SUNNYVALE, CA — (Marketwire) — 01/30/13 — When Superstorm Sandy hit Massachusetts in late October 2012, public transportation systems were shut down, flights were grounded, and schools and municipal buildings were shuttered statewide, as the region was hit with extensive power outages, flooding and 60 mile-per-hour-plus winds. But in the City of Boston — one of the oldest and most enduring cities in the nation — city work crews were out in full force, battling the elements to support emergency response and recovery efforts to put the city back online.
As Mother Nature doled out its worst, Boston was able to put its best foot forward, thanks in part to its use of CRM technology provided by , a global leader in customer service solutions delivered on-premise or in the cloud and used by more than 900 organizations worldwide, including half of the Global 100 and 250 government entities.
The worldwide leader in 311 CRM systems, which support non-emergency information calls and service requests, KANA works with many of the largest and best run cities. The City of Boston deployed KANA Lagan technology in 2008, and in 2011 extended its CRM system via the addition of its City Worker mobile app, which takes service requests made by citizens, and routes them to Android-based mobile devices of the nearest work crew from the responsible department.
“Over the nearly 20 years I-ve served as Mayor of Boston, we have consistently invested in constituent service, because I believe the first role of government should be to help people,” Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino said. “The way we help our residents in times of disaster continues to improve and evolve with technology, but at the core remains our mission to connect directly with residents, and do all we can to improve quality of life in our neighborhoods.”
“We were able to respond to more than 700 reported tree emergencies and 300 down wire reports quickly and efficiently thanks to our end-to-end tracking via our KANA Lagan CRM system and our City Worker mobile app, which helped guide us in the optimal deployment of resources,” said Justin Holmes, director of constituent engagement for the City of Boston. “I-m perhaps most proud of our call center-s 100% service level — all 4,600 phone calls during the day of the storm were answered by a live person within 30 seconds.”
The City also responded to issues from citizens that were reporting via the Boston Citizens Connect mobile app and also leveraged social media channels to communicate with its constituents and to track incident reports. “We made over 500,000 impressions on twitter with our hashtag #BoSandy and efforts via @NotifyBoston,” said Holmes.
More and more, local governments are recognizing the utility of 311 CRM systems and their application to support emergency response efforts. Today-s multi-channel 311 CRM systems are effectively functioning as the new Public Information Office — rapidly disseminating critical information and helping coordinate the deployment of work crews, equipment, and even volunteer efforts. During emergencies, constituents can receive up-to-date information on road and building closures, evacuation routes, and shelter locations. By diverting nonemergency calls from busy 911 systems before, during, and after emergencies, 311 CRM systems help ensure that first responders remain available to respond to situations that are immediately life-threatening.
“Without a doubt, 2012 will go down in the history books for powerful and even record-breaking natural disasters, eliciting severe and widespread damage to infrastructure across the country — as well as the resulting Herculean clean up and recovery efforts undertaken by local governments,” said David Moody here, head of Worldwide Product Strategy for Public Sector, KANA Software. “Cities such as Boston that have invested in the CRM technology infrastructure to support efficient service delivery are well prepared to respond in times of greatest need — when human welfare and economic livelihood hangs in the balance.”
KANA makes every customer experience a good experience. A global leader in customer service solutions delivered on-premise or in the cloud, KANA lets organizations take complete control over customer service interactions, so they can take care of customers, while managing costs and reinforcing brand. By unifying and maintaining context for customer journeys across agent, web, social and mobile experiences, KANA solutions have reduced handling time, increased resolution rates and improved net promoter score (NPS) at more than 900 enterprises, including half of the Global 100 and more than 250 government agencies. KANA is based in Silicon Valley, California and has offices worldwide.
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Contact:
Erin Lutz
Lutz PR for KANA Software, Inc.
+1 949 293 1055
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