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This paper discusses how a mid-sized City improved customer service and operating efficiency by implementing a city-wide, web-basedsystem linking its geographic information system (GIS) with its work management and customerinformation systems (CMMS and CIS). This system allows call takers throughout the city to answercommon questions, request new work orders, and report the status of existing work orders. This advancedsystem offers several unique features that include tracking on-the-job training hourswithout impacting the total work order cost and customer location maps for ease of locating neededcustomer histories and work order information. The benefits of this new system include:a single city-wide asset inventory linked to the geographic information system (GIS) maps that allows asset managers to analyze asset condition ratings, down-time, and maintenance costs to makethe best possible decisions about asset rehabilitation and replacement;real-time work order mapping, which supports efficient dispatching and prevents the creation ofcostly duplicate work orders;real-time work order status and other details available over the Intranet, so any call-taker can providecustomers with up-to-the-minute progress reports on work requests;complete customer contact histories at the fingertips of all call-takers, which allows the city toprovide a high level of customer service;low-cost dissemination of critical business information and business support tools; and,improved planned maintenance and reduced overtime.The City's call center, which began operations in mid-2004, is a one-stop shop for customer inquiries,work order status reports, and new work requests for all departments. Call center representatives use theintegrated system to track customer contact histories, report the status of ongoing work, and create workrequests for the departments. They also have answers to frequently asked questions at their fingertips onthe Intranet site contact management screen. Employees track their on-the-job training at the same timethey record their labor hours on work orders.This presentation explains the business process and organizational changes necessary to maximize thebenefits of the technology. It also provides a perspective on the development process, including thereconciliation of incompatible data sets and other technical challenges. The presentation concludes with adiscussion of the steps that any city can take to begin integrating its customer, asset, and work management functions. Includes figures.

Product Details

Edition: Vol. - No. Published: 04/01/2005 Number of Pages: 9File Size: 1 file , 2.7 MB