population today larger than all but the top 4 countries at the turn of the last century. ... Perhaps it is two city dep
Engaged Cities Once small and cohesive, today’s cities have become large and complex entities. Buenos Aires, for example, has a population today larger than all but the top 4 countries at the turn of the last century. How can city governments maintain meaningful engagement with citizens, businesses, employees and other agencies?
As cities have grown, so have their governments
Today’s city government has more citizens, provides more services and operates on substantially larger budgets than ever before. For example, spending on local government represents 11.8 percent1 of the European Union and 10 percent 2 of the United States GDP.
Local branches of government interact more often and more closely, and thus are the most able to foster engagement with its citizens. Local government oversees the service of our schools, the quality of our roads, regulates what we can build, how we run our businesses, and in many other ways affects our lives on a daily basis. The challenge facing government officials is to keep cities from becoming disengaged from their citizens. How can city governments maintain meaningful engagement with citizens, businesses and other agencies? Technology and social changes offer a new way for city governments to meet this challenge. Citizens are changing how they engage and technology never stops changing, enabling local governments to amplify and improve the way they engage. Using these new engagement models, governments can create The Engaged City.
1. Eurostat, Total general government expenditure, % of GDP http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/tgm/refreshTableAction.do;jsessionid=9ea7d07e30e6e2c73ef67b944bdca488 baf34a0a909f.e34OaN8Pc3mMc40Lc3aMaNyTbh4Re0?tab=table&plugin=1&pcode=tec00023&language=en
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2. USGovernmentSpending.com, http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/us_20th_century_chart.html
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Hallmarks of the engaged city
What are the hallmarks of an Engaged City? At its core the Engaged City exhibits pervasive collaboration. Citizens and governments now collaborate 24x7, from any location, via any channel (land lines, mobile, email, social media).
“Taking your number with you is getting popular around the city. Being able to make and take calls anywhere, on their smartphones or at home offices has been convenient. Once they get it, they run with it.” Shannon Tolle Communications Director City of Scottsdale
Perhaps it is two city departments on a voice conference call. Or the mayor attending a virtual town hall meeting using video conferencing. In the Engaged City a citizen might even report a pothole via their smartphone using Instagram, send a complaint over Twitter or share a comment about an issue within a city council meeting on Facebook. The key is engagement takes the form of rich collaboration using multiple communication channels. The Engaged City is also an agile city. These same advances empower governments to implement new services more quickly and deploy them more easily than ever before. Take the City of Scottsdale, Arizona. A digital engagement initiative, iScottsdale, was driven by Scottsdale’s mayor as a way to harness citizen input into important government discussions and allows citizens to generate ideas of what would make a better Scottsdale. In the Engaged City both users and city workers also enjoy increased control over their destinies. Gone are the layers of complicated processes, replaced by a spirit of open and transparent cooperation that leads to co-designed services and, always-on, self-service portals. The result is a completely transformed relationship between a city and its citizens. By leveraging new communication channels, government can deliver an empowering and satisfying way for citizens to engage.
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Emergence of the Engaged City Market and societal changes are driving the emergence of the Engaged City
50%
of mobile phone users, use it as their primary internet source5
• Increased preference for digital engagement
Advances in Mobile Networks
7 billion
Internet users globally7
(3G/4G and beyond)
Fast Broadband
Proliferation of Mobile Devices
3 Key Drivers are helping The Engaged City to emerge:
Wireless Becoming Ubiquitous
Advances in Technology are Enabling the Engaged City
6.8 billion
94%
Broadband network speeds over 10 mb per second reach more than 94% of American homes4
Emergence of Public Cloud Infrastructure (such as Amazon Web Services)
$107 billion
Public IT cloud services is expected to be more than $107B in 20178
mobile subscriptions worldwide9
• Advances in technology • Digital engagement benefits
$20,000 Lower Cost
Digital Engagement Preference
196 million Social network users in Latin America1
The Virtual Workplace
1.2 billion
access the web from their mobile devices4
Changes in Society & the Public Sector
Increasing Use of Mobile Devices
16X the cost of digital engagement
22 Governments are increasingly large and complex and the need for agencies to collaborate has grown tremendously
The number of Americans working from home has soared 41% in the last decade2
24% 5
Telecommuting Saves Money
Telephone call:
%
Collaboration
41
Face to face:
65X the cost of digital engagement
Citizens are increasingly adopting mobile devices
More people working remotely than ever before
%
average businesses save per year for each full time employee who works remotely9
of survey respondents report their agency is already addressing the need for collaboration3
Benefits of Digital Engagement
(cost of office space)
Indirectly
average increase of productivity when remote working is allowed9
Fosters agency and citizen collaboration
Directly
(increased employee productivity)
Better Service to Citizens Improves satisfaction with government agencies
Speeds time-to-resolution for citizen requests and problems
1. pulsosocial.com, LAM Social Media Populatiion..., Nov 2013
4. T rinity Digital Marketing
7. http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm
2. CNNMoney, Work from home soars 41% in 10 years, Oct 2012
5. GovDelivery.com, Mar 2013
8. IDC, Roundup of Cloud Computing Forecasts Update, Nov 2013
3. PewResearch.org, Mobile Technology Fact Sheet, Jan 2014
6. mobiThinking.com, Global Mobile Statistics 2013
9. The Telework Coalition, Wired Working As a Lifestyle6
A blue print to a highly engaged city
At its core, the Engaged City is about fostering engagement between Cities and their citizens, employees and local businesses. Fostering engagement means stripping away barriers to communications and enabling people to engage how, when and where they choose. Here are the basic steps local governments can take to foster the kind of engagement that builds the Engaged City.
“Councils are under tremendous pressure to deliver efficiencies while maintaining service levels. Our work with Unify has delivered an enhanced voice infrastructure that has enabled flexible working for all our staff. This will support our next stage development; moving to new offices that will drive further efficiencies.” Alan Kirkham Service Director, ICT & Procurement Wakefield Council
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Enable engaged citizens In times past, citizens engaged with city governments by attending meetings, visiting city hall or making a phone call. Times have changed. Today many citizens have embraced Facebook, Twitter and Smartphones as their preferred communications method. Cities need to enable digital engagement at the heart of their public services delivery to allow citizens to engage as they prefer. Untether city employees The days of employees sitting behind a desk 40 hours a week are dwindling. Today’s workers are highly mobile – working from the field, from home, from wherever they need to be to serve their citizens. Cities have a huge opportunity to embrace this trend. By embracing virtual teams they can empower their staff to be productive wherever by harnessing all devices (desktop, laptop and mobile) for voice, video and collaboration. Foster seamless communication and collaboration across agencies The key to faster, more productive workflows is communication and collaboration. But how? Face-to-face meetings are expensive and difficult to schedule, yet phone calls are limiting. The answer lies in enabling agencies to communicate quickly with voice, video and web collaboration. This allows the benefits normally reserved for face-to-face meetings with the speed and efficiency of phone calls.
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Build an infrastructure that allows rapid deployment of cloud enabled services Cloud is suited to local government services for two reasons. First, cloud services allow government agencies to meet the demand of the citizens - either via web, kiosks, social media, contact centers, video, and even voice-based channels. Second, local government often has a need to engage on short notice, often with high traffic demands. After a major storm, for example, local government might deploy a cloud-based service for citizens to report problems and request services. Governments need the ability to deploy such services within hours, handle very high traffic demands, and then remove them just as quickly when the need subsides, all across a myriad of channels. Capture and analyze engagement to improve government service One of the advantages to digital engagement is that it can be ‘self-documenting’ in ways that a voice conversation is not. Local governments should capture digital engagement not only to document what has happened, but also to spot opportunities for improvement. For example, managers can track time to resolution for digitally-reported street issues (such as potholes), and take action when the lag time becomes too high.
“We have undertaken an innovative and bold approach to significantly change the way that we deliver frontline service to our citizens. A new IT and communications infrastructure was top of our requirements list and we selected the perfect partner in Unify and the OpenScape Portfolio for both telephony and contact center technology.” Mark Neilson Head of Customer and Information Systems Newport City Council
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Local government officials demand the need to communicate across multiple and disparate systems – such as police, fire and rescue and emergency services – across various locations using multiple devices. Imagine if a government official could communicate with a citizen in real-time to receive notification of an issue – for example through Twitter - and then communicate and issue instructions to field officials on where to go to resolve the issue. For example, collecting garbage and recycling that was missed or dispatching a salt truck due to heavy snow by issuing the request and embedding location services to direct the government official to the appropriate place. More fluid, intuitive technology to provide “on-demand” interaction, engagement & collaboration. A fluid and intuitive desktop allows government officials to communicate rapidly, easily and be up-to-date on employee-to-employee and employee-to-citizen communication via any channel – whether it’s through telephone, social media, instant messaging or phone – as well progress through any channel whilst on the move.
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Engagement Excellent customer service necessitates local government resolving an inquiry at the first point of contact – whether it’s to book an appointment, pay a bill, report a broken street light – or any other inquiry. A centralized contact center infrastructure can help local government handle inquiries better – responding to peaks and troughs regardless of the physical location of employees – especially through seasonal periods or when there are floods or heavy snow. Governments strive to encourage self-service as much as possible, but they recognize that human intervention must be possible when needed.
Digital services such as self-help tools, interactive forms, and real-time chat
optimizes the time taken to resolve citizen inquiries, and also reduce the need to make telephone contact from the outset.
Delivers local government services to a variety of channels such as
mobile, email, and social media increasing effectiveness while reducing cost.
Call routing can automatically recognize
“Communications technology is becoming increasingly complex. Its operation requires specialist knowledge and ties up valuable resources. We wanted to change that with the project called 7,000 dial tones .”
an urgent citizen request and trigger personalized call handling or route the caller to the most appropriate agent.
24x7 IVR solutions make citizen self-
service more satisfying – especially for basic government information requests, thereby improving perceptions of service.
A flexible workforce enables government workers to be more productive and responsive to citizen needs outside normal working
hours. Workers can deliver services in the field and accelerate time being spent focused on citizen-focused activities as demands for services increase – for example health and social care workers.
Equipped with the appropriate technology to collaborate back
with the base office in real-time, citizen requests can be handled on the spot.
Gerd Armbruster Head of IT Infrastructure City of Mannheim
By tapping into real-time presence functionality,
collaboration tools and location services, governments can extend the contact center to subject matter experts and field staff. This leads to lower costs, faster resolutions and happier citizens.
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Video allows local governments to engage directly with citizens
without the need for costly face-to-face interactions. For example a housing officer can communicate with a citizen without needing to visit their premise to ask basic questions, and then, determine what action should be taken next whilst on the move remotely using a laptop or handheld device.
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Productivity Communications is critical for local governments as they seek to improve productivity of their workforce – to manage operational costs and increase speed of public services delivery and service effectiveness. Implementation of new technology can provide employees with real-time access to experts inter- or intra-agency officers, as well, for example - ensure real time responses to public safety. With the proliferation of mobile devices and tablets – government officials can service citizens whilst on the move and work remotely without needing to return back to the office. Integrating disparate systems and applications collaboration technologies can significantly reduce costs – for example, a single integrated platform – operating anywhere, anytime, and on any device can reduce the dependence on costly physical assets such as buildings, desks and seats needed for day-to-day operations.
Anywhere communications reduces communication gaps between staff
and enables voice conference calls, web/ video conferencing, instant messaging and presence awareness where everyone can share information regardless of their location.
“The email integration of the Unify solutions offers significant added value for each of our communication workstations.” Gerd Armbruster Head of IT Infrastructure City of Mannheim
For example, documents and spreadsheets that contain information about a new policy or a public service can be reviewed and updated across a table, across a room or between buildings. This can facilitate a timely response and in some cases, crucial information on a day-to-day basis.
A seamless, unified communication ecosystem to complete the business of government will aggregate citizen communication into a single view, regardless of the channel used to make contact.
A local government desktop should integrate seamlessly with third-party applications such as housing and social care systems to expedite citizen engagement and increase employee productivity.
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Remote workers improve business agility and make services more accessible and cost effective. A flexible workplace can enable officials to work and make decisions on the move to deliver better and faster services to citizens – all whilst reducing the need to conduct travel and associated expenses – especially for staff that only require a desk intermittently such as planning and case workers.
Mobile technology allows staff to work effectively when not at their desks.
Giving staff access to information in the field can accelerate processing times – especially for on-site officers that conduct face-to-face engagement with citizens or travel between sites, or when access and sharing of mission critical information is needed.
BYOD allows officials to carry and work
on their own device – even “after hours” and can increase employee morale.
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Resilience Ensuring rapid, reliable and sustainable inter-agency communications during a major security event is not only critical, but challenging. A regional blackout or a natural catastrophe can disrupt or overload ordinary communications systems. Transportation breakdowns and bottlenecks isolate key personnel from their base of operations. The problem is compounded by the number of government organizations that need to be notified quickly, and work as a team during a crisis situation. Oversight groups, need to collaborate with key personnel from various government agencies, military command posts, local city officials, fire departments and private ambulance operators—to name a few. Buildings, or even whole cities, can become temporarily inaccessible. Dispatchers need a solution that is built for time-critical multi-channel conversations. Command and control solutions are a robust, multi-channel communication solution for dispatchers that increases efficiency while reducing telecom costs without compromising security and compliance.
It is easy and efficient to prioritize calls and improve response times.
High priority calls can be pushed to the front of the queue. Dispatchers can also answer calls regardless of position in the queue to speed deployment.
Unify has a wealth of public sector expertise and is a partner that appreciates the challenges currently facing public sector organizations. By synchronizing technologies, creating an engaging user experience and weaving communications seamlessly into the way organizations operate, we empower an increasingly mobile workforce to work better together. The result is a transformation of how government communicates and collaborates that amplifies collective efforts, energizes citizen services and drives better performance.
Managing and prioritizing all crucial communications channels (wired, wireless, etc.)
balances efficiency, cost, security and compliance. In emergency situations dispatchers must handle virtually unlimited calls in parallel, rather than one call at a time.
Integrating existing contact center technology and high quality voice infrastructure with the emergency
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communications platform will improve emergency call response times and effectiveness. This provides access to real-time information - enabling unprecedented citizen services at optimal resources and costs.
A single operational view allows for
better co-ordination of emergency and non-emergency teams. Dispatchers can also coordinate radio calls and mission critical broadcast announcements to unlimited callers. Dispatchers can also enable critical personnel to stay on calls until the emergency is resolved.
Video collaboration can enable
significantly better situation awareness. For instance, with video collaboration, officers at the command post can have a far better appreciation of a riot; a natural disaster in a distant geography; or even a crime investigation scene.
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As cities have grown to unimaginable size and complexity, governments face steep challenges to remain properly engaged with their citizens. The Engaged City describes a change in the way government communicates and delivers services that reduces cost, increases agility and maximizes citizen satisfaction. Unify, with more than one million customers in 100 countries, is best positioned to be your Engaged Cities Strategic Partner.
To engage Unify’s Public Sector Communications Transformation Services go to: http://www.unify.com/us/contact-us-engaged-cities.aspx Or call Unify Global Customer Support Center at +1-800-835-7656
To Learn More Unify and our partners are well-positioned to help you achieve The Engaged City. Here is how you can obtain more information:
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unify.com
1–800–310–6308
Visit our Engaged Cities website at www. unify.com/us/engaged-cities. Here you will find white papers, case studies, videos and product information to help you achieve The Engaged City.
Call today and speak to a Unify representative.
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About Unify Unify is one of the world’s leading communications software and services firms, providing integrated communications solutions for approximately 75 percent of the Fortune Global 500. Our solutions unify multiple networks, devices and applications into one easy-to-use platform that allows teams to engage in rich and meaningful conversations. The result is a transformation of how the enterprise communicates and collaborates that amplifies collective effort, energizes the business, and enhances business performance. Unify has a strong heritage of product reliability, innovation, open standards and security.
unify.com
Copyright © Unify Software and Solutions GmbH & Co. KG, 2016 Mies-van-der-Rohe-Strasse 6, 80807 Munich, Germany All rights reserved. The information provided in this document contains merely general descriptions or characteristics of performance which in case of actual use do not always apply as described or which may change as a result of further development of the products. An obligation to provide the respective characteristics shall only exist if expressly agreed in the terms of contract. Availability and technical specifications are subject to change without notice. Unify, OpenScape, OpenStage and HiPath are registered trademarks of Unify Software and Solutions GmbH & Co. KG. All other company, brand, product and service names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders
