City of Hamilton leverages Verint to ensure service consistency in an ever-changing environment
More than 500,000 residents depend on the municipality for public health, social services, waste removal, and a variety of other services, with the City’s call center typically the initial point of contact.
The benefits
Enhanced agent engagement to make sure staff felt safe and supported
Quickly adapted to an ever-changing environment to ensure service consistency across communications channels
Successfully managed a newly hybrid workforce as some agents transitioned to working remotely
Opportunity: Re-envision how to provide consistent services across available channels
The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic brought sweeping changes to the City’s service delivery.
“People were scared, anxious, and, often times, just needed somebody else to talk to,” says Cindy Mercanti, Director of Customer Service, POA, and Financial Integration at City of Hamilton. “We had to shut down our counter services, so we were no longer able to provide residents with the type of service they were accustomed to. We had to rethink how we deliver services and, more importantly, how to make these services as accessible and welcoming as possible.”
One of the challenges Mercanti and team faced was re-envisioning how to provide consistent services regardless of whether residents were using the phone, email, or counter services (when offices were reopened) to engage with the City.
“Many residents live in areas where they don’t have stable internet access or simply can’t afford it,” Mercanti explains. “We had to understand how to bridge this ’digital divide.’ How to offer service with consistency across available channels, so residents could still access services at the height of the pandemic. While email was an option for some, everyone had access to phone channels and, when possible, we worked quickly to reopen counter service by appointment.”
Another key challenge was managing a newly hybrid workforce as some agents transitioned to working remotely.
Solution: Enable engagement across services with Verint
To manage these challenges while, in turn, ensuring residents could access information and services across a variety of channels to meet their needs efficiently and effectively, the City of Hamilton leveraged Verint.
The Verint solution implemented combined Case Management, Knowledge Management, integration, reporting, and forms to enable engagement across services while enhancing the opportunity for self-service.
“Verint’s solution enabled us to be there for our residents and community via phone, web, or email, whether they were seeking help or simply wanting to connect with someone else during trying times,” notes Mercanti. “We took a step away from our traditional call center metrics. In the moment, the goal was to connect with residents and calm their fears and concerns during one of the most trying times not only for us as an organization, but on a global scale.”
This allowed the City of Hamilton to quickly adapt to the ever-changing environment. “The pace of change was unprecedented,” Mercanti adds. “The ability to access the Verint software to communicate information and process changes to our agents, whether they were on the phone or behind the counter, was critical to service consistency.”
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“We completely changed our operating model and quickly made changes that would have otherwise taken years to implement. Amid all the challenges of working through the pandemic, one thing never changed – we were there for each other, our residents, and the amazing community we serve."
Benefits: Provide residents with consistent service across channels
With Verint, the City of Hamilton was able to provide residents with consistent service across different communications channels. It also aided in providing additional support to the City’s public health services.
Throughout the process, the City leveraged its agents as a critical feedback loop, engaging them to better understand how to best operate so staff felt safe and supported, as well as what was needed to best support its residents and community. This information was shared with leadership to guide changes.
“As we focus on recovery from the pandemic, we have been empowered with the realization that we can do this, collectively, collaboratively, and quickly, even in the most difficult of times,” concludes Mercanti. “We completely changed our operating model and quickly made changes that would have otherwise taken years to implement. Amid all the challenges of working through the pandemic, one thing never changed – we were there for each other, our residents, and the amazing community we serve.”
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