Success Story -

ABOUT PROVO CITY

Provo City is a vibrant community in Utah with over 115,000 residents. It’s home to the well-known Brigham Young University and a collection of museums. Provo is the principal city in the Provo-Orem metropolitan area, with a population of over 500,000. It is Utah’s second-largest metropolitan area. The city is a focus area for technology development in Utah, with several billion-dollar startups.

The Provo City Municipal Government is committed to developing services to support businesses as well as the broader residential community. Technology played an important role in their service and support strategy, leading to a community that is more resilient, responsive, and safe.

THE CHALLENGE

The Provo City Municipal Team is responsible for fielding all calls and inquiries from the community. Provo City is unique in that they have their own dedicated power department and system. The City Call Center initially handled inquiries specific to utility-related requests. When a broader initiative was created, the Call Center was moved to the mayor’s office to serve a larger, more diverse role. Today, the Call Center handles all inquiries across utilities and municipal services, serving five different departments. The Call Center is open five days a week (while city workers have a 4-day x 10 hours regular schedule).

In 2008, the Provo Team brought in Point of Business (PoB) as their solution to improve their internal IT service management and support. In 2013, Customer Service began using POB as their CRM. At the time, the former Director of Customer Service recognized the broader value that PoB would bring as a Municipal Services solution. The Call Center team previously managed incoming calls and routing via manual processes and siloed tools.

Part of the key outcome of the change was to better track and understand the types of issues the municipality was receiving from its citizens. Existing manual email-driven processes were working for low-volume calls, but it would not scale, and the flow of information was inconsistent and often unreliable. Reporting was limited and there was no formal tracking mechanism in place. This impacted the visibility that department heads and the City Council required to understand the areas that needed attention.

The Call Center team identified several key needs for their solution:

• Workflow Management: How would different departments track inquiries and progress against goals?
• Decision Making: How to optimize operational processes and performance?
• Geographical Insights: Is it possible to add a geographical view to identify hotspots or problem areas within the community?

“We feel every interaction is an opportunity to build a better community. The PoB Municipal Solution has transformed how we operate and allowed us to focus on what is important – our people.”— Director, Customer Services at Provo City

THE SOLUTION

The Provo City Call Center implemented PoB Municipal solutions in 2018 and found that they were able to improve their operations from initial call response to workflow management, while enabling citizens to self-serve via the web. What started as a call center solution for service requests expanded to cover all municipal and field workers.

Key Modules Implemented:

• Citizen Relationship Management & Work Management: Used to manage call requests, track work orders, and handle reporting.
• PoB Self-Service Portal: Integrated into core modules, the portal now handles half of all requests, simplifying information sharing and document uploads.
• Reservation Management: Provo City added options for high-volume requests like Park Pavilion and Street Banner reservations. PoB includes a scheduling calendar and manages asset maintenance.
• Payment Integration: Fees are collected via an integration with Paymentus, keeping the process seamless from start to finish.

Top requests managed via PoB include account registration/sign-on, pavilion reservations, parking requests, and streetlight issues. As a highly customizable platform, the solution was also integrated with various other city applications.

THE RESULTS

The Provo City 311 initiative significantly changed how citizen requests and municipal work were managed. Centralizing all requests allowed for a more efficient and accountable process.

• High Volume Handling: Over 5,000 inquiries are handled yearly across calls, web, and email.
• Knowledge Access: Customer Service agents have access to over 1,355 knowledge articles covering topics from bicycle licenses to how to run for mayor.
• Growth & Adoption: Approximately 2,300 new citizen accounts are created annually via the self-service portal.
• Transparency: Transparency and ease of use became central to the citizen experience. For example, signs near the convention center now include QR codes that link directly to PoB for information requests.
• Productivity: Field staff productivity increased through better data, reporting, and integrated communication between business management and residents.

“For over ten years we have worked with the Serviceaide team. The focus on customer satisfaction and commitment to our success is an important part of our relationship. We are committed to PoB and exploring how we can continue to advance our solutions to better serve the city.”— Director, Customer Services at Provo City

ABOUT SERVICEAIDE

Serviceaide is a leader in modern service management. Serviceaide’s vision is to transform service management across ITSM, ESM, and Customer Service. Serving customers around the world, Serviceaide applies breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and natural language processing to deliver better experiences, provide enhanced self-service, and empower service owners. Serviceaide transforms service through digital labor conversations, automation, and knowledge.