Lengthy training time and out of date information
311 centers first started to appear in the United States about 25 years ago. This new phone line was created in an effort to divert routine inquiries and non-urgent community concerns from 911. Since that time, citizens now need to connect through multiple and more modern channels — email, apps, websites and phones, each adding another layer of complexity.
At Dallas 311, incoming call types vary greatly, from garbage pickup and building permits, to parking tickets, animal control and graffiti. With over 400 different types of service requests to execute, agents must be highly knowledgeable on a wide range of topics. These requirements drove the need for a lengthy 12 week long training program that was packed full of information.
Adding to these challenges, Dallas 311 was struggling to manage their information. Frequent department changes impacted how different service requests were handled, and company processes changed constantly. It was impossible to keep up with the changes, and employees quite often were working with out of date information.
This is one of the easiest products I’ve used in my call center career and we have seen immediate improvements in the center. It’s easy to set up, maintain and use. Our training immediately was reduced by 2 weeks, our agents use it every single day and we have fewer errors. And the support provided by the ProcedureFlow Team is first class!
Improved training through visual processes
Given how much Dallas 311 was spending on training, their Operations and Training managers wanted to focus their efforts on reducing training time and getting their agents up to speed as fast as possible. Leveraging ProcedureFlow, they reduced training time from 12 weeks down to 6 immediately after implementation. This transformation was also able to reduce trainer preparation time, and refresher training for all employees by 50%.
With ProcedureFlow, employees had a guide for every type of scenario they would en- counter with residents that gave them the confidence they needed to succeed. This con- tributed to an improvement in quality scores for every area that started using Procedure- Flow. This also solved their challenge of managing information by eliminating duplication of data, and storing everything in one central location.
Each of these changes had a big impact on Dallas 311’s operations, and in one year alone they were able to reduce their operating costs by 7.6%, a $337,000 savings. Dallas 311 is now looking for other areas of the business which can also benefit from using Procedure Flow. While management evaluates the next best place to implement ProcedureFlow, Dallas 311 is already enjoying the many benefits:
- Training time reduced from 12 weeks down to 6 weeks — a 50% reduction
- 7.6% reduction to operating costs, $337,000 in savings
- Processes and procedures are easier to manage and can be created faster
- Procedures are mapped out in easy to follow, step-by-step instructions improving consistency across all agents
- Agents can reach full proficiency faster and take live calls sooner
- There are fewer support calls and agents are meeting quality targets faster
- Response time to citizens has decreased
- Agents can provide more accurate and up-to-date information to citizens
