Office of the City Manager INFORMATION CALENDAR December 15, 2015

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1 Office of the City Manager To: From: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council Dee Williams-Ridley, Interim City Manager Submitted by: Savita Chaudhary, Director, Information Technology Subject: Customer Service Improvement Initiative SUMMARY This report provides an update on the Citywide Customer Service Improvement (CSI) initiative, authorized by City Council in The primary goal of this continuous improvement initiative is to streamline customer service using a Centralized 311 Call Center, Community Relationship Management (CRM) System, and an Online Service Center(OSC) CURRENT SITUATION AND ITS EFFECTS The City uses KANA s Lagan CRM software to support departments in routing, monitoring, and reporting on over 94,000 requests each year within 233 distinct service categories, including, Refuse and Recycling, Parks, Trees and Vegetation, Streets, Utilities, and Transportation, Parking Citations, Housing Inspections, Billing Inquiries, and Public Records Act (PRA) requests. In Fiscal Years , an overwhelming majority (88%) of CRM service requests were submitted via telephone calls to 311. (See table below). Method of Contact Fiscal Year 2014 Fiscal Year 2015 Fiscal Year 2016 Projected Total Incoming Calls to ,004 91, ,000 *** Total CRM Requests 96,756 94,608 97,500 Tele Calls Answered ,890 (88%) 83,033 (88%) 86,000 (88%) to 311 7,461 (8%) 6,182 (7%) 5,350 (6%) Online Service Request to 311 4,293 (4%) 5,234 (6%) 6,000 (6%) Other * First Call Resolution ** 59% 65% 70% * Other: Fax, mail ** First call resolution refers to calls, online service request and resolved by 311 with a single customer contact without routing a case to departmental specialist. ***2016 projecting 10% incoming total call increase (El Nino 2015/2016 forecast, commercial refuse, etc.) Q1 FY16 up 9% to FY Milvia Street, Berkeley, CA Tel: (510) TDD: (510) Fax: (510) manager@cityofberkeley.info Website:

2 Total incoming calls and OSC contacts to 311 were up 1.5% from FY 2014 to FY 2015, and First Call Resolution was up 10%. The second half of FY15, 311 saw a 2% increase in the number of calls abandoned before speaking to an agent. This increase in call abandon rate was due to reduced staffing levels, and increased service calls related to citywide mailings and business license renewals. 311 First Call Resolution of incoming calls and interactions continues to rise year-over-year with a broad collection of reference documents developed by 311 jointly with departmental experts. In FY 2016, 311 is anticipating increasing demands for centralized services with the approaching El Nino forecast, questions on License Plate Recognition (LPR) program, yearly business license renewal, change in commercial refuse services and increase awareness of 311 services. City departments are incorporating more 311 knowledge and services each year to enhance services to the community. The City of Berkeley Website includes over 8,000 references to 311 services. The back of COB business cards references one call for City Services, dial 311 or 981-CITY (2489). The Berkeley News Page ran two articles on 311 services this year, and 311 staff participated in National Night Out 2015, distributing 311 information flyers to City neighborhoods. In the First Quarter of FY 2016 community contacts by phone and the OSC increased by 9%. The number of calls abandoned while waiting for service increased by 135% (going from 7.2% to 16.9% abandon rate) due to the 65% staffing shortage in 311. The department has taken steps to hire temporary personnel to cover the unanticipated staffing shortage. It is estimated that two additional FTE s in addition to temporary personnel are needed to meet the estimated 10% increase in community contacts, maintain service level goals, reduce wait times for callers, and improve call abandoned rates and prompt turnaround of Online Service Center requests. City of Berkeley call abandon goal is 5%, industry average for call centers is between 5% and 8%, the addition of two FTE will allow City of Berkeley to meet our Department goals and provide service levels above industry average. In FY 2016, the CRM system will be upgraded. The new version will allow integration of mobile technologies and tools to enable community members to track the status of service requests online. The software upgrade will improve the efficiency of customer service and is necessary to ensure CRM s continued integrations with the City s back office software (including legacy systems such as FUND$). Since its inception, the OSC has grown to include over 22 services. Current services include garbage & graffiti, streets & sidewalks, birth & death certificates, parking meter reporting, citation payment and contest, building & zoning, picnic reservations, applying for City jobs, on-line payments, and the new open data portal. It is one of the most-used City webpages, with an average of 3,500 visitors per month. 1 In FY 2016, Building 1 Google Analytics Page Page 2

3 Permits, and plan submittals will be added to the online service center as the Department of Planning puts its new Accela permitting software into production. Expansion of the City s online payments program is necessary to respond to community expectations. The Department of Finance is working to automate the following payments: Fire Inspection, False Alarm billing, Hazardous Waste, Health Inspections, Marina Berth, Rental Housing Inspection, and Transfer Station payments. It is anticipated many of these services will be available to the community before the end of FY16. City Council requested review of the use of Facebook for reporting 311 Service Requests. Today COB community members can submit service requests via , the Online Service Center and SeeClickFix, a mobile application. We are exploring website features to make the Online Service Center more mobile friendly. Currently, Facebook rules allows anyone to comment on a post, meaning that any customer s request can be commented upon by other people. There is no security setting that prevents others from commenting on a person s post. The page becomes public forum, which requires considerable oversight and staff involvement to monitor. San Francisco and other cities consulted, assigned an employee full time to review the posts and delete comments that do not fall into the current guidelines stated by the City. Allowing private service requests our current practice online, via and over the phone is critical for good customer service. 311 does not have the staff to properly monitor a Facebook page at this time. BACKGROUND In Fiscal Year 2006, City Council recognized and prioritized the funding of a Customer Service Improvement initiative in response to community feedback. The department that led the initial CSI initiative was Finance. In 2008, the division was moved into the City Manager s Office and the CRM system started to be used to assist community members. In FY 2010, the division was assigned to the Department of Information Technology. Historically, more than a dozen separate customer call centers throughout the City have used unrelated computerized systems to initiate, track, and close customer service requests. The following is a summary of the accomplishments since 2006: : Established new job classifications and hired and trained six Customer Service Representatives (CSR) to staff the Call Center. Increased to nine CSR and one Office Specialist-II (OSII) in 2009 (FY09 total staff 9-CSR, 1-OSII and 1- Manager); Procured and established technology building blocks to support the CSI by implementing the CRM system, developing middleware to connect back-end legacy systems to the CRM, and upgrading the website with the Webspace Content Management software; Consolidated seven phone lines into the Call Center: City Center, Finance Customer Service, Finance Administration, Finance Refuse, Public Works Page 3

4 Administration, Public Works Streets and Sewers, and City Attorney Administration : Integrated additional phone lines from other City divisions and departments into the Call Center including Housing, Health and Human Services Vital Statistics (2 lines), Public Works Transportation, City Clerk and Human Resources. Today 311 answers twelve City lines. City Center phone line represents 30% of incoming calls and Finance Refuse (Calls averaging 6 minutes call time) represent 27% of incoming calls; 311 is currently staffed with 8 Customer Service Specialist III, 1 Customer Service Supervisor, and 1 Customer Service Manager for a total of 10 FTES; Identified and implemented online access through the Online Service Center to create efficiencies and address the desire of citizens to conduct business and obtain information from the City through the website. Over 22 services are offered via the OSC; Expanded the integration of the Interactive Voice Response (IVR) software to allow citizens to conduct certain transactions and obtain information over the phone at any time of the day or night; *Information for 2009 and 2010 extrapolated from 6 mos of system data available **Blank = Information not available ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY The Customer Service Initiative supports the City s goals to reduce its carbon foot by allowing community members the ability to transact business via phone or web thus reducing the vehicle traffic into the downtown area. 311 is open five days a week 8:00 am 5:00 pm and the OSC is available 24/7. Also using an electronic based system Page 4

5 allows for a reduction in the use of paper. These reductions will help the City reach its environmental goals. POSSIBLE FUTURE ACTION Evaluating the addition of 2 new FTE positions which will increase total number of community calls answered for essential City services by 12% - 15%, improve abandon rate of 14% (projected FY2016) to industry standard of 5% - 8%, reduce caller wait time and allow additional phone coverage during peak hours. 311 agents will be able to conduct appropriate follow-up with City departments on aging service requests increasing overall service levels. Continue 311 expansion by adding additional phone lines for City divisions and departments into the Call Center. Currently evaluating administrative lines for Planning, Park, Forestry and Waterfront and Health, Housing and Community Service. Further, evaluate additional Kana - Lagan CRM software applications options to increase integration flexibility with back office applications and increase connectivity preferences for mobile devices including options to support future social media development. Future opportunities include allowing for more interactions with community members through various channels such as adopt a tree or storm drain. Increased efficiencies by establishing wireless mobile workforce that can interact with City systems and Lagan CRM to report on and/or close cases in real time rather than having to wait to get back to the office. FISCAL IMPACTS OF POSSIBLE FUTURE ACTION Two CSSIII positions at $240,624 including benefits per fiscal year. The fiscal impacts of using various channels of interaction have not been completely quantified. Additional software cost will be presented to Council at a later date. CONTACT PERSON Savita Chaudhary, Director, Information Technology, Page 5

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