Across government agencies, self-service environments are being hailed as the answer to increasing operational efficiency. But for many organizations—specifically local government—there are barriers to adopting self-service, and the benefits are often undermined by poor execution. Ineffective menus, limited options, and/or being forced to connect with live agents (who ask for the same information that’s already been provided to IVRs and chatbots) frustrate customers and drive them back to traditional voice communications.

In this blog, we look at our top tips for creating engaging self-service environments in local government and how to avoid some of the common pitfalls that result in poor experiences and negative ROI.

Top tips for creating engaging experiences

1. Appeal to changing preferences

Contact centers are at a crossroads. Citizen approaches to self-service are changing. There is a divide between individual digital capabilities and a marmite effect on users, with Gen Zers preferring digital-first, and Boomers maintaining a preference for voice. The challenge for contact centers is that there is no one-size-fits-all channel.

The good news is that every channel can work alongside others to meet the diverse needs of citizens and improve contact center efficiency. The payoffs for the contact center could be enormous. According to Gartner, labor can represent up to 95% of contact center costs.

Also, channel flexibility is critical. Mobile-enabled digital engagement is preferred by many, so contact centers need to consider how to best incorporate web chat and SMS into self-service environments to deliver the personalized experiences citizens crave and expect. Having a multi-faceted approach will help meet the diverse needs of individuals while delivering the “always-on” services desired.

2. Customize user experiences

Consider how your customers engage with your existing channels—voice, chat, and SMS. It’s important to understand these different user journeys to optimize self-service experiences.

People respond differently to different channels. For example, users tend to expect real-time interactions with voicebots. They get annoyed with chatbots that become unresponsive mid-way through the customer engagement. But they don't have the same expectations with SMS—this channel is seen as asynchronous, wherein a delayed response is perfectly fine. Customize experiences across these channels if you want to achieve maximum engagement.

Another thing to consider is where citizens may be and what devices they’re using as they reach out to you. They can be on a laptop while aboard a train, or sitting at their kitchen table on a laptop, or using a mobile phone as a passenger in a car. These factors can change or limit the quality of the service they receive.

3. Always be evolving

Self-service will continue to evolve along with people’s expectations. The good news is that an effective self-service environment provides a wealth of analytics, metrics and information that help you understand what’s working, what’s not, and where to make improvements. Using this information, organizations can fine-tune their operations to deliver continuous improvement and fully-customized experiences that delight users and ensure long-term success.

A good place to start is with 8x8’s out-of-the-box templates. These plug-and-play templates make it easy for local councils and other government agencies to build self-service environments to support citizens with many routine tasks including:

  • Booking appointments
  • Obtaining location information
  • Getting recycling advice
  • Reporting incidents
  • Accessing voting resources

Based on an extensive study of local government conversations and call volumes, 8x8 templates are carefully designed to simplify the adoption of self-service environments and allow for rich, customizable experiences that continue to evolve.

4. Offer live assistance

For the best possible citizen experience, it’s important to remember that live agent assistance may still be required. Conversational AI is evolving and strengthening self-service experiences, but it doesn’t have all the answers a person might need.

Offering a seamless transition from a self-serve environment to an agent is essential. Ensure the context of the conversation is available to the agent to allow for a faster resolution and increased customer satisfaction.

Streamline communications and maximise citizen engagement

Contact center leaders need to get creative with self-service. There will never be a one-size-fits-all approach. It’s important to start with small, tailored experiences, and learn from the available data.

For certain, self-service implementation is going to be more widespread. 8x8 research shows 93% of contact center and IT leaders are considering contact center automation to be a very or extremely important focus in the next 12 months. That said, it is critical to begin this digital transformation with a solid foundation that will allow your self-service strategy to evolve.

Consider an initial rollout of basic workflows that are best addressed through self-service and will provide the best return. Take a look at 8x8 out-of-the-box templates designed to help get you started.

To learn more, read 6 Ways conversational AI can support local government.