Editor's Note: Executive CIOs and IT directors contributed essays to a book that will soon be published by The Center for Digital Government. This book, Governing with Technology: Essays on Leadership in the Public Sector, includes essays from some of the Center's local government members, one of which is by Hampton, Va.'s IT Director John Eagle. An edited version of his essay follows.

Much has been written about customer relationship management (CRM) and call center technologies. Web self-service, call centers, 311, kiosks and similar customer-service-oriented systems continue to build momentum. Fueled by demand for improved service, governments around the globe have accomplished a great deal in a short time.

No longer bound by the service counter, Web sites and call centers create new and improved ways for government to conduct business with citizens -- and that's just the tip of the iceberg.

We have made it easier for citizens to interact with government, made processes more efficient, saved money, and created added value by extending access and hours of operation. But much more than that, technology-enabled customer service systems of today challenge the organizational structure of yesterday.

Because people are no longer bound by distance, time or types of monetary exchanges, one begins to wonder about the jurisdictional boundaries that separate cities, government levels or elected agencies.

How does the application of technology impact these systems and structures? What are our traditional organizational structures transforming into?

I will explore the answers to these questions through a short recounting of one 311 call center implementation and the resulting discoveries and revelations. I hope others might benefit from our experience in Hampton, Va., and use it to implement their own solutions as well as further the cause of good government reform.


What is CRM?
Simply put, CRM is a system -- hardware, software, people and processes -- that helps manage the relationship between a large, complex organization and its customers. CRM allows individual employees within a large organization to have the power -- in the form of information and actions -- of the organization at their fingertips.

CRM allows employees to see complete customer histories -- why customers come to the organization and how the organization responds.

Some consultants have said CRM is dead, past its prime, just a management catch phrase, a passing fad; the real deal is customer service.

They have a point.

All too often we are tempted to deploy what our neighbors have deployed because the technology is impressive, but to do so would miss the point.

In 1998, Hampton, Va., embarked on a traditional strategic planning process. After many meetings, task force sessions, community reviews, stakeholder conferences, drafts and revisions, a formal strategic plan emerged outlining five critical issues to Hampton's future. One that stood apart was "customer delight."

It's a strange name to indicate the city needed to focus on customer service, but the city's goal was to provide more than just customer service. More than merely meeting citizen expectations, city staff had an imperative to exceed citizen expectations. We needed to develop a vision for changing the fundamental way we approach our customers.

This imperative came from our citizens -- and with good reason. While banks installed 24-hour ATMs, grocery stores extended their hours, businesses created 24-hour hotlines and shopping online became the norm, Hampton continued to operate in its traditional 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. hours.

Citizens complained that doing business with the city was difficult. They didn't know -- and didn't care -- which department was responsible for a particular service, and they found it especially frustrating to get transferred from department to department in search of the proper person.