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Citizen Connect: Improve Government Service and Reduce Costs

White Paper

Contents

2 What You Will Learn

2 Challenges of Citizen Interactions with Government

5 Architectural Framework for Citizen Connect

5 Architecture Methodology

6 Architecture Principles

7 Building Blocks

7 Cornerstone 1: Knowledge and Process Management

7 Cornerstone 2: Citizen-Authority Interaction

8 Cornerstone 3: Collaborative Work

8 Cornerstone 4: Government-Grade Network

9 Business Transformation Example: When a Citizen Moves to a New Residence

13 Citizen Connect Solution Architecture Components

14 Unified Communications

14 IP Telephony

14 Presence Information

14 Conferencing

15 Contact Center

15 Intelligent Contact Management (ICM)

15 Interactive Voice Response

15 Email Routing

16 Web Collaboration

16 Agent Front-End

16 Expert Front-End

17 Reporting

17 Integrated Applications

17 Customer Relationship Management

17 Ticketing Tool

17 Knowledge Management

18 Case Studies

18 State of Texas Health and Human Services Commission, United States

18 London Borough of Hillingdon, United Kingdom

19 Major U.S. County

20 Conclusion

20 For More Information

2 © 2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

What You Will Learn

By making it easier for citizens to obtain information and submit service requests, governments improve citizen satisfaction and can increase contact center efficiency to save taxpayer dollars.

This white paper, intended for government IT staff, introduces a secure, open, standards-based architectural framework called Citizen Connect. The framework has four cornerstones:

• Knowledgemanagement

• Citizen-authorityinteraction

• Collaborativeworking

• Government-gradenetwork,whichservesasthefoundationfortheotherthreecornerstones

Government IT groups that are building contact centers can use this white paper as a planning guide. It is not intended as a technical implementation guide.

Challenges of Citizen Interactions with Government

In the 21st century, governments worldwide are transforming the way they deliver services to constituents, to increase citizen satisfaction, empower the workforce to be more productive, and extract the maximum value from budgets. Effective solutions require attention to people, processes, and technology.

Today, citizens that need to obtain information, request services, or check on request status must overcome the following hurdles:

• Multiple government telephone numbers: Callers often do not know which department to contact for a particular service. Government service suffers when callers must hang up and call back. In addition, the need to answer misdirected calls increases staffing requirements.

• Inconvenient hours: Citizens overwhelmingly prefer to contact government using the telephone, according to surveys in different countries, but call centers are typically only open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., when many citizens are at work.

• Lack of collaboration tools: If a caller has a question or issue that the agency employee cannot answer, the employee cannot easily reach out to experts in other departments or agencies. Instead, the employee must initiate a series of calls and emails and get back to the caller later. The delays can frustrate citizens and add to employee workload.

• Websites with limited value: Most government websites only provide access to information and services for one department or agency, and do not provide a click-to-chat option for visitors who cannot find information or need help with form filling.

Now governments around the world are empowering citizens to resolve any non-emergency issue by calling a single number or visiting a single web portal. Examples of issues that citizens can resolve in this way include:

• Requestinggarbagecollection,graffitiremoval,noiseabatement,andsoon

• Takingallactionsrelatedtoamovetoanewcity:registeringforlocaltaxes,findingaschool,obtainingaparkingpermit, and so on

• Reportingafamilymember’sdeathtoallrelevantagenciesatonce

• Takingcareofissuesrelatedtoanewchildbyapplyingforchildallowances,obtaininginformationaboutnurseries, and so on

• Obtaininghealthandhumanservices,suchasrequestingsocialbenefits,healthservices,andother social services


Governments improve citizen service and reduce costs when they develop a Citizen Connect with the following characteristics:

• Providesasinglephonenumberandsinglewebsiteforallgovernmentnon-emergencyservices

• Givescitizensachoiceofinteractionchannels:telephone,email,web,orfax

• Offersself-serviceoptionssothatcitizensfindinformation,requestnon-emergencyservices,andmonitorserviceprogress 24 hours a day

• Enablesemployeestoimmediatelyfindavailableexpertsinotheragenciesanddepartmentsandcollaboratewiththem to resolve citizen issues

Table 1 lists the benefits of Citizen Connect.

Table 1 Citizens and Government Benefit from Simpler Interactions

Benefits for Citizens Benefits to Government

Anytime, anywhere access to services, from home, work, or local government offices

Convenience of requesting any non-emergency service through a single phone number or website, plus self-service options

Choice of contact channel: voice, web, email, or fax

Ability to track request progress through self-service channels

Increased ease of setting up business offices in other countries

Increased employee productivity through automating routine tasks—for example, by eliminating the need to re-enter data that the caller has already provided

Reduced staffing requirements because of self-service options

Increased first-call resolution by enabling employees to reach out across departmental barriers to collaborate and implementing reliable Knowledge Bases

Enhanced public safety from decreasing the number of non-emergency calls that emergency operators answer from citizens who do not know what number to call

Additional channel for communicating with the public—for example, announcing a weather-related emergency on a website or as a recording in call center queues

Compliance with regulatory requirements such as the EU Services Directive

Better insight into nature of caller requests through comprehensive reporting, enabling continual process improvements

Ability to distribute calls, emails, faxes, and chat requests to agents anywhere on the network, including teleworkers


Architectural Framework for Citizen Connect

Architecture MethodologyCisco has designed a comprehensive Citizen Connect architecture to reduce complexity and enable new, more efficient business processes for government interactions with citizens (Figure 1). To develop the architecture, Cisco used The OpenGroupArchitectureFramework(TOGAF)ArchitectureDevelopmentMethodology(ADM),anopen,standards-based framework that provides a comprehensive approach to the design, planning, implementation, and governance of enterprise information architectures. For more information, visit: www.opengroup.org/togaf/

Figure 1 Development Method Used for Citizen Connect


Architecture PrinciplesThefollowingtablesummarizesgovernment’smaingoalsforcitizeninteractionsandhowtheCitizenConnectarchitectureaddresses those goals.

Table 2 The Citizen Connect Framework Addresses Government Business Goals for Citizen Interactions

Government Goal How Citizen Connect Addresses the Goal

Ease of Contact

Citizens can reach the right resource, the first time.

Government reduces the number of avoidable contacts, such as status checking. Goal: Reduce avoidable contacts by 50 percent.

More phone interactions shift to electronic channels. Goal: Reduce agent calls by 50 percent.

Constituents change their preferred method of initiating simple service requests from the phone to the web, reducing contact center costs.

First-Call Resolution Agents have access to Knowledge-Management and CRM applications to fulfill service requests from citizens. Goal: Fulfill 80 percent of service requests during the first contact.

Coordinated Government Services

A single phone number or web portal can be used for service requests that involve multiple government agencies. Examples include calls to report births, weddings, changes of residence, and deaths.

Inclusion People who are sight-impaired or deaf can obtain services by phone or electronic channels.

Human Contact with Government

Constituents generally prefer human contact unless they have selected a self-service option. Therefore, Interactive Voice Response (IVR) is used only for self-service transactions or when volumes are unexpectedly high.

Self-Service Citizens can use the web portal to access their information and check request status without assistance, reducing the costs of handling simple inquiries.

Privacy The solution complies with all privacy regulations, even as it enables information-sharing between agencies.


Building BlocksThe Citizen Connect architecture framework consists of four building cornerstones (Figure 2).

Figure 2 Government Interaction Networks Need Four Sets of Capabilities

Cornerstone 1: Knowledge and Process Management

Challenge: Agency employees and contact center agents typically use multiple applications to resolve citizen inquiries, including content management systems, case management systems, knowledge management systems, databases, and web portals. The interface must be available to citizens as well as government employees, reliable, and continuously updated.

Citizen Connect Approach:OneoftheKnowledgeManagementcomponentsoftheCitizenConnectframeworkisasearch engine that agents can use to look for answers based on keywords that callers are likely to use when requesting information. The list of matching results includes a brief description, helping the agent to quickly identify the best source before taking the time to open the link. The Knowledge Management cornerstone also provides scripts on agent desktops so that agents can deliver accurate, consistent information to callers. This helps to increase the first-call resolution rate.

Ifthecontactcenteragentcannotanswerthecitizen’srequest,theKnowledgeManagementcomponentshouldalsoprovide contact information for experts, so that the agent can call, send an instant message, or send an electronic ticket.

Ifthegovernment’sknowledgebasesaredistributedthroughoutacountryorlargeregion,thearchitecturemustspecifyastandardformatforinformationexchange.AnexampleisGermany’ssingle-numberreachsolution,calledGermany115,which initially will connect the top 100 municipal services and top 50 federation services.

Cornerstone 2: Citizen-Authority Interaction

Challenge: Citizens have become accustomed to 24-hour access to information and services from the private sector, and now expect the same from government.


Citizen Connect Approach: The Citizen-Authority Interaction cornerstone provides a choice of convenient methods for contacting government: telephone, web portals, email, or fax. From any channel, the request is intelligently routed to a skilled resource, either a person or self-service application. Routing decisions are based on information about the caller, number dialed, real-time contact center conditions (such as queue length and agent availability), and information from the Knowledge Management cornerstone, such as CRM databases. If citizens contact government by email or with a web form, keywords are used to route the contact to the appropriate agent.

Ticketing systems allow agents to track inquiry status and assign follow-up calls and other related tasks to other departments or agencies.

Major benefits of the Citizen-Authority Interaction cornerstone are:

• Optimizingresourceusebyautomatingroutinetaskssuchasdataentry

• Eliminatingtheneedforcallerstorepeatthesameinformationtodifferentagentsandensuringthatthegovernment provides consistent information in every channel

• Freeingupexpertresources

• Empoweringgovernmentworkersbyprovidingtherightinformationattherighttime

• Reducingduplicateoravoidableinquiries

• Increasingfirst-contactresolutionratesandshorteningcontact-handlingtimes

Cornerstone 3: Collaborative Work

Challenge: Today, agents who need additional information to answer a citizen inquiry typically must hang up and make multiple phone calls or send multiple emails. Government loses an opportunity to provide outstanding service by resolving the issue on the first contact, and agent productivity decreases.

Citizen Connect Approach: Agency employees are empowered to collaborate with experts throughout government, in virtual teams. If an employee receives an inquiry that requires support from another department, the employee can consult presence information to find an expert who is currently available and see how that person prefers to be reached—for example, office phone, mobile phone, or instant messaging. The employee can just click to call, send an instant message, or immediately join the expert into a collaborative session combining voice, video, and web sharing.

Enabling experts to provide services to multiple places at once—a concept called virtualization—reduces staffing requirements for individual contact center locations. For example, rather than employing foreign language speakers in every contact center, governments can employ just a few and connect them over the network whenever and wherever needed.

In the Citizen Connect framework, the Collaborative Work cornerstone is tightly integrated with the Citizen-Authority Interaction cornerstone so that government employees can not only find experts, but also connect them directly to a citizen or business caller. Similarly, if a citizen who speaks a non-native language or is deaf comes into an office requesting a service, the agent can connect with an interpreter anywhere on the network using videotelephony. This capability helps government meet its goals for inclusion.

Cornerstone 4: Government-Grade Network

The Government-Grade Network forms the foundation for the other three Citizen Connect cornerstones. It provides:

• Secureandubiquitousconnectivity

• Accesstoinformation

• Theplatformforvoice,video,andwebcollaborationapplications


All services and applications are tightly integrated and managed on a single platform to create an intelligent information network. The network includes routers and switches, security, mobility, storage, and data center solutions.

Business Transformation Example: When a Citizen Moves to a New Residence

The Citizen Connect framework can transform government business processes, increasing service levels and improving efficiency. For example, when citizens move, they need to take the following actions:

• Notifymultiplegovernmentagencies,includingtaxauthorities,socialsecurity,andpublicpensionproviders

• Updategovernmentdocumentssuchasdriver’slicenseoridentitycardandautomobileregistration

• Notifyprivate-sectorserviceproviderssuchasbanks,insurancecompanies,utilitycompanies,andsoon

• Registerchildreninnewschools

Today,eachoneoftheseactionsrequiresaseparateinteraction.Overwhelmedwiththeeffortinvolved,citizensoftenpostpone notifying government.

The Citizen Connect framework enables governments to simplify the interaction by letting citizens initiate all activities with a single call or website visit. The framework provides:

• Securedistributionofrelevantinformationtoallagenciesanddepartmentsthatneedit

• Adherencetorequirementsofpartneragencies,suchasinformingschoolswhenachildregisterswitha new doctor

• Authenticationofcitizenidentity

• Authorizationfortheagencytoprocesstheinformation

• Assuredinformationintegrity

• Optionalservices,suchasnotifyingotherinstitutionsorbusinessesofthenewaddress,orprovidingalistofnearby resources such as schools


Citizen has moved

Citizen sends request via email

Citizen calls agency

Citizen sends request via web

portal

XOR

Request has been routed to best qualified

ressource

Agent registers new address

Call has arrived at agency

Email has arrived at agency

Web request has arrived at agency

Qualify contact and make routing

decision

ACD CRM

New address has been recorded in

CRM

Agency advises citizen on further

process (”Checklist“)

Necessary actions have

been determined

Knowledge Base

V

Prepare new documents

Agency serves citizen with relevant

information on his new residence „Welcome

Kit“

Ticketing Tool

Documents have been printed

Agency informs citizen

Ticketing Tool

Citizen has received his documents

Knowledge Base

information package has

been sent

Ask citizen to participate in

satisfaction „survey“XOR

Citizen has rejected

Citizen has agreed

Ask citizen which method he prefers (IVR or personal feedback)

Citizen has chosen IVR

XOR

Citizen has chosen personal

interview

Citizen participates in IVR based satisfaction

survey

Agent records citizen’s feedback manually

CRM

ACD / IVR

Citizen feedback has been recorded

and attached to customer history

XOR

Figure 3 presents a flow diagram showing how Citizen Connect enables government to satisfy all requirements through a single interaction. Table 3 describes each step in the process and lists the supporting contact center technologies.

Figure 3 Citizen Connect Enables Government to Satisfy All Requirements Through a Single Interaction


Table 3 How the Citizen Connect Architecture Supports a Citizen’s Change of Address

Action Citizen Connect Technology Component

Citizen moves to a new address

Citizen contacts the agency using whichever method is most convenient:

• Callsagencyservicenumber• Sendsemailtoserviceaddress• Fillsoutandsubmitsonlineform.Webportalcanbepersonalizedand

password protected.

Telephone, email, or web portal, which automatically creates a formatted email

Contact is routed to the best qualified resource:• Amultimedia-capableContactDistributionEngineanalyzescontact

information (calling number, called number, email recipient) and content (subject line, form type). It can also query the CRM database.

• AnIVRsystemasksthecallertoprovideanID,suchasataxpayerID.

• Dependingonthecontactchannelandtheskillsrequiredtohandletheinquiry, the contact is routed to an appropriate expert.

• AgentsthatreceiveaphonecallareprovidedwithascreenpopfromtheCRM database at the same time. If the citizen has not been identified, a screen appears where the agent can search for contacts or create new contacts.

Automatic Call Distribution

Interactive Voice Response

CRM Databases

Inquiry processing begins:• Citizenswhohaveusedthephonetelltheagenttheaddress.Citizenswho

email or use the web form provide the new address.

• Agentconfirmsthatallrequiredinformationispresentandentersthenewaddress into the CRM system.

CRM

• Agentusesthe“Moving”checklisttoseetheotherstepsthecitizenmusttakeas a consequence of the move—for example, updating car registration.

Knowledge Management

• Theagentclicksabuttontoinitiatethepreparationofaformalregistrationletter and other required documents. This task is automatically recorded and assignedasaticketandmarkedas“finished”whenthedocumentshave been prepared.

Ticketing Tool


Automated step, based on ticket status• Ifthecitizencontactedtheagencybytelephone,theACDsetsupan

outbound call to the citizen. An IVR system announces that the citizen can come for the new documents or that they have been mailed.

• Ifthecitizencontactedtheagencybyemailorweb,anemailissent.

This completes the administrative part of the business process.

Ticketing Tool, ACD plus IVR or ACD plus email

Municipalities can optionally offer premium services, for an extraordinary caller experience:

• Theagentprovidesinformationaboutpublicinstitutionsnearthecitizen’snew residence, such as schools and healthcare providers, as well as vouchers or a welcome kit. The citizen has the option to receive information by email or the postal service.

Knowledge Base, Email or Post

• Theagentasksthecitizentoparticipateinabriefsatisfactionsurveyaboutthe interaction. Citizens who accept are given the choice to be interviewed by the agent or take an automated survey.

• Whenagentsinterviewcitizens,theysavetheresponsesinthe CRM database.

CRM

• Whencitizenschoosetheautomatedsurvey,theyareforwardedtoanIVRsystem that asks questions and collects responses through keypad entries. Thesystemstorestheresultsandtransfersthemtothecitizen’shistoryintheCRM database.

ACD, IVR, CRM


Citizen Connect Solution Architecture Components

Figure 4 provides a high-level view of Citizen Connect solution components, and the following sections explain their function.

Figure 4 The Citizen Connect Architecture Framework Comprises Unified Communications, Agent Front-Ends, Contact Center, and Integrated Third-Party Applications

-


Unified Communications

IP TelephonyWhen governments replace private branch exchange (PBX) systems or Centrex services with unified communications, employeescanusetheagency’scommunicationsservicesinanyworkspacewithanetworkconnection,includingheadquarters, branch offices, or home. Access to communications and collaboration tools from any workspace improves productivity and also helps to deliver a consistent citizen experience. Solution components include:

• Callprocessing:CiscoUnifiedCommunicationsManagerprovidesvoice,video,mobility,andpresenceservices to IP phones, media-processing devices, VoIP gateways, mobile devices, and multimedia applications. Deployment options include centralized call processing for all locations, or distributing call processing. Advanced security mechanisms ensure that only authorized users can access Cisco Unified Communications Manager services.

• IPphones:Ciscooffersavarietyofhardphoneswithdifferentfeaturesets,wirelessIPphones,andCiscoUnifiedPersonal Communicator. The latter is a desktop application for PCs and Macs that provides a single interface for multiple contact channels, including telephony, video, email, and instant messaging. Agents can easily initiate voice, video, and web conferences to collaborate to get an answer to a citizen inquiry. Cisco Unified Personal Communicator also provides presence information, which shows whether colleagues are available and how they preferred to be reached.

• Mobilitytools:GovernmentswithmobileemployeescandeployCiscoUnifiedMobileCommunicatortoenabletheseemployees to use their mobile phones to access Cisco Unified Communications Manager services such as the corporate directory, presence information, and corporate voicemail. Mobile employees can also make outbound calls over the corporate network, thereby reducing mobile phone charges and having the office phone number appearonthedialedparty’scallerIDdisplay.

Presence InformationPresence technology indicates whether employees are available and how they prefer to be contacted—for example, office phone, mobile phone, or instant message. Agents who need information can consult presence information to find an expert who is available now, and connect with a single click. This increases productivity and citizen service by eliminating the considerable time spent trying multiple phone numbers and leaving messages.

Cisco Unified Presence Server gathers presence information using several methods, including detecting whether employees are currently logged into a specific communications device. When Cisco Unified Presence Server is integratedwithMicrosoftLiveCommunicationsServerorOfficeCommunicationsServer,itchecksemployees’MicrosoftOutlookcalendarentriestoseeiftheyareinmeetings.CiscoUnifiedPresenceServeralsoindicateswhetherotherusershave video or web capabilities. Presence information appears in all agency directory and calling lists.

ConferencingWith Cisco rich-media conferencing solutions, government contact center agents can quickly set up two-way or multi-participant conferences with voice, video, and web capabilities. Governments can choose the solution that meets their requirements for security and budget:

• CiscoUnifiedMeetingPlace:Thissolutioncombinesvoice,video,andwebconferencing,includingapplicationanddesktopsharing.Itisdeployedon-premisesandcarriestrafficovertheagency’sownnetwork,ensuringthat confidential information shared during meetings remains behind the agency firewall. External parties, such as citizen callers, can also be securely joined to meetings. Agencies can optionally integrate Cisco Unified MeetingPlace with Microsoft Exchange or Lotus Domino groupware so that employees can schedule and join conferences just as they would any other meeting. To join a conference, employees just click an email link. The application simultaneously launches the web conference and dials out to their voice or video endpoint. Employees who are traveling and cannot join the web collaboration portion of the meeting can dial in from any phone.


• CiscoWebEx:Thissolutionprovidesrich-mediaconferencingwithoutrequiringagenciestopurchase on-premises equipment. Cisco WebEx web conferencing applications are provided on a Software-as-a-Service basis. The subscription includes ongoing management, upgrades, training, and support. Cisco WebEx users can meet with anyone, anywhere, inside or outside the firewall. As with Cisco Unified MeetingPlace, employees can deliver presentations, share documents, demonstrate applications, control a remote desktop, or pass control of the meeting to another meeting participant. Agencies can also use the open interfaces in Cisco WebEx to integrate it with CRM databases, ticket systems, and more, so that employees can initiate Cisco WebEx sessions from other applications that they use daily.

Contact Center

Intelligent Contact Management (ICM)The centerpiece of the contact center, Intelligent Contact Management (ICM) routes contacts to the best-qualified, available resource and keeps track of resource status, such as agents and queues. When a citizen calls an agency, the ICM software applies business rules to decide how to route the call, based on calling number, called number, and information that the caller provides using the keypad. The business rules can also include variables such as time of day, required skill set, agent availability, calls in queue, and information from CRM and other databases. When it routes a call to an agent, the ICM simultaneously provides a screen pop that contains information about the caller, including information gathered from integrated applications.

Cisco Intelligent Contact Management software is an integral part of Cisco Unified Contact Center Enterprise (UCCE). When it transfers a contact between agents, sites, skill groups, or IVR systems, it retains the information collected during previous interactions, eliminating the need for the agent to ask callers to repeat information they have already provided. Cisco Intelligent Contact Manager can also query external sources such as CRM applications to decide how to route a contactorpopulatetheagent’sdesktopapplications.

Interactive Voice ResponseIVR is the foundation for self-service applications. Citizens are prompted to select the type of service they need—for example, pressing 1 to register for service or 2 to check request status. If the IVR supports Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR), then the caller can speak to the system. Similarly, if the IVR system is integrated with a CRM database or another external system, it can use Text-to-Speech conversion to read the information to the caller. This makes it possible for a caller to find out the status of a request or account balance, for example, without talking to an agent. Cisco offers two options for IVR:

• CiscoUnifiedIPInteractiveVoiceResponse(IPIVR):Thissolutionprovidesanopenfoundationforgovernmentto create and deliver self-service voice applications. Callers are prompted to enter numbers on their keypads to be connected to the correct department or to request information, such as an amount due. Cisco IP IVR can be integrated with leading ASR software so that callers can select options using voice commands, and with Text-to-Speech software so that the system can read information from databases and websites.

• CiscoUnifiedCustomerVoicePortal:Thissolutionisdesignedforcontactcenterenvironmentswithdifferentlocations. Callers request self-service information by pressing keys or speaking commands. If the caller requests live agent assistance, Cisco Unified Customer Voice Portal places the call in queue until an appropriate agent is available, and then transfers the call along with the information the customer has already provided. In addition, Unified Customer Voice Portal can support video interactions, either one-way (caller or agent) or two-way. Agents can also select additional videos to be played to the caller and record the video session.

Email RoutingEmail routing is an optional module in the Citizen Connect architecture, extending ICM capabilities to intelligently route incoming emails. ICM makes the routing decision based on sender, recipient, keywords, and real-time contact center conditions such as queue length. If citizens submit a request using a web form, the information on the web form can be converted into an email, which is also routed based on keywords.


Cisco Unified Email Interaction Manager manages large volumes of citizen inquiries. It analyzes and routes emails to the best-qualified,availableagentbasedoncustomizablebusinessrules.Forexample,ifanemailcontainsthekeywords“havemoved”or“register,”theemailisautomaticallysenttotheregistrationofficeteam.Thesoftwarealsomonitorsservicelevelsso that the contact center manager can escalate emails that are overdue or whose due date is approaching.

Cisco Unified Email Interaction Manager and Cisco Unified Web Interaction Manager share the same queue with Cisco Unified Contact Center Enterprise, which makes it possible to blend email requests, web chat requests, and inbound and outbound voice calls so that each is answered in the order received. This increases contact center efficiency because agents can work on emails and chat requests when they are not on the telephone and can interrupt their email work to answer telephone calls when needed.

To accelerate handling time, Cisco Unified Email Interaction Manager can suggest or even automatically send auto-responses. Agents receive tools to help them send quick, accurate, customized responses. These include productivity tools, integrated knowledge base, and customer history from CRM or other databases.

Web CollaborationWeb collaboration extends the contact center to chat and co-browsing services. Co-browsing allows citizens to share their browser content with an agent or to pass control so that the agent can help to fill out an online form.

Cisco Unified Web Interaction Manager adds chat and co-browsing capabilities to Cisco Unified Contact Center Enterprise. Like phone calls and emails, incoming requests on the web portal are routed to the best-qualified available agent based on business rules. Agents use their front-end software to access an integrated knowledge base that contains content that can be sent to the citizen, speeding up handling time and ensuring that information is accurate. When appropriate, one agent can participate in multiple chat sessions simultaneously, decreasing wait times.

Formorecomprehensiveinteractions,CiscoUnifiedWebInteractionManagerWebversion4.3supportstwo-way“followme”webbrowsing,enablingagentsandcallerstoleadeachothertowebpages.

Agents use the same interface for Cisco Unified Web Interaction Manager and Cisco Unified Email Interaction Manager, reducing training requirements and increasing productivity.

Agent Front-EndAgents use desktop software to control their phone, view information about the caller, and submit tickets. Caller information is gathered from the calling number, called number, IVR entries, and IVR applications. Having this information presented to them at the same time or just before the call is delivered saves the agent from having to ask for information that is already available. This speeds up call-handling time and improves the caller experience.

Cisco Agent Desktop provides call center agents with comprehensive phone-handling capabilities, shows call-related information when a call is presented, and can integrate with third-party applications such as CRM software. Cisco Agent Desktop is available either as client software or browser-based software that does not require installation. The Mobile Agent option enables agents to use any telephone, including a cell phone or home office phone, to log in to Cisco Unified Contact Center.

Government agencies that use SAP can take advantage of Cisco Unified CRM Connector for SAP, for prepackaged integration with Cisco Unified Contact Center solutions. Product upgrades correspond one to one with upgrades in Cisco and SAP. The software provides screen pop, click-to-dial, and automatic logging capabilities. Cisco also provides CRM connectors for Microsoft Dynamics, PeopleSoft, and Salesforce CRM systems.

Expert Front-EndFrontline agents often need to consult subject matter experts to process and resolve citizen inquiries. Experts cannot be expected to adopt the same tools and processes that contact center agents use, so contact centers need a way to integrate them into the process using their usual collaboration tools.


Cisco Unified Expert Advisor integrates experts into the ACD. Experts just use Cisco Unified Personal Communicator as they do for day-to-day business interactions. When experts update their presence information to indicate to their colleagues whether they are available and how they prefer to be reached, the ACD uses the same information, eliminating the need for a separate step. The first available expert receives information about the caller or the nature of the call as an instant message on Cisco Unified Personal Communicator. Then the expert can decide if he or she is able to take the call, and at which phone number. If the expert is unable to take the call, the pre-call information is sent to the next available expert.

Reporting

The central reporting engine in Cisco Unified Contact Center Enterprise provides a comprehensive view of contact center performance, spanning all contact methods: phone, IVR, email, and web. It collects information from the contact center, IVR systems, agent desktops, and other resources, storing it in a central database used as the basis for real-time and historical reports.

The Cisco Unified Intelligence Suite is an optional advanced reporting platform. It provides a secure, 360-degree view of the enterprise and the option to drill down to individual contacts. Its web-based interface enables agency managers to generate predefined reports, easily create new real-time and historical reports, and define various presentation formats. Different people in the agency can be assigned different access privileges. Cisco Unified Intelligence Suite can also integrate data from third-party sources, such as CRM or quality management systems, providing actionable business intelligence.

Integrated Applications

GovernmentcantakeadvantageofCisco’sopenarchitecturetointegratepopularthird-partyapplicationsforCRM,knowledgemanagementsystems,andticketingtools,suchasOracle/SiebelCRMsoftware,LaganEnterpriseCaseManagement software, Curam Enterprise Management software, and others.

Customer Relationship ManagementInformation from CRM software can be used for agent screen pops and to factor into routing decisions. For example, contacts from citizens in different areas of the municipality might be routed to different agents.

Cisco offers pre-packaged agent desktops for SAP, Microsoft Dynamics, Peoplesoft, and Salesforce CRM applications. The Cisco Unified CRM Connector for SAP updates the CRM interface to include phone controls and agent status (ready, not ready) controls. Agencies that use other CRM software can easily integrate it with Cisco Unified Contact Center Enterprise using the Cisco Agent Desktop. For example, the agency IT group can use HTTP to invoke a web-based CRM application and present it within the embedded browser of Cisco Agent Desktop. This creates a unified front-end interface for the agent, increasing productivity.

Ticketing ToolIntegratingtheagency’sticketingtoolwithCiscoUnifiedContactCenterEnterprisecaneliminateavoidableinformationrequests, make information more accurate, and speed up handling time.

Cisco Agent Desktop can automatically pop up a ticket record based on collected call information, such as calling number or information collected by the IVR system. For web-based contacts, the agency IT group can use HTTP commands to selectthecorrectrecordanddisplayitintheintegratedbrowser.Otheroptionsforsubmittingticketsincludekeystrokemacros, launching of external applications, and integration with interprocess communications.

Knowledge ManagementTo deliver an excellent contact center experience, government needs to ensure that information in the knowledge management system is accurate, reliable, up to date, and easy to find. Agencies that currently use multiple knowledge management systems should standardize on one, to avoid redundant data that can cause confusion and complicate records management.


Agencies that do not have a powerful knowledge management system can use the embedded knowledge base in the agent front-end for Cisco Unified Interaction Manager. Agencies that do have a knowledge management system can enable agents to access it with a keyboard shortcut if the system is not already integrated with the CRM system or ticketing tool.

Case Studies

Following are three case studies of governments that have successfully deployed single-number contact centers for interactions with citizens.

State of Texas Health and Human Services Commission, United States

Challenge: The Texas Health and Human Services Commission wanted to provide a statewide 2-1-1 number for community information and referrals. The state already had 25 Area Information Centers, each with its own private branch exchange (PBX) system and phone number. However, the centers lacked an efficient, cost-effective way to share information and resources, such as interpreters. Not all centers offered 24-hour service. And long-distance charges to the centers were projected to reach millions of dollars annually.

Solution: In 2002, the State of Texas Health and Human Services Commission created a statewide contact center based on Cisco Unified Contact Center. Agents in all locations can now access all local information databases, which contain information about more than 200,000 programs. The solution provides scripts on agent desktops so that agents can deliver accurate, consistent information to callers. The contact center is connected with the State of Texas Department of Public Safety, Health Alert Network, the Texas Education Agency Network, and emergency groups.

Results: • Convenientcitizenaccesstohealthandhumanservices,24-hoursaday.

• Theabilitytoroutecallstoanycontactcenterwithoutthecallerknowing.Forexample,wheninclementweatherprevents agents from driving to the office, all calls to that location are forwarded to another location.

• EstimatedUS$400,000savingsannuallycomparedtoatraditionalcontactcentersolution.

• Additionalcostsavingsbyreducingtheneedforfull-time,multilingualstaffatallcallcenters.Ifacontactcenterin a small town receives a call from a resident who speaks Mandarin Chinese, for example, the agent can quickly conference in an interpreter in another location.

• Eliminationofincomingtollchargesandoutgoinglong-distancecharges.

London Borough of Hillingdon, United Kingdom

Challenge: The London Borough of Hillingdon serves more than 250,000 residents and is home to Heathrow Airport and multiple large corporations, including British Airways, Nestlé, and Xerox. The Hillingdon Council wanted to give citizens more choices for how to interact with government, and to ensure citizens enjoyed a consistent experience in every channel.

Solution: Hillingdon Council met its goals with a new contact center based on Cisco Unified Contact Center. The main civic center location now has a network connection to 20 contact sites around the borough. Residents can visit a website to sign up for Short Message Service (SMS) and email notifications of meetings, food safety warnings, and roadwork updates. They can also report faulty traffic lights, access and renew ebooks from libraries, submit parking ticket appeals, apply for primary school places, and pay council tax.

The telephone remains the most popular contact channel. Approximately 100 agents answer an average of 59,000 calls monthly. Callers in queue are informed of the approximate wait time and encouraged to use the web or email. Cisco UnifiedContactCenterintegratesallcommunicationschannels,givingagentsacompletehistoryofresidents’contacts,whethertheytelephoned,wrotealetter,sentanemail,orvisitedoneoftheCouncil’sphysicallocations.


Results:

• Significantreductioninaveragecallwaitingtime.

• 93percentfirst-callresolution.

• Averagecustomersatisfactionscoreof96outof100inmonthlysurveys,anincreaseof15pointscomparedtobefore the Council implemented the Cisco solution.

• £3millionone-timesavingsinofficespacebecausenewagentscanworkfromhome.

• £10,000savingsforeachnewcontactcenterservicetheCouncilintroduces,becausetheCouncilnolongerneeds external support for service development. The Council has introduced 10 additional services, including one pertaining to support services for the elderly.

• £40,000annualsavingsontelephonecharges.AllCouncilsitesshareacentralizedCiscoUnifiedCommunicationsManager, where long-distance calls are aggregated. This enabled the Council to negotiate better rates from carriers.

• Optimizedstaffing,aresultofthebuilt-inreportingcapabilitiesofCiscoUnifiedContactCenter.Forexample,after noting that the previous tax demand letters had led to 6000 incoming calls in one day, the Council decided to not send all letters at once, and to staff the center with more skilled resources. Similarly, knowing how long it takes on average to resolve particular types of calls—for example, 30 seconds for rubbish collection and 15 minutes for education admissions—helps Hillingdon Council assign enough agents with the right skills at the right time to provide prompt service.

To read the full case study, visit: www.cisco.com/web/UK/pub_sector/housing_associations/case_studies/pdfs/lb_hillingdon.pdf

Major U.S. County

Challenge: More than 10 million residents in the county rely on a county agency for food stamps, healthcare, and other assistanceprograms.Theagencyreceives10,000callsmonthly.Previously,allcallswererouteddirectlytotherecipient’scaseworker, who was not always available to answer the call. More efficient interactions would improve citizen service and also free up time for caseworkers.

Solution: The county established a centralized contact center based on Cisco Unified Contact Center. Hundreds of customer service representatives are available Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m to address all issues that do not require a caseworker, such as reporting a birth. The county also uses the Cisco IP Integrated Voice Response (IVR) solution with speech recognition so that participants can access information without waiting for an agent. All data on each case is stored in a database, and agents who receive a call immediately see the current case information on their screen, enabling faster call-handling. When necessary, agents can pass on the call, along with accompanying information, to supervisors. The solution gathers a history of case processing, including recording voice and screen activity in the event that a case requires investigation.

Results:

• Increasedagentefficiencyby40percent,enablingthecountytohirefeweragentsthanoriginallyplanned.

• Improvedcallresolutiontimes.

• Freeduptimeforcaseworkers.

• Providedacontactcenterinfrastructureforothercountyprograms.Thepilotshowedthatthecontactcentercanhandlemorethan45,000callsmonthly.Plansincludeextendingittocountyemployees’benefitenrollment,callsregarding animal care and control, a foster care hotline, and a bioterrorism disaster contact center.


Conclusion

Government provides better service when constituents can obtain all non-emergency information services by dialing a single number or visiting a single website. More convenient interaction channels not only improve citizen satisfaction, they alsofreeupemployees’timesothattheycanfocusonnon-routineinquiries.ThefourcornerstonesoftheCitizenConnectarchitecture—Knowledge Base, Citizen-Authority Interaction, Collaborative Work, and Government-Grade Network—create a solid foundation for effective and efficient interactions. Governments can build these cornerstones using Cisco solutions for unified communications, contact center, agent front-ends, and reporting, as well as integrated tools from Cisco partners for CRM, knowledge management, and ticketing.

For More Information

To read about Cisco Contact Center solutions, visit: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/custcosw/ps1844/index.html

TolearnmoreaboutCisco’sCitizenConnectsolutionforgovernment,visit:www.cisco.com/go/citizenconnect

To discuss applications for your contact center, contact your Cisco Account Manager.


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