communications in the public sector 2012 · nec survey infographic summary the public sector...

NEC Corporation is a leader in the integration of IT and network technologies that benefit businesses and people around the world. By providing a combination of products and solutions that cross utilize the company’s experience and global resources, NEC’s advanced technologies meet the complex and ever-changing needs of its customers. NEC brings more than 100 years of expertise in technological innovation to empower people, businesses and society. For more information, visit NEC at http://www.nec.com

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Conclusion

Education

Healthcare

Government

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Technological Constraints

Best in Class: Efficiency

Best in Class: Performance

Organisations in Denial

Introduction

Infographic Summary

NEC Survey

Communications in the Public Sector 2012

NEC Survey

An NEC survey among IT decision makersgauging the challenges organisations face

in improving their communications

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Introduction

Infographic Summary

NEC Survey

The Public Sector Communications GapInfographic Summary

62%

25%56%45%

of public sector professionals see their communication system as an enabler of employee efficiency and customer satisfaction

do not find it easy to communicatewith colleagues when they are working remotely

frequently or sometimes find calls ormessages get lost or are not pickedup in a timely manner

see technical constraints astheir biggest challenge

However...

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NEC Corporation is a leader in the integration of IT and network technologies that benefit businesses and people around the world. By providing a combination of products and solutions that cross utilize the company’s experience and global resources, NEC’s advanced technologies meet the complex and ever-changing needs of its customers. NEC brings more than 100 years of expertise in technological innovation to empower people, businesses and society. For more information, visit NEC at http://www.nec.com

Conclusion

Education

Healthcare

Government

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Introduction

Infographic Summary

NEC Survey

Communications systems are evolving in public sector organisations. For too long they’ve been seen as an inhibitor to improved accessibility for education, government and healthcare. Now a new generation of technology, coupled with the increasing maturity of organisations’ IT infrastructures, is providing the ability to deliver improved availability, to help remote and mobile workers stay in touch and enabling organisations to direct calls and messages to the right destination first time.

This natural evolution comes through the unification of phone systems with IT, and voice communication channels with e-mail, mobile and GSM messaging. So-called unified communications not only helps the public sector to use technology as an enabler of greater efficiency and improved communications. It’s also becoming a must-have with the proliferation of communications channels, the increasing number of remote workers and the need for more flexible working environments. At the same time, it enhances collaboration internally among staff, enabling them to contact colleagues more easily and share documents or discuss things using video, reducing the latency within organisations and improving service levels to the public.

To gauge the challenges that public sector organisations face in improving their communications systems and set-ups, NEC commissioned a survey of 150 IT decision makers at government, education and healthcare organisations in Germany, the Netherlands and Spain.

Spread of responses

The respondents to the telephone survey, which took place in December 2011, are spread evenly across the three sectors and represent a good mix of small, medium and large organisations. At the lower end, 21% are in the 50-499 employee category, while at the top end, 15% have more than 10,000 employees. The target IT decision maker role includes mostly IT managers and IT directors (67%) plus 25% network/systems admins, who often have responsibility for IT and communications decisions in smaller organisations. It also includes a few more senior titles, such as VP and CIO.

There are in some cases marked differences between responses from different countries, perhaps reflecting the different take-up levels of unified communications technology in different territories. However, these differences could also be explained by differing cultural attitudes to communications, as well as different responses to questioning on the efficacy of their systems. Where significant differences between countries have emerged, we have highlighted them.

We have also broken down a separate section on each of the verticals, and have related the findings for each sector to the challenges they face. This is because the implications for each will be slightly different, depending on what they are trying to achieve. Faced with continuing limits on resources, coupled with intense pressure and scrutiny on performance, the public sector as a whole has a need for improved unified communications technology.

Introduction

Introduction

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Introduction

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NEC Survey

6%

48%

32%14%

0%

23%

13%

65%

3%

32%

51%

14%

2%

40%

42%

16%

While there is a generally positive attitude among public sector organisations to their communications systems/set-ups, there are major holes in their capability. In addition, there appears to be some misunderstanding about what systems can help them achieve. For example:

Nearly 10% overall and up to 14% in some territories say their systems operate poorly in helping with employee productivity and customer satisfaction. Others say it’s difficult to direct calls and messages to the correct destination. Communications systems should be a key enabler of employee productivity by automating or providing tools that support call/message forwarding and employee collaboration. Likewise they should improve customer satisfaction by providing better and more timely accessibility of services and first-time query resolution.

A number of respondents say it’s difficult to reach people working remotely and a handful say it’s impossible. This trend is only going to get worse. The low numbers with problems in this area are probably down to the low take-up of remote working in the public sector but this is a growing trend and a problem that is becoming more pressing.

More than half of respondents overall and as many as two thirds in Spain say calls get lost/misdirected sometimes or often [see infographic]

These findings beg the question: why are organisations mostly positive about their communications systems when they still have such capability problems?

This may be down to a misunderstanding about what the technology can and should be doing. For example, some organisations may believe it is the job of an individual, whether a receptionist or colleague, to trail around the organisation looking for the right person to deal with a query. And some may believe it comes down to a systems admin or network operator to trawl through reports assembling performance data. But in fact with “presence” functionality (which automatically detects when people are at their desks) and automated report generation, much of this

manual effort can be automated today.

Similarly, organisations may not be aware of the impact lost or misdirected calls and messages can have. As well as avoiding costly call backs and the annoyance caused to customers in not reaching their destination, the integration of IT and communications means that all types of information - from messages, to alert, right through to location information - can be included to enhance the quality of communications, and improve service levels and safety. Embracing DECT mobile communications means staff on the move can be included without the additional charges related to GSM calls.


TOTAL GERMANY

SPAIN NETHERLANDS

How often do calls or messages get lost or not picked up in a timely manner in the organisation?

Frequently Never

Sometimes Don’t Know / Not Sure


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NEC Survey

To get a better understanding of the impact of modern communications systems on the performance of public sector organisations, we assessed the responses of those who ranked their systems “best in class” (BIC) and those who ranked them “average/OK” to the first four questions in the survey.

Here we look at their responses to questions about improving productivity and satisfaction, directing calls and reaching the right people. Key findings include:

86% of BIC organisations rank their systems as a major enabler of employee efficiency and customer satisfaction compared with just over half of the average organisations; 14% of average organisations admit their systems work poorly in this regard. Clearly, those who consider their communications systems best in class are gaining the benefits from those systems in terms of employee efficiency and customer satisfaction

89% of BIC organisations say it’s easy to get hold of the right person/direct calls to the correct destination, again compared with just over half of the average organisations; just 1% of the BIC organisations say it’s difficult. Again, the marked difference between the BIC organisations and average ones shows that better systems appear to be delivering performance improvements

98% of BIC organisations say it’s easy or fairly easy to get hold of people working remotely; 7% of average organisations say it’s difficult or impossible

The key question then is: what is the impact for those who rank themselves average in not having these performance improvements? There are many impacts, including poor use of resources. For example, if systems work poorly in enabling efficiency/customer satisfaction, then the chances are employees are putting a lot of manual effort into chasing people around the office/finding the right information to deal with a query.

Another aspect is the impact on service delivery. For example,

if you are not able to support a flexible way of working in the organisation, then service delivery will be tied to office hours and when people do work remotely, you will not be able to support rich interactions with the office. Equally, average efficiency will impact the timely delivery of new services and slow down the time to market for new ventures.


Major enabler Works poorly

Average enabler Is actually a hindrance

To what extent do you see your communication system / set-up as an enabler of employee efficiency and customer satisfaction?

BEST IN CLASS

OK -AVERAGE

86%

13%

46%

1%

40%

14%


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NEC Survey

Continuing the analysis from section 2 of best in class (BIC) versus average organisations’ responses to the questions, here we examine the response to: “How often do calls or messages get lost or not picked up in a timely manner in the organisation?”

Those organisations who rate themselves BIC have far less propensity for calls or messages to get lost or delivered late – clearly a core function of any communications system. The key finding is:

40% of BIC organisations never lose a call or message; 62% of average organisations sometimes or frequently lose messages

As mentioned in section 1, overall, just over half of organisations sometimes or frequently lose calls or messages, and only 32% can confidently say they never lose calls or messages. Equally worrying is that 14% do not know whether they lose calls or messages

In some sectors, such as healthcare (which we explore further in the “healthcare” section), the loss of any calls or messages in unacceptable – whether it’s a call from the general public for advice or an internal communication, such as patient/nurse calling, staff communications including messages, patient data and video and location detection of patients and staff. Similarly, in the government and education sectors, the fewer calls and messages that do not reach their intended destination the better – ‘lost calls’ is a figure that should be trending towards zero.

The impact of lost or untimely delivery of calls or messages in the public sector can be serious. In government and education, it’s a query or problem that will probably not go away. The best case is that it will require a callback or other response; the worst case is that it will be escalated to a higher level as a complaint.

But technology can help prevent lost calls and messages. For example, modern communications systems have “presence” functionality which can automatically detect based on a user’s activity where they are at a particular point in time. Presence also

provides information on how and when someone can best be reached. And in healthcare, the integration of phone systems with nurse-call systems can ensure that nurses can be reached easily in an emergency, again without getting in the way of their day-to-day responsibilities.


2%16%

43%

26%

13%4%

58%

40%

BEST IN CLASS

OK -AVERAGE


Frequently Never

Sometimes Don’t know


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Introduction

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NEC Survey

11%

11%26%

37%

16%

21%

21%

7%

29%

21%

6%

0%

41%18%

35%

12%

10%26%

28%

24%

When asked the question: “What is your biggest challenge in improving your availability to the people you deal with (healthcare and education)/citizens and the public (government)?”, “technical constraints” rated as one of the biggest challenges. Furthermore:

In healthcare and education, it’s the biggest challenge for a fifth of respondents overall and the biggest single challenge by a long way in the Netherlands, with 39% of the sample ranking it top

In government, it’s the second biggest challenge overall behind “opening hours” and the biggest single challenge by a long way in Germany, where 41% rank it top

In contrast, other challenges might be expected to rank higher – for example, “resource constraints” is a big challenge across the public sector where increasing pressure is being applied to costs. But resource constraints only ranks as the top challenge in German healthcare/education. Opening hours does rank highly as the major challenge in government where there is more of a contact centre environment, but it still only ranks slightly higher than technical constraints

Given technical constraints are singled out as such a major challenge for organisations looking to improve their availability, the key question is what sort of constraints organisations might be facing. The limitations of outdated, non-integrated phone and communications systems can certainly hold back progress on improving availability. And in fact, tackling the constraints of outdated technology can alleviate some of the other issues. For example, if organisations are trying to extend their opening hours by providing remote assistance, technology can integrate mobile and messaging systems into the corporate communications system – so from a customer perspective, there’s still a single point of contact.

Despite a good proportion of respondents being happy with their communications systems, organisations willingly acknowledge technical constraints as one of the biggest challenges in improving

their availability to their customers. This again suggests a lack of understanding of how these technical constraints can be overcome with today’s technology, for example by allocating devices to individuals rather than physical locations, so as people move around the office or campus, they can take the same kind of advanced user interface that’s available on their desktop with them on their smart phone.


What is your biggest challenge in improving your availibility to citizens and the public?

Resource constraints Opening hours

Flexibility of staff Other*

Technical constraints

*”Other” answers were mainly “no challenges” (8 out of 10 comments)

TOTAL GERMANY

SPAIN NETHERLANDS


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NEC Survey

3%

51%

32%14%

2%

44%

32%

22%

4%

48%

40%8%

2%

60%

26%

12%

This section explores the challenges faced by the government sector in regards to communications systems, picking up on the findings of the survey and exploring in more detail the implications for government (local and state).

For government, the standout story is how much of an issue technical constraints are (for over a quarter overall, and for 41% in Germany, the biggest challenge). Technical limitations – which we interpret to mean the use of outdated, non-integrated technology - have a serious impact on the sector’s efforts to provide its services in a more flexible way, including the move to one-stop shopping and multi-tasking, and collaboration between services, so citizens are not passed from one department to another. In addition, the sector’s efforts to support this by providing a more flexible internal working environment are compromised by technical limitations

The survey also shows that nearly two thirds of organisations in government admit that calls or messages get lost frequently or sometimes. Losing calls in a government environment seriously impacts the drive for greater accessibility and providing a better service

Government

Unified communications addresses these challenges by integrating different contact points, so citizens can for example begin an interaction or transaction on the phone, receive a follow-up text message, then conclude the interaction or transaction by e-mail. The user interface on such systems can be integrated into desktop applications such as Microsoft Outlook and will look more like a desktop system than a phone display. As users travel around the office or site, they can take this functionality with them on their smart phone.

Local government departments often need a contact center-like environment but without the overheads of a full-blown customer contact centre infrastructure. With automated reporting of real-time data, modern communications systems can provide desktop reader boards, and call center-like business process management functionality.

So, for example, at busy periods, alerts about high query volumes can be sent to users and calls and messages can be monitored, and automatically directed to the right destination.

TOTAL HEALTHCARE EDUCATION GOVERNMENT

Frequently Never

Sometimes Don’t know / not sure


Government

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Introduction

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NEC Survey

62%

29%

9%0%

52%

32%

16%0%

68%

30%

2%

0%

68%

24%

8%0%

Organisations in the education sector are markedly less positive about their communications systems than the other two sectors surveyed.

At a high level, only around half believe their system is a major enabler to employee efficiency and customer satisfaction and 16% believe it works poorly in this regard. This is a less positive response than for other public sector organisations

Educational organisations also appear less advanced with regard to transferring calls or directing messages to the correct destination, with significantly more respondents reporting difficulties than in the two other sectors.Communicating with remote employees in education is only easy for 44% of our survey, again the lowest/least positive of the three sectors

Clearly education organisations are struggling with the basics in their communications strategies. This may reflect the diffuse nature of their sites, where some are hampered by large campuses and older buildings which make it difficult to upgrade infrastructure. It also reflects an acknowledged immaturity of communications systems – less than a third rate themselves best in class, again a much lower figure than in the other two sectors and the overall average.

Immature systems and poor-quality infrastructure can be a serious impediment when capital investment for major upgrades is scarce, however there are incremental improvements that educational establishments can benefit from while gradually improving infrastructure. For example, role-based software systems enable staff in smaller organisations to take over from each other as an operator is out at lunch or on leave, and a campus-wide address book can make it much easier to find people on a large site. In addition, automated messaging systems provide the ability to take messages at busy times such as 9-10am when student absences are being reported.

At the same time, once an educational organisation examines its total communications costs, it can find that the return on investment from a modern communications system adds up.

EducationTo what extent do you

see your communication system / set-up as an enabler of employee

efficiency and customer satisfaction?

TOTAL

HEALTHCARE

EDUCATION

GOVERNMENT

Major enabler Works poorly

Average enabler Is actually a hindrance

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3%

51%

32%14%

2%

44%

32%22%

4%

48%

40%8%

2%

60%

26%

12%

The healthcare sector is overall more advanced than the two other sectors surveyed here in respect of communications systems. Systems are more of an enabler, it’s easier to direct calls or messages and it’s easier to communicate with remote employees than in the other two sectors. This is not unexpected as technology is so critical to safety, service and patient/staff contact in a healthcare environment.

However, organisations do admit that calls and messages sometimes or often get lost or not communicated in a timely manner, so there is room for improvement.

Just over half of the healthcare organisations surveyed admitted calls or messages are lost or not picked up in a timely manner sometimes or frequently, and 8% did not know whether they were or not

For healthcare professionals, communication is so critical that ideally calls and message should never be lost or not be communicated in a timely manner. Equally important, given the high level of scrutiny, and the potential for legal redress, organisations should be monitoring their performance in this regard, so they can say with some certainly that they never lose or misdirect messages, even at busy periods.

Often, when communications do get lost or not communicated in a timely fashion, it’s because they have fallen into the cracks between different systems – for example a phone message has been taken, but the receiver has forgotten to pass on the message to a colleague. Better communications systems can help by integrating different communications channels. But they don’t just help at the reception point; they can also help throughout the organisation, providing real-time status information and integration with nurse call systems.

For smaller doctors’ surgeries and dental clinics, communications systems can bring the functionality of high-end phone systems without the major overheads, for example providing automated alerting at busy times and call forwarding when a staff member or receptionist is on leave or away from their desk.

Healthcare

Frequently Never

Healthcare Don’t know / not sure

How often do calls or messages get lost or not picked up in a timely manner in the

organisation?

TOTAL

HEALTHCARE

EDUCATION

GOVERNMENT

Healthcare

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Introduction

Infographic Summary

NEC Survey

Following a survey of 150 IT decision makers across the government, education and healthcare sectors, this report has uncovered a number of findings and provides a seriesof recommendations for senior managers responsible for communications systems and strategies.

Firstly, it found that organisations are to a certain extent in denial about their systems and capabilities. While most are generally positive about the systems/set-ups they have in place, there are still some significant holes in their capabilities. They are for example, still finding it difficult to get hold of the right people and direct calls and messages to the correct destination, and a significant number of calls and messages are still getting lost or not communicated in a timely manner.

Secondly, the survey found that those that rated themselves best in class (BIC) are significantly better than those that rated themselves average at enabling employee efficiency and customer satisfaction, and at directing calls and messages to the correct destination. Similarly, the BIC organisations had far fewer missed calls or messages, or calls and messages not communicated in a timely manner.

Thirdly, while keeping in touch with remote workers is not a significant issue for survey respondents today, this is going to become more of an issue as more employees adopt flexible working arrangements and organisations look to make themselves more available to their customers.

The survey also provided some observations that are specific to each sector.

Despite their generally positive outlook, organisations rate technical constraints as one of the biggest challenges holding them back from improving availability, in many cases even bigger than resource constraints. This leads to a general conclusion that across the entire public sector, organisations may not realise how to overcome these constraints and how technology can help

them achieve their goals and improve their services.This leads to two important next steps for any organisation looking to improve its communications system or set-up.

Firstly, to establish where it stands in relation to its peers in its sector. If it’s falling behind, that can be a competitive differentiator today, as greater competition is introduced into the healthcare and education sectors, and as greater scrutiny is placed on performance in government

Secondly, to appraise itself of the capabilities on display from modern unified communications systems, and the potential to bring together IT and communications systems

Conclusion

Conclusion

This independent research paper was conducted on behalf of NEC by IDG Connect

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communications in the public sector 2012 · nec survey infographic summary the public sector...

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