Government Technology - May 2008 - (Page 44)

e-government Reporting Capability* This shows the reporting capability identiﬁed by local governments with centralized customer service systems. By neighborhood/ geographic area Types of service request Repeat requests Time taken to complete service request 0 20 40 60 80 100 Percent reporting * These numbers are based on 84 local governments that answered this question. Use of System Reports* Although 81 out of the 84 local governments show capacity to generate reports on the types of service requests, the reporting functionality seems to be underused. Here is how respondents said they use reports generated by 311 systems. Annual reports Capital maintenance planning Meetings with residents Employee performance appraisals Performance measurement Resource allocation Twenty-six of the local governments that use reports for performance measurement indicated that they use all four of the reporting capabilities listed in the survey — neighborhood or geographic area, type of service request, repeat requests and time spent. The two least-reported uses of the report information are for capital maintenance planning and annual reports. Using the data with citizen groups and in annual reports is an essential step in the customer service feedback loop. For example, if code enforcement staff members know a problem occurs more often in a particular neighborhood and use the reports to show the frequency has significantly decreased, they can demonstrate their responsiveness. It also may help engage residents in solving the problem by showing them the data. Staff could compare across neighborhoods and show what’s different and what works. Financial Information The survey included questions about development, capital and operating expenditures. Few respondents provided information, and the expenditures in each category varied significantly. For this reason, the information is difficult to use. The first category of expenditures is “development and implmentation,” defined as planning, design, consulting and staff time. Ten local governments provided amounts, ranging from $1,000 to more than $4 million. The next category is capital expenditures, which included software and hardware purchased to implement the system. The lowest amount reported was $8,000, and the highest was $525,000. Annual operating expenditures were described as staffing, training, supplies, software and noncapital hardware. Again, amounts reported ranged from $1,350 to $350,000. Although current 311 use is limited, there’s significant interest in these systems: Almost twice the number of local governments that currently use them plan to implement a system in the future. We anticipate expanded use of these systems as more success stories are told about the benefits of robust reporting capabilities. CONTRIBUTING WRITER EVELINA MOULDER IS DIRECTOR OF SURVEY RESEARCH AT THE INTERNATIONAL CITY/COUNTY MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION IN WASHINGTON, D.C. SHE CAN BE REACHED AT EMOULDER@ICMA.ORG. 0 20 40 60 80 100 Percent reporting * These numbers are based on 81 local governments that answered this question. MAY_08 are handled within the centralized system. Most of those governments indicated that departments are alerted when a request is submitted, which suggests the centralized system may not be integrated with a work-order system. Centralized systems are updated to reflect job status, according to 92 percent of respondents. Ten local governments reported that routing and tracking are handled by department-specific work-order systems. Of those, six update the central customer service system with job status information. Most proponents of centralized systems stress that integration with a work-order system is critical. Reporting Capabilities / Use Centralized customer service systems can support management decisions, policies and strategies. Reports generated from the system are a starting point for this support. If managers receive information about service requests by geographic area, for example, they can identify patterns that seem concentrated in a particular location and take steps to address those problems. The amount of time taken to complete a service request is useful for establishing benchmarks and for evaluating processes and procedures involved in the response. Being able to access information on repeat requests allows a manager to look at why a problem recurs. 44 http://www.govtech.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Government Technology - May 2008

Government Technology - May 2008 Contents Point of View The Last Mile Big Picture On the Scene Four Questions for … Turning Over a New Leaf Crash Diet Budget Blues? Failing Grade? Running the Numbers The 311 Report High-Tech Corrections How It Works Spectrum Two Cents Products Personal Computing Signal: Noise

Government Technology - May 2008

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