Service Requests
Why is this important?
The City currently provides a platform for residents to ask questions or request services online today. As an example, if you have a parkway tree that you think needs to be trimmed, you can currently enter that request through the City’s website, and the tree will be inspected and then trimmed if needed.
As a city, however, we think we can do better. We are moving to a system that can improve this process by sharing more information with you, the customer, about the status and timing of your request. If you ordered something online, not knowing that status and timing of your order would be unacceptable. We feel the same and would like to share more with you about what we will be doing to respond to your request and when.
Our efforts to upgrade and integrate our service request, work order and warehousing software – a project that began in early 2018 – will improve customer access to city services while also allowing for better budgeting and tracking and providing timely feedback to requests.
It will also integrate all requests into one service order
request service. Many of the City’s current systems are antiquated and do not
communicate with one another. In this case, each department operates its own
work order system, which creates inefficiencies, redundancies and
inconsistencies.
The upgrade of our software and back-end systems will take
siloed departments and create communication connection points that didn’t exist
before. This will help provide more consistent data city-wide while reducing
staff time to entering and tracking requests. Linking our warehousing software
to this process will help with budget tracking and planning. Ultimately, this
project will reduce paperwork sent between department and enhance the ability
of departments to work together to resolve issues.