5 Benefits of Centralized Scheduling
July 19, 2021 by Meredith Trimble
At the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, government offices quickly innovated to maintain operations and continue to serve constituencies from afar. One of the keys to service continuity during the pandemic was centralized scheduling.
The benefits of centralized scheduling for governments are many, especially during a crisis. These benefits also hold true for regular operations in more normal times. Centralized scheduling helps improve overall citizen service and creates important internal efficiencies.
Following are five specific ways centralized scheduling helps governments and those they serve:
- Manage traffic and crowd limits
Enabling appointment scheduling helps to manage the planned amount of foot traffic within a government office and eliminates overcrowded waiting rooms. Better management of traffic increases customer satisfaction by allowing staff to maintain a more manageable workload.
- Empower citizen self-service
A centralized scheduling system not only gives government agencies the ability to schedule more accurately, but it also empowers citizen self-service. Systems that utilize self-service forms and payment processing during scheduling help streamline the entire service by allowing users to complete steps in advance. Staff can also view which services users need in order to anticipate in-person workload and thereby decrease turnaround times.
- Complete transactions quickly and more efficiently
As well as citizen self-service, a centralized scheduling system enables citizens to always arrive prepared with any necessary documents. Providing the correct, relevant information to the user at the time of scheduling eliminates frustrating multiple trips.
- Allow staff to focus on serving customers
When technology and automation run seamlessly, the administrative burden is reduced. This frees up staff time to better focus on customer service. Appointment windows for services streamline workflows and help staff better manage different responsibilities.
- Seamless in-person and virtual appointments
Centralized scheduling allows for both in-person and secure virtual appointments, both of which can be scheduled through the same easy process. In times of crisis, digital appointment, forms management, and payment features allow agencies to function from anywhere.
Also notable is a scheduling platform’s ability to communicate with a jurisdiction’s residents. Automated reminders and messages can alert users to changes such as weather closures. Having this tool in a government’s toolkit allows departments to continue to operate safely and serve constituents in any circumstances.