni Cramer.
In selecting Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Bellevue not only addresses its own requirements, but also makes it possible to meet the needs of multiple cities. The application will initially serve the City of Bellevue, but other Alliance cities will be able to leverage the CRM application as a hosted service.
Because the system will potentially support a variety of services and jurisdictions, the knowledge base and portal scripting must be robust enough to handle a range of circumstances. For example, tying a regional geographic information system (GIS) to the knowledge base could make it possible to tailor a query response to the specific location of the caller or portal visitor.
The ultimate goal is to develop a regional CRM system that delivers information and tracks service requests—not only across city departments, but also across participating local government jurisdictions. Citizens often do not know which jurisdictions provide a specific service or have the answer to their questions—and they shouldn’t have to figure it out. The Microsoft Dynamics CRM strategy for the City of Bellevue will be both efficient and economical for the participating cities and will support better service for job seekers, contractors, and the general public. “Citizens just want a convenient way to access information and services,” Cramer concludes. “When the day is done, it’s all about convenience for those folks out there.” In other words, Service First.
Get more information about Microsoft Dynamics CRM for government.
