CRM AND E-GOVERNMENT
Historically, the concept of CRM, or Customer Relationship Management, has been the preserve of the private sector which has exploited new and emerging technologies in order to enhance its customers' experience, improve customer retention, reduce cost of service and ultimately create greater shareholder value.
In recent years however, the public sector has begun to address the need for an efficient and effective Customer or Citizen Relationship Management strategy. And for much of the public sector, CRM is at the heart of achieving the government's 2005 e-government targets, which have been a fundamental part of its policy since the 1997 election.
Initial estimates indicate that local authorities will need to spend £2.5 billion in order to meet these targets. Having established a reputation for its innovation in the field of CRM within the private sector, Central is exploiting its experience and expertise to deliver dedicated CRM solutions, which will enhance the customer contact experience across the public sector.
So why is CRM of such great importance to Local Authorities? A key objective of any CRM strategy is to build stronger relationships with customers and derive benefits for both parties.
Clearly there are obvious parallels to be drawn between this and the fundamental aims of the public sector - to provide a range of services for the community and improve communications - both with and between the citizen.
In recent years the private sector has turned towards CRM in a bid to increase the value of each customer by ensuring consistency of information across every interaction between the organisation and its customers.
And whilst many of the private sector's profit motives do not apply to the public sector, many of the other benefits of CRM are equally as important, particularly in the field of improved efficiency and improved quality of service.
One of the main benefits of CRM within the public sector will be the development of contact centres, which will consolidate all citizen information into a single format and track procedures, making life easier for 'frontline' government employees. Staff will now be able to offer a more responsive service and resolve enquiries at the first point of contact.
As with private sector solutions, the contact centre builds up a picture of the caller's needs and offers a more personal service, helping authorities to identify how services can be improved.
In addition, citizens are demanding better access to government information through a choice of channels - phone, fax, e-mail, internet and in person. CRM will enable local authorities to deliver the mechanisms for successful multi-channel communication with key stakeholders.
Working closely with global names in the telecommunications world, including Microsoft, Avaya and Siebel, Central Telecom integrate the latest technology with existing systems and deliver flexible CRM solutions, backed by the highest levels of support.
Amongst its public sector portfolio is the design and implementation of a number of high profile contact centre solutions, which integrate leading edge Avaya Interaction Centre technology with organisations' existing infrastructures - and have the capacity to address both current and future requirements.
This includes a solution which links 500 contact centre agents through the integration of Siebel CRM for voice, e-mail and web and Avaya's market leading CentreVu IP Agent technology and Avaya Interaction Centre. The organisation now can deliver a highly efficient 'virtual call centre', which can distribute calls seamlessly using sophisticated skill based routing, time of day and calendar routing. Thanks to the new solution the organisation can now route calls and e-mails to agents based in multiple sites, thus optimising resources.
In the context of e-government, the capabilities of sophisticated systems such as the Avaya Interaction Centre provides the missing link between e-government as a relatively static environment and e-government as a mechanism for a dramatically enhanced service levels. It seamlessly integrates both web and e-mail based service interface alongside the traditional telephone contact channel and provide the organisation with a single view of all citizen interaction.
The new Microsoft CRM solution is set to open up CRM capabilities to a much broader range of organisations and will support the delivery of an integrated CRM approach for local authorities.
The new operating platform offers a strategic technology platform which will enable the integration of systems for financial management and electronic document and records management that are essential in a Local Authority context - and at a realistic investment.
Central Telecom deliver dedicated CRM solutions that are:
Integrated - Integrated call data in searchable knowledgebase
- Integrated sales and service modules
- Integrated telephony and CRM
Proactive - Leads and opportunity management
- Automated incident management
- One-click outbound dial
Efficient - Re-evaluate your business processes to maximise resources
- Handle more contacts
- Reduce overheads
Effective - Evaluate interactions with citizens
- Understand business performance
- Identify trends
Central Telecom is also exploiting the other principal technology - the telephone - which is absolutely vital to the successful exploitation of CRM in local government and which for most Local Authorities will remain a primary interface between the citizens and the authority.
Inbound, and to a lesser extent outbound, calls will continue to form the bulk of contact points. Since these occur in real time with the obvious need to minimise the need for call backs, the integration of telephony services with modern CRM platforms such as Microsoft CRM will play a crucial role in improving Local Authority services.
Central Telecom is convinced that the integration of telephony and CRM technologies into a single, consistent solution will deliver the biggest improvements to service levels.
The integration of the mobile platform as a service access point further enriches the scope for adopting a multiple media contact strategy around a core CRM solution. This will not only dramatically improve public services, but revolutionise our perception of them too.
E-government is about more than just technology; it's about delivering better citizen services at an affordable cost to the taxpayer. However, technology is the key to enabling a cost effective service transformation and CRM systems have a vital role to play in that change.
