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"311" Constituent Response System
Town of North Hempstead, NY

Description

The Town viewed an effective constituent services function as being the key to dealing successfully with these issues. It recognized that at one time or another nearly every household has occasion to contact Town Government to report a problem, complain about a specific service, seek assistance, seek information or offer a suggestion, and that these interactions constitute an invaluable resource in helping government understand its constituency and its internal operations. Furthermore, the Town recognized that such interactions are often the primary basis for constituent perceptions of government efficiency and responsiveness. Thus, the Town’s ability to handle these interactions has considerable political importance.

Bowne was responsible for the design and implementation of the Town’s Constituent Response System (CRS). The Bowne solution included design of a new constituent services function along with the necessary structure of policies, procedures and operations for interacting with constituents, delivering services, monitoring performance and effecting positive change. Through technology, information can be received, recorded and accessed in ways that enhance management strategies and budget allocation decisions.

When fully implemented, the Constituent Response System will enable the Town to truly understand the public’s demand for services, while addressing the need for a back-end operation capable of supporting high-quality service delivery. It will provide numerous benefits for the Town of North Hempstead and its constituents, including:

	Facilitate public access to government services and foster neighborhood-oriented government. CRS will alleviate the problem of determining whom to call with a given problem, and ensure that a human operator fields each call.
	Improve government responsiveness by providing the Town with a mechanism to initiate actions in response to calls, track open requests and complaints, and respond to questions about open requests and complaints.
	Improve the effectiveness and reduce the cost of delivering municipal services.
	Reduce call volume, alleviate call congestion at individual Town departments and local police departments, and greatly reduce follow-up calls.
	Increase constituent satisfaction and enhance the Town’s image in the eyes of the public and other municipalities.

Bowne’s role on the project has included analyzing issues and requirements, scoping the CRS, assessing the state of current technology and operations in the Town as they relate to the CRS, defining the technical components and operational model for the CRS, selecting technology vendors, developing implementation plans, and implementing an operational CRS application and call center.