Trends Suggest Mobile is the Next Customer Service Frontier, but is Your Organization Ready?

There are over 5 billion mobile users worldwide.

Over 30% of all web traffic is accessed through mobile devices.

Mobile phones will be the primary way to access the web by 2013.

Eight out of ten people in the U.S. own a cell phone, and most of them use it to access the Internet.

47% of American adults use their cell phones and tablet computers to get local news and information.

So what!  Mobile devices are ubiquitous, but what does that have to do with government?  Everything.

People are getting immediate access to information wherever they are—whenever they want—made possible by mobile devices. Since providing information and services online is essential for government to communicate with and to service the American public and other stakeholders, going mobile is an imperative.

Recent research suggests that both government employees and citizens agree.  In the 2010 Open Government Research Report conducted by Harris Interactive, 96% of respondents said the government could improve how they engage with citizens and 32% specifically highlighted that engagement would be optimized by delivering tailored information via mobile devices.  Yet, according to the recent survey, Citizen Engagement in the Federal Space conducted by the Government Business Council, which surveyed federal executives to gauge their perceptions on how well government is doing at providing customer service to citizens, only 10% of responders gave their agencies a superior rating when interacting with citizens via mobile devices.  Additionally 30% indicated “non applicable” implying that their agencies are not leveraging mobile as a channel to service citizens.

However, we’ve found that mobile is top of mind for the industry.  RightNow participated in two government conferences this past week, each of which dedicated discussions exclusively to mobile.  The first was a panel session, Mobile Apps: The Next Technology Wave that was held at the Excellence in Government Conference that included participation from Peter Corbett, CEO, iStrategy Labs, Ron Ross, NIST and Henry Sienkiewicz, CIO, DISA.    Panelists specifically addressed how mobile technology and applications are increasingly central in transmitting vital information in the military, civilian government and the private sector.  The panelists each highlighted how their respective organizations were developing support plans to accommodate mobile usage. Panelists were generally open to optimizing mobile channels and the specific opportunity to leverage mobile to provide the right information at the right time to those who need it, specifically highlighting the Warfighter—from recruitment to deployment—as a critical customer to service.

Additionally, we had the opportunity to participate at the event, Best Practices in Government Customer Care, hosted by the Senior Executive Association, which included the session, Effectively Communicating for Results, given by Xerox.  The presentation addressed the different ways in which material is presented, either on the web or in documents, to federal customers and highlighted mobile as one of the primary delivery channels of information.  Specifically highlighted were the effects on workload and a possible increase in agency costs due to poor information delivery. The result is an increase in agency phone calls and a delay in receiving both needed information and payments. Since mobile is a way in which citizens and customers want to engage, the recommendation was to continue to maximize self service through mobile devices to reduce call and email volumes, resulting in decreased costs to the agency.

So how can government leverage mobile devices to maximize service while reducing costs to the agency?  Those organizations already optimizing web interfaces exclusively for mobile devices are able to:

• Provide mobile self-service, enabling customers to search for help, view answers, rate answers and see related questions
• Deliver a web chat interface built specifically for mobile devices
• Help customers find the right answers with a mobile optimized guide, using question branches to guide them to the appropriate answer or resolution
• Allow customers to submit an email from a Smartphone

There are numerous scenarios where government is already seeing significant benefits by optimizing customer support and extending services to mobile devices. For example, the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) Online Answers Knowledgebase, a self-service resource that provides fast, accurate answers to customers visiting SSA’s website. When a mobile user accesses SSA’s Online Answers, the software detects the type of device electronically and renders the page correctly without the need to install special applications or software on the user’s Smartphone. By expanding services to mobile devices, SSA continues to be responsive to the public’s needs by providing timely and relevant information anytime, anywhere.

Another government example includes the Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS), which extended its expert online support resources—Ask FSIS and Ask Karen—to mobile devices.  The knowledgebase for FSIS has grown to well over 3,200 questions and answers and the team adds 20-30 new questions every month. More exciting is the fact that over 97 percent of the questions are answered via self-service features.

Most of us can’t imagine life without our mobile devices. In fact, some 80% of Americans actually sleep with a mobile device next to their pillow.  If one of these customers awoke with a pressing question for your agency, they’d be ready to reach you, but will your agency be ready?

What are your thoughts?  How is your agency leveraging or considering leveraging Mobile?