CRM for San Francisco’s City Government

1- How did the DTIS CRM team change the business process for dealing with abandoned vehicles in San Francisco? How did the old business process work, and what kinds of problems arose? Why was it necessary to change the business process before developing new CRM system?

The city of San Francisco Abandon vehicles Detail Unit is a detached set of officers that handle abandon vehicle complaints after the vehicle has been abandon for 72 hours. Once the unit receives a complaint of an abandon vehicle, they respond to the scene and mark the vehicle, advising the owner that the vehicle will be towed if it is not removed in a certain amount of time. The initial way of conducting business was that the complainant would call the city and the telephone automatic system would prompt the complainant to navigate through the different departments until they had reached the Abandon Vehicles Detail Unit. In some cases, the complainant would be able to speak with a live dispatcher, in other cases, the complainant would get an answering machine advising them to leave a message stating their compliant. Those citizens that were able to reach a live dispatcher, their complaints were taken and hand written on a log, and assigned to someone from the Abandon Vehicles Unit. The complainant’s that were prompted to leave a message basically left a message not knowing if they had left their complaint on the appropriate answering service of the correct department.

This system really didn’t provide any accountability because there was no way of tracking complaints and making sure that every compliant was addressed. Another issue experienced is that on several occasions, they would get multiple complaints about the same vehicles, which resulted in more than one employee from the unit being sent out to address the same compliant. They had no system in place that allowed them to share information about complaints that had already been previously reported.

The DTIS CRM team was tasked with the mission to create a system that would provide a check and balances system to better assist the dispatcher and the officers assigned to this unit. The CRM team conducted a job analysis to get a better understanding of exactly what this department needed in order to conduct their job efficiently. After completing a job analysis and trouble shooting, they were able to create a system called the 311 center. The 311 center is a centralized dispatching center that receives all the city complaints and route each call to its designated department; therefore not only did the newly revamped system benefit the abandon vehicles unit but, it enhanced the customer service of every department within the city. DTIS CRM provided the abandon vehicles unit with the technology and infrastructure that was needed to improve the service delivery.

Reason why it was necessary to change the business processes before developing a new CRM system was because the existing system was not the problem, instead the business processes were. As it’s said in marketing, it costs more to reach out to new clients, than it does to fix a problem/complaint and maintain an already existing client. The same applies to this case, the business processes were not efficiently implemented causing major setbacks to the business and it was better, and most probably cost effective, to fix or restructure them to be able to properly utilize the existing CRM system. By changing the answering machine that recorded callers complaints made it easier for callers to provide information which in terms would facilitate the work for employees and help them offer a proper service enhancing the performance of the business. Once all the right changes on the business have taken effect it is just a matter of adequately using the already in place system and simply adjust it to the newly organized

business processes.

2- Why is CRM particularly useful for the support of “interaction” jobs (described in the text chapter) as opposed to “transaction jobs”

Interaction jobs are the primary value-adding activity composed of talking, e-mailing, presenting, and persuading. They are typically professional jobs in the service industry that require close coordination and collaboration. Interactions jobs make the customer feel safe and understood because speaking to other human beings make the customer feel like their voice is being heard. In the case with San Francisco City we can see that the city had a program in place which was failing due to the lack of interaction between the transactional system in place and the people who used it. CRM came into the picture in order to assist the city’s people with their problems and make the process a more interactive and pleasant experience.

CRM is particularly useful for the support of interaction jobs as opposed to “transaction jobs” due to the fact that it has to do with assisting firm’s relationships with their customers. CRM assists in enhancing customer satisfaction and revenue. In the video, CRM helped the organization cooperate proactively with one another to provide any service needed, improve service delivery and make getting government services easier and more transparent. Without the assistance of CRM used by the city of San Francisco, the citizens to this day would have been unable to properly communicate their concerns about the abandoned vehicles throughout the city.

3- How does this city-wide system help different agencies collaborate with one another?

This system that is called customer relationship management is not just a technology, but it also serves as a business philosophy that helps in customer business processes. Also, this software helps to enable solutions in a respectful manner based on the customer needs. It also gives operational efficiency to enhance the productivity of the business, as well as, quality and service. Customer relationship management (CRM) has helped to reduce costs and increase profitability for companies all over. All companies have organized an automated business process that nurture customer satisfaction and loyalty.

CRM delivers a holistic view of each customer that enables client-facing employees to make expedited and educated decisions about strategic efforts in the sales, marketing, and customer service fields. This system called CRM helps to facilitate errors that actually come in. Using this system has been a program that has helped agencies put certain calls into a pool of callers and then they are to determine which and where each caller belongs. With this software they are able to determine the needs of customers and exactly what the employees are in need as well.

4- How has the system installed by DTIS helped integrate information among city agencies? What difference would this make for customer service?

CRM designed a centralized contact number, along with a software and infrastructure to gather and transmit essential information, to improve the effectiveness of the information “intake” process and relay of that information to the right government agencies. As a result, the business process management is exponentially more effective and conducive to solving the complaints of the citizens of San Francisco. The most important element of the new process is that there is one centralized number (311) that enables the citizens of San Francisco to reach another human being that can help them resolve their issue. The “intake” process is the process of gathering the information required to get the issue resolved. The problem with the old “intake” method was that the right information was neither acquired nor transmitted to the right agency to deal with the complaint(s). The integration of the new process into the software focused on establishing the following—what questions the agencies need to have answered to do their specific jobs.

The collaboration of technology and customer service, along with probing questions facilitated by the software, allows the information to be gathered more effectively and transmitted to the right sub-departments or other agencies in the city. The information can now be conducted to various departments within one agency or to other agencies with the help of the new infrastructure that implements both technology and customer service. The latter is more than just answering a phone call and gathering information; it is gathering the right information by asking the questions that have been programmed into the software and transmitting that information into the hands of the right agency. Consequently, the overall customer service is improved by solving the complaints of the citizens of San Francisco in a timely and effective manner.

5- Considering the types of information systems discussed in the chapter, what type of system is this? How would you characterize this system?

I believe this system to be an enterprise system. An enterprise system is a system that has cross organizational capabilities as opposed to department or group – specific programs. They allow for collaboration and communication across the organization through collection of data that is accessible and usable by multiple departments which also includes all levels of management. Enterprise system is also called the Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP). Its main function is to integrate data from different business process into a single system. For example, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is the most used of all enterprise system. CRM is used to improve the client’s
experience. Both, CRM AND ERP applications always work together.

The system is characterize as using TPS because it process transactions, the system allows report making with its part of MIS and it also allows for upper management to use their statically reports. It’s also characterized as using DSS which helps in making decisions and ESS because upper management can view graph and data. This system saved the government agency because it made it easier for the citizens to use and it also made it easy for the City Employees to plan services accordingly.

1- How did the DTIS CRM team change the business process for dealing with abandoned vehicles in San Francisco? How did the old business process work, and what kinds of problems arose? Why was it necessary to change the business process before developing new CRM system?

The city of San Francisco Abandon vehicles Detail Unit is a detached set of officers that handle abandon vehicle complaints after the vehicle has been abandon for 72 hours. Once the unit receives a complaint of an abandon vehicle, they respond to the scene and mark the vehicle, advising the owner that the vehicle will be towed if it is not removed in a certain amount of time. The initial way of conducting business was that the complainant would call the city and the telephone automatic system would prompt the complainant to navigate through the different departments until they had reached the Abandon Vehicles Detail Unit. In some cases, the complainant would be able to speak with a live dispatcher, in other cases, the complainant would get an answering machine advising them to leave a message stating their compliant. Those citizens that were able to reach a live dispatcher, their complaints were taken and hand written on a log, and assigned to someone from the Abandon Vehicles Unit. The complainant’s that were prompted to leave a message basically left a message not knowing if they had left their complaint on the appropriate answering service of the correct department.

This system really didn’t provide any accountability because there was no way of tracking complaints and making sure that every compliant was addressed. Another issue experienced is that on several occasions, they would get multiple complaints about the same vehicles, which resulted in more than one employee from the unit being sent out to address the same compliant. They had no system in place that allowed them to share information about complaints that had already been previously reported.

The DTIS CRM team was tasked with the mission to create a system that would provide a check and balances system to better assist the dispatcher and the officers assigned to this unit. The CRM team conducted a job analysis to get a better understanding of exactly what this department needed in order to conduct their job efficiently. After completing a job analysis and trouble shooting, they were able to create a system called the 311 center. The 311 center is a centralized dispatching center that receives all the city complaints and route each call to its designated department; therefore not only did the newly revamped system benefit the abandon vehicles unit but, it enhanced the customer service of every department within the city. DTIS CRM provided the abandon vehicles unit with the technology and infrastructure that was needed to improve the service delivery.

Reason why it was necessary to change the business processes before developing a new CRM system was because the existing system was not the problem, instead the business processes were. As it’s said in marketing, it costs more to reach out to new clients, than it does to fix a problem/complaint and maintain an already existing client. The same applies to this case, the business processes were not efficiently implemented causing major setbacks to the business and it was better, and most probably cost effective, to fix or restructure them to be able to properly utilize the existing CRM system. By changing the answering machine that recorded callers complaints made it easier for callers to provide information which in terms would facilitate the work for employees and help them offer a proper service enhancing the performance of the business. Once all the right changes on the business have taken effect it is just a matter of adequately using the already in place system and simply adjust it to the newly organized business processes.

2- Why is CRM particularly useful for the support of “interaction” jobs (described in the text chapter) as opposed to “transaction jobs”

Interaction jobs are the primary value-adding activity composed of talking, e-mailing, presenting, and persuading. They are typically professional jobs in the service industry that require close coordination and collaboration. Interactions jobs make the customer feel safe and understood because speaking to other human beings make the customer feel like their voice is being heard. In the case with San Francisco City we can see that the city had a program in place which was failing due to the lack of interaction between the transactional system in place and the people who used it. CRM came into the picture in order to assist the city’s people with their problems and make the process a more interactive and pleasant experience.

CRM is particularly useful for the support of interaction jobs as opposed to “transaction jobs” due to the fact that it has to do with assisting firm’s relationships with their customers. CRM assists in enhancing customer satisfaction and revenue. In the video, CRM helped the organization cooperate proactively with one another to provide any service needed, improve service delivery and make getting government services easier and more transparent. Without the assistance of CRM used by the city of San Francisco, the citizens to this day would have been unable to properly communicate their concerns about the abandoned vehicles throughout the city.

3- How does this city-wide system help different agencies collaborate with one another?

This system that is called customer relationship management is not just a technology, but it also serves as a business philosophy that helps in customer business processes. Also, this software helps to enable solutions in a respectful manner based on the customer needs. It also gives operational efficiency to enhance the productivity of the business, as well as, quality and service. Customer relationship management (CRM) has helped to reduce costs and increase profitability for companies all over. All companies have organized an automated business process that nurture customer satisfaction and loyalty.

CRM delivers a holistic view of each customer that enables client-facing employees to make expedited and educated decisions about strategic efforts in the sales, marketing, and customer service fields. This system called CRM helps to facilitate errors that actually come in. Using this system has been a program that has helped agencies put certain calls into a pool of callers and then they are to determine which and where each caller belongs. With this software they are able to determine the needs of customers and exactly what the employees are in need as well.

4- How has the system installed by DTIS helped integrate information among city agencies? What difference would this make for customer service?

CRM designed a centralized contact number, along with a software and infrastructure to gather and transmit essential information, to improve the effectiveness of the information “intake” process and relay of that information to the right government agencies. As a result, the business process management is exponentially more effective and conducive to solving the complaints of the citizens of San Francisco. The most important element of the new process is that there is one centralized number (311) that enables the citizens of San Francisco to reach another human being that can help them resolve their issue. The “intake” process is the process of gathering the information required to get the issue resolved. The problem with the old “intake” method was that the right information was neither acquired nor transmitted to the right agency to deal with the complaint(s). The integration of the new process into the software focused on establishing the following—what questions the agencies need to have answered to do their specific jobs.

The collaboration of technology and customer service, along with probing questions facilitated by the software, allows the information to be gathered more effectively and transmitted to the right sub-departments or other agencies in the city. The information can now be conducted to various departments within one agency or to other agencies with the help of the new infrastructure that implements both technology and customer service. The latter is more than just answering a phone call and gathering information; it is gathering the right information by asking the questions that have been programmed into the software and transmitting that information into the hands of the right agency. Consequently, the overall customer service is improved by solving the complaints of the citizens of San Francisco in a timely and effective manner.

5- Considering the types of information systems discussed in the chapter, what type of system is this? How would you characterize this system?

I believe this system to be an enterprise system. An enterprise system is a system that has cross organizational capabilities as opposed to department or group – specific programs. They allow for collaboration and communication across the organization through collection of data that is accessible and usable by multiple departments which also includes all levels of management. Enterprise system is also called the Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP). Its main function is to integrate data from different business process into a single system. For example, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is the most used of all enterprise system. CRM is used to improve the client’s experience. Both, CRM AND ERP applications always work together.

The system is characterize as using TPS because it process transactions, the system allows report making with its part of MIS and it also allows for upper management to use their statically reports. It’s also characterized as using DSS which helps in making decisions and ESS because upper management can view graph and data. This system saved the government agency because it made it easier for the citizens to use and it also made it easy for the City Employees to plan services accordingly.