The Next Frontier for Government Service Delivery and Customer Connectivity
By Dan Poliquin, Principal, Deloitte & Touche, LLP
In so many ways, the state of Ohio is leading the way in technology deployments that seamlessly deliver services to Ohioans: From automation tools that support Medicaid recipients or help eliminate red tape from business regulations to single-sign-on digital identity services like OHID and the InnovateOhio Platform, Ohio is driving digital modernization across state government.
While state innovations have come a long way, there is a next frontier, one that doesn’t start and stop at the browser. Today, many residents who begin an interaction online may experience a completely different — and often disjointed — process when calling a help desk or visiting an office in person. That interruption in service and customer experience can erode trust, and cost constituents and state agencies valuable time and money.
We can do even better. Residents should be able to interact with the state through the web, phone, mobile app or in person — receiving a consistent, seamless experience across all devices, apps and interactions.
ID for Speed
In reality, much of what slows down service delivery and causes so much frustration is the understandable, yet constant, need for identity verification. Imagine you start a conversation with customer service online, where you’re already logged into the state agency’s website, so they know who you are. Soon, however, you realize you’ll need to speak with someone over the phone to solve your issue, so you make the call. Unfortunately, the verification process starts all over as you need to identify yourself, explain your issue to the contact center agent, and then (hopefully) get your problem solved. The whole process may start again if you then have to visit a state office in person.
Trust, Cost and Efficiency
When state services and support systems are disconnected, however, it’s not only trust and ease-of-use that are impacted. These also cost states money and time. As residents bounce from department to department, require multiple levels of customer assistance, and each time need to confirm both their identity and the issues they’re having, the expense of solving a problem multiplies for the state.
On the other hand, the natural outgrowth of consistency and faster service delivery is trust. That trust is enhanced when residents can, for instance, log in with a single ID across many different services — something we’re already experiencing with OHID, which is used by more than 6.5 million Ohioans and provides access to hundreds of agency services. As government responses get quicker and more accurate, regardless of how and where they’re accessed, residents will become more likely and comfortable utilizing these personalized, consumer-grade government services.
The ability to modernize government services through technical integrations, a unified ID system, and smart process design can give states greater ability to provide seamless, efficient services, no matter the device, app, agency or contact method.
Ultimately, thinking bigger — beyond any single customer touch point — and developing a comprehensive solution to improve customer connections, will increase efficiency, save taxpayers money, and enhance trust and satisfaction in government.