Unisys Corporation has implemented a "One Call" 311 system for the City of Minneapolis in the US to streamline municipal processes and provide the city`s 400 000 citizens as well as visitors with quick and easy access to municipal information and the city`s non-emergency services.
The new 311 solution, launched on 4 January, is a results management programme intended to afford the city the benefits of secure business operations that will help control costs, minimise risks and achieve improved performance in serving the citizens of Minneapolis.
"Our new 311 system has so many benefits, not just for city departments, but especially for the residents, who now have a simple, streamlined way to access city information and services," says Minneapolis Mayor RT Rybak. "Our team has developed a system that will allow us to provide services more effectively and efficiently than ever."
The system uses Citizen Relationship Management (CRM) software by Lagan Technologies and will enable Minneapolis to better coordinate operations, making its departments more responsive and efficient in handling constituent requests. It will also provide service request routing from one department to another, enabling consistent hand-off or follow-up on citizen inquiries. Reporting and monitoring features will offer city management the information needed to make decisions more quickly and efficiently.
In addition, the 311 call centre will alleviate call demand into the city`s existing 911 line, keeping that line open for truly life-threatening events requiring immediate response. According to recent US national studies, up to 60% of calls to 911 lines can actually be non-emergency calls. Creating a separate 311 system specifically for non-emergency requests can reduce the burden on 911 systems by more than 40%.
"Forward-looking cities such as Minneapolis are moving to a consolidated call centre to provide their citizens with convenient and efficient services when they need them," says Tony Volker, public sector practice director at Unisys Africa. "Our expertise in systems integration and customer relationship management in the public sector will help the city implement secure business operations and streamline its services to better meet the needs of its citizens."
Unisys implemented Lagan Technologies` Frontlink solution, and is hosting the solution at the Unisys outsourcing service centre located in Eagan, Minnesota. Unisys will also provide training and IT support for the 311 call centre. Unisys provides IT outsourcing services for the City of Minneapolis, under a seven-year agreement that includes procuring, deploying, managing and supporting the city`s IT infrastructure, from mobile devices to enterprise servers to integrated networking.
"Our Frontlink CRM solution, combined with the strategic consulting and infrastructure provided by Unisys, solves a problem many cities are experiencing, which is the need to reach citizens more effectively and efficiently for non-emergency issues," says Tom Mazur, VP, North American sales at Lagan Technologies. "We`ve established a leadership position with our product in the UK market and we are proud to showcase the solution in Minneapolis as we continue outreach into the 311 market here in the US."
The five-year contract was awarded in the second quarter of 2005. This project expands Unisys`s partnership with Minneapolis, which began in 2000 to combine advanced technology and business processes to better serve the city`s constituents.
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