How to Manage Municipal Case & Resolution Times

Municipal governments are responsible for managing a wide array of services, from public works and permits to housing and utilities. To effectively handle citizen requests, complaints, and service inquiries, governments need a reliable system to track and analyze case resolution times and outcomes. Salesforce provides an ideal solution for municipal governments looking to optimize their case management processes.

Setting Up a Custom Case Management System

To begin tracking cases efficiently, municipal governments can use Salesforce Service Cloud to create a custom case management system tailored to the specific needs of each department. Using this system, your government can log cases such as citizen complaints or service requests (pothole repairs, zoning questions, etc.) into Salesforce. It will be complete with key details like the citizen's information, type of request, department assignment, and urgency level.

• Create a custom Case Object that includes fields like "Case Type," "Submitted By," "Submission Date," "Department Assigned," and "SLA Due Date."
• Use the Omni-Channel Routing feature to automatically assign cases to the correct department or team based on predefined criteria, such as the type of service requested.

Automating Case Assignment and SLA Tracking

Salesforce's built-in automation tools can be configured to ensure that cases are routed efficiently and resolved within designated timelines. By setting up Service Level Agreements (SLAs), governments can define acceptable timeframes for resolving different types of cases, and Salesforce will automatically track whether those SLAs are met.

• Set up Entitlement Management in Salesforce to define and apply SLAs to different case types. For example, a pothole repair request might have a 48-hour SLA, while a zoning permit might have a 14-day SLA.
• Use Process Builder or Flow to automate actions, such as sending reminders to team members or escalating cases that are approaching their SLA deadlines.

For example, suppose a public safety case (such as a noise complaint) hasn't been resolved within 72 hours. In that case, Salesforce can automatically send a notification to the supervisor or escalate the issue to the next level of management.

Tracking and Reporting Case Resolution Times

Once cases are logged and assigned, it is crucial to track their resolution times. Salesforce makes this easy with Reports and Dashboards. Government officials can create reports that provide insights into how long cases are taking to resolve, broken down by department, case type, or even by individual agents.

• Use Salesforce’s Reporting Tool to create a custom report showing the average resolution time for cases over a given period. For example, you can track all cases related to public works and see how long they took to resolve.
• Set up Dashboards to visualize these metrics. You can create charts that show:
  • Average resolution time by department (e.g., 3 days for housing complaints, 5 days for public works).
  • Percentage of cases closed within SLA vs. those that breached SLA.

These real-time dashboards give municipal leaders a clear picture of departmental performance and allow for quick adjustments if there are any delays or bottlenecks in the system.

Capturing and Analyzing Case Outcomes

Tracking case resolution times is important, but understanding the quality of the resolution is equally critical. Salesforce allows governments to capture detailed information about case outcomes and citizen satisfaction, providing a more comprehensive analysis.

• Create custom fields in the Case Object to track resolution outcomes. For instance, you could include a field like "Resolution Quality" or "Case Outcome."
• Set up Feedback Forms that are automatically sent to citizens once their case is closed. You can use Salesforce’s Survey feature or integrate with third-party survey tools like SurveyMonkey.

You can analyze the feedback data, combined with resolution times in Salesforce Reports to determine overall satisfaction and identify areas for improvement. For example, a department may resolve cases quickly but have lower satisfaction scores, indicating a need for better-quality solutions.

Utilizing Advanced Analytics for Deeper Insights

For municipalities that want to go beyond basic reporting, Salesforce offers advanced analytics tools such as Tableau CRM (formerly Salesforce Einstein Analytics). These tools provide deeper insights into patterns and trends within the case data.

• Implement Tableau CRM to perform predictive analysis on case resolution times and outcomes. For instance, you could identify patterns that lead to slower resolutions or forecast how many cases a department might face in the next quarter.
• Build AI-driven models to automatically suggest actions based on case data. For example, if Tableau identifies that certain types of cases (e.g., waste collection) are consistently delayed, the model can recommend changes in resource allocation.

Improving Accountability and Transparency

One of the major benefits of using Salesforce is the ability to enhance both internal accountability and public transparency. Internally, Salesforce enables municipal managers to keep employees accountable by tracking individual performance in real time. Externally, governments can provide citizens with self-service portals to track the progress of their cases.

• Create a Community Portal using Salesforce Experience Cloud, where citizens can log in and view the status of their cases in real-time. This gives them transparency into the process and reduces the need for follow-up calls or emails.
• Use Chatter or Slack Integration within Salesforce to facilitate communication between departments and ensure accountability.

For example, a citizen who reports a broken streetlight can log into the portal to see when their case was assigned, who is handling it, and the expected resolution time. This increases trust and reduces frustration.

Orchid Connect is a woman-owned Salesforce implementation firm with 30 years of experience serving associations, non-profits and small/medium businesses. We specialize in strategic and implementation services, go-to-market support, and ongoing support. To learn more, reach us at reachout@orchidconnect.com.