Making E-Government Work

From providing online local council services like zoning application, libraries and bill payment to tracking of bankruptcy cases and immigration Visa status, e-government is touted as an effective means for government to enhance delivery of information, services and transactions to serve the public interest. Much of e-government initiatives today has been to establish common standards and coordination across government - delivering services to citizens and businesses more effectively by providing ways for local, state and federal agencies to work together using internet technology. Even for citizens without a computer, e-government enables government employees to assist citizens effectively by connecting them to government websites, and helping citizens with such services. For the government, the vision of e-government promises much more

(1) a coordinated network of services working with the private and public sector;
(2) a government that is efficient administratively and timely with the posting of information;
(3) an online service delivery initiative to save taxpayers millions of tax dollars from a reduced cost of operation that may otherwise have cost more in increased demand in delivering the same services over the counter, postal mail, telephone, or printed brochures; and
(4) an ability to track and cost the use of government services.

Underlying a citizen-centric result-oriented e-government is the need to effectively manage a wide range of government services from the entry of requests and tracking of status, to fast and accurate response to customer inquires. As such, service desk and tracking systems will be integral to an e-government strategy to facilitate delivery of high quality customer services.

As service demand increases, self-care may also present a greater benefit for both the customer and the government in that government agencies may not have to increase support staff by virtual of granting customer online access to submit queries or applications, and review status, transactions or records.

Technology from Abacus Systems can implement such service desk and tracking systems to provide a means for citizens and businesses to interact effectively with government agencies. Abacus Systems' Aegis Service Desk can be used to implement a shared repository of customer and service history information for use by employees across multiple departments. This provides an organized profile of the customer and enables government representatives to make decisions that are accurate and consistent, at the same time rendering a prompt service to the customer.

Aegis Service Desk can assist agencies with an electronic business process to automate tasks or electronically distributing tasks to government employees. The Aegis Service Desk client web access facility enables customers to log on to the system using a browser such as Internet Explorer, to initiate application requests and to periodically check progress at their convenience. This will provide customers 24/7 conveniences with obtaining information from appropriate agencies, and which also significantly reduces costs for government support centers. Implemented correctly a web self-service facility from Aegis requires little or no customer orientation and instruction.

The information captured by Aegis service desk systems can help agencies with tracking and costing of service usage that will contribute to greater improvement in services provided. Aegis Service Desk is highly configurable - additional information such as customer attributes can easily be tailored to your specific business needs as required without development effort beyond defining the new attributes in a few simple steps. Or simply use the setups we provide to immediately see the value of your investment.

To learn more about Aegis Service Desk, click here. For testimonials of customers who have used Aegis as part of their support strategy, click here.