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CiRM Citizen Relationship Management
Australia: But Is the Customer Satisfied?
Do government CIOs have anything to learn from the private sector about e-government and customer relationship management? Well, yes and no. In some cases government agencies are even ahead of the game . . . Australians' love of technology and our reputation as early adopters are helping drive customer relationship management (CRM) and associated e-technologies into government with a vengeance. Helped along by an increasing number of CIOs stepping over from the private to the public sector, CRM is booming and it appears that in many cases the government sector is leading the field.
CRM crosses over
One of the few emerging software categories to survive the dot-com crash of the early 2000s was customer relationship management software.
Cash-strapped companies saw in it a cost-effective way to prop up bottom lines by holding onto existing customers. More recently, CRM has been crossing over into government, as agencies facing e-government mandates have come to appreciate the benefits of streamlined, cheaper, yet more effective contact with constituents.
CRM finds a seat in government
Customer relationship management is crossing into government as agencies facing e-government mandates have come to appreciate the benefits of streamlined, cheaper, more effective contact with constituents.
Customer Satisfaction is No.1 Goal of European Contact Centres
Hot topics for contact centre managers: developing agents, reducing costs, improving performance
Aspect Communications Corporation, a provider of enterprise customer contact solutions,announced the results of the 2005 Contact Centre Trends Market Survey, a study conducted on behalf of Aspect by STRATECO GmbH, an independent contact centre research consultancy.
EU Project: Citizens to become Customers
Sheffield City Council today announced its participation in The CARMEN project (Citizens Advanced Relationship ManageMENt), a new European Union-funded initiative which aims to adapt the private sector's use of CRM technology (Customer Relationship Management) to create an innovative, knowledge-based multi-media service for the public sector.
Under the auspices of (the EU's eTen programme), Sheffield will partner with Saarbrücken, Prato, the Black Country, among others, to combine CRM expertise and experience to develop a common, open source CRM platform for deployment throughout Europe. Once developed, this new platform will be made available to Public Administrations in a cost-effective and easy-to-use ASP format that can be readily integrated into pre-existing applications.
India: Haryana prepares to implement Industrial Portal Project Plan
Having emerged in the category of "Level One" States in implementation of the core infrastructure projects of State Wide Area Network (SWAN) and Common Service Centres (CSCs),Haryana has prepared an industrial portal project plan and a digital trunking system is being implemented for police control room in Gurgaon.
While stating this here on Sunday, a spokesman of Haryana Department of Electronics and Information Technology said that new initiatives were being implemented under the leadership of Chief Minister, Bhupinder Singh Hooda to make Haryana number one State in information technology so as to cope with the changing scenario.
India: West Bengal to Set Up CSCs
In accordance with the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) of government of India, 100,000 Information and Communications Technology (ICT) enabled e-Kiosks will be set up across the country. Interestingly, West Bengal emerged as the first state in India to finalize the Request for Proposal (RFP) and to sign the Master Service Agreement (MSA).
Under the NeGP - announced by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh - implementation of Common Service Centers (CSCs) is the most important of the 4 pillars of the NeGP.
New Zealand local government implements CRM
Manukau, New Zealand's third largest city is three years into an ambitious programme to reinvent citizen service delivery.
> "Customer service is vitally important to us," says Wayne Goodley, Director of City Services with Manukau City Council. "Three years ago we agreed to a new strategy of citizen, customer and community relationship management – or 'C3RM'."
New Zealand: Next e-govt step: CRM for the people
Much infrastructure there but more integration between govt agencies needed
The next major challenge for e-government in New Zealand is to focus on the needs of the customer rather than government agencies, says new e-government unit head Laurence Millar.
Public sector will drive CRM growth, research finds
The public sector is set to represent the biggest area of CRM growth over the next three years, according to research firm The Institute for Supply Management, which reports that a steadily increasing citizen demand for e-government is spurring many state and municipal government agencies to adopt new tactics for serving the public.
UAE: Awqaf and Minors Affairs Foundation to use Dubai eGovernment's AskDubai Call Centre service
AskDubai will now handle 10 Dubai government departments as part of eGovernment Customer Relationship Management
Dubai eGovernment has announced that the Awqaf and Minors Affairs Foundation (AMAF) has joined the AskDubai program, an initiative that facilitates interaction between the government and its public in one point of contact. Through the AskDubai call centre, the public can enquire about services offered by AMAF.
UAE: Emirate projects get CRM rollout
Dubai Healthcare City is one the projects to get CRM. Dubai Holding, the umbrella company for some of the emirate's largest ventures, is rolling out a massive customer relationship management (CRM) system across all of its operations, its senior IT boss revealed to IT Weekly.
According to Sabri Al-Azazi, chief information officer (CIO) for Dubai Holding, the implementation has already begun and will cover all of Dubai Holding's businesses by the end of this year.
UK wastes €2.3bn on over-complex e-government CRM - software firm
Some €2.3bn is being wasted on complex and expensive Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems for e-government, according to claims from software services company Transversal. Although significant sums are being invested in the systems, local and central government services and websites are no more accessible to citizens than before, says Transversal. The company argues that simple, cost-effective self-service applications are the key to improved and immediate e-government customer service.
UK: Ashford Borough Council makes e-gov strides with Mitel
Ashford Borough Council has awarded a far-reaching contract to Mitel for IP telephones and associated software to handle interactions with members of the public.
The Kent authority has chosen the Mitel 3300 Integrated Communications Platform as part of the foundations of a five-year technology and business process overhaul.
UK: Camden uses new CRM system to help customer service centre
London Borough of Camden a new customer relationship management (CRM) system, as an essential component in the development of the council's customer service centre.
The Lagan Frontline solution has been procured in conjunction with Specialist Computer Centres (SCC).
Recognising that improved customer satisfaction is important, the council established Serving Camden. This programme aims to improve the experience that all council customers – whether citizens or business users - have when they contact the council by putting them at the centre of what the council does.
UK: Contact Centre Investment Drives Performance At Staffordshire Connects
Staffordshire Connects, a partnership of 10 local authorities in Staffordshire*, has transformed service performance by implementing a new customer service strategy and making key investments in Macfarlane contact centre and CRM technology.
UK: Contact Centres – A Catalyst for Change
A contact centre which helps residents with their planning enquiries has won South Gloucestershire Council a national commendation for improving overall service delivery.
Caron Bentley of the Council's Business Improvement Team highlights how the planning contact centre is driving through wider changes in service delivery across the local authority.
South Gloucestershire Council recently received a special commendation from the judges of the Innovation of the Year Award, sponsored by the Professional Planning Forum, an independent industry body who support effective resourcing and planning in the contact centre industry. The award process is open to both Private and Public sector organisations and this year saw a record of five Councils reaching the finalist stage.
UK: Councils encouraged to implement CRM
Technology to form cornerstone of e-government strategies
The government's CRM National Programme is firing up its efforts to get all local authorities to implement CRM as a cornerstone of their e-government strategies, in a move that will ignite public-sector opportunities for VARs.
UK: Councils learn to cope with CRM culture shock
New systems can be a challenge, according to research.
Altering the culture of council employees is the biggest hurdle local authority IT managers have to overcome when implementing customer relationship management (CRM) systems, according to research to be published next month.
The survey of 258 egovernment and council IT heads by connectivity software vendor NDL-Metascybe, in association with Computing, shows that 42 per cent of respondents find persuading co-workers to adopt new CRM systems much harder than they expected.
UK: CRM helps South Lakeland Council achieve 60% rise in customer satisfaction
South Lakeland District Council reports that a new Customer Relationship Management (CRM) initiative has contributed to a 60% rise in customer satisfaction levels in the nine months to March 2005.
A new customer contact centre, set up in June 2004, and based on Macfarlane Telesystems's CallPlus technology has been key to this success. Ratings are based on customer satisfaction research undertaken each month by South Lakeland Council. A random selection of citizens that made contact with the Council during the previous month are called and asked how satisfied they were with the way their queries were handled.