User-Centric Services Repository

Warsaw 19115 City Contact Centre - Warsaw/Mazovia

City / Region

Warsaw/Mazovia (Poland)

In a nutshell

Warsaw 19115 City Contact Centre ( Warsaw 19115) is the first project on such a large scale in Poland and one of the biggest in Europe. The aim of this project is to facilitate interactions between the residents of the Polish capital and its local government which means better digital accessibility of public services and information. A modern integrated multi-channel resident communication centre (G2C) based on the municipal CRM which enables an easier contact with local authorities and the growth of the number of the potential local partners - both public, private, non-governmental and civic – in the process of decision making concerning local issue. Warsaw 19115 is a non –emergency modern user –friendly multi-channel single point Contact Centre which enables people to contact the city 24/7 via phone, e-mail, chat or mobile app. Residents can report problems, like a hole in the pavement, broken park benches or overflowing gutters. Residents can also receive information on how to get an ID, driving licence or register a car and many others topics. Using a “Have an idea” functionality, residents can present their opinions, ideas and suggestions about functioning of the city There are already 100 municipal units included in the digital platform, concerned with the city life organization, e.g. public transport, waste management, safety. Contact Centre work is based on a top quality ICT data safety system which supports the functioning of the centre and allows to gather and update the required information in the internal Knowledge Base.On the basis of the data accumulated in the system, the functioning of the municipal units and the problems occurring in the city are analyzed. These analyses constitute an important management tool in the local authorities’ decision making process.

What makes the service user-centric?
The practice that we would like to share in the context of developing and implementing user-centric services is the use of an IT tool in order to improve the digitally interact with local administration.
The Capital of Poland is characterized by complex organizational frames. It consists of 18 districts with various work organization systems, and a large number of other units responsible for different aspects influencing the quality of life, such as: public transport, infrastructure, cleaning, public space management There are 1.7 million registered residents but in fact over 3 million of people reside in Warsaw and take advantage of over 1000 services that the City offers, including public transport, education and public space.
The major challenge for the city authorities was to standardize and keep the high standards of the services provided in every area of the city life and make them more accessible. At the same time, the city searched for participatory solutions and tools, which would provide a real time assistance to the decisions made by local authorities.

Single point of contact
In order to answer social needs and address the demands concerned with the city development, Warsaw authorities decided to design and create city-wide 24/7 Single point of contact Warszawa 19115, which would allow to provide comprehensive and consistent information regarding the services provided by different municipal units, shorten the time of resolving problems, as well as provide knowledge which would make the resident’s everyday life in the city easier.
Through the City Contact Center Warszawa 19115, residents have much better access to the daily based information. Contact Centre provides the Warsaw Notification System (PL- Warszawski System Powiadomień ), which allows Varsovians to receive regular information in the categories and city areas they choose.
Advantages for residents
• Option to digitally interact with local administration 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
• Possibility of receiving detailed and comprehensive information concerning the activities carried out by the City Hall, city institutions and services, as well as making complaints using a single number, web portal, mobile app, e-mail, fax, or chat – without leaving home.
• Residents can present their opinions, ideas and suggestions about functioning of the city.
• Time saving – decreased need to visit the City Hall.
• Reducing the need to understand the structure of the City Hall, or necessary procedures.
• Ability to monitor the case at any time, as each case is attributed with a unique number.

Accesibility, security, availability and usability
Warsaw 19115 service is based on the EU standards ( e.g. WCAG 2.1) , including conversations with persons threatened with social exclusions, experiencing life difficulties and with disabilities.
We have develope also the self service website which grants residents access to city services and self service accounts for dealing with their city matters.
The myWARSZAWA portal a part of the Warszawa 19115 is a website with digital services (e-services). This portal begins the process of digitalization of city services and aims to provide modern technological solutions that will allow you to perform them quickly and safely - without the need to appear in person at the Office.
The services available on the ebsite require authentication of the resident (a safe profile, an electronic signature, a City Card or a Facebook profile). Different services aree provideto the residents depending on the level of authentication. Apart from the administrative or tax matters, the range of services will cover the City Card (i.e. the public transport), schools, libraries, swimming pools etc. On the website is also available a unified e-payment platform concerned with payments for municipal services, as well as a 24 hours access to the state of their accounts and the status of their cases.

On the regular base 19115 Warsaw City Contact Centre conducts opinion survey regarding the assessment of the quality of services and the needs of residents.Redsidents, are inform about 19115 Warsaw City Contact Centre during the whole year, by using a different information and promotion channels like web and mobile add, digital publishing platforms.
What impact has the service had?
The system has introduced changes to the quality of the resident service and, consequently, influenced the quality of life in the city. The amount of time required to resolve an issue is shorter now. The one Warsaw 19115 City Contact Center enables an easy access to the City, 24/7, without an obligatory personal contact. Previously, apart from few 24-hour emergency services, the resident service offices were available to the residents only on working days between 8 AM – 4 PM.
The number of incoming contacts within the Warsaw 19115 system is still increasing, which means that the number of persons seeking solutions to their problems elsewhere is decreasing. Contact Centre launch decreased need to visit the City Hall too.

Warsaw 19115 encourage residents to give opinion and complains which helps to improve city services.

Reporting issues in real-time makes the time between the intervention and the moment it reaches the appropriate recipient shorter, which translates into a shorter time of service provision.Since the establishment of the contact center ( November 2013) , 4 863 550 issues have been received, of which 1 119 932 via the mobile application. The use of the mobile application is growing
Thanks to the free mobile app Warsaw 19115 ( and others channels too) residents will:
inform us about the problem concerning the functioning of the city
evaluate the quality of the implementation of this problem
submit your idea for changes in the city
make Warsaw green - you will choose a location where you would like to plant a tree
check projects in the civic budget
can check the Air Quality Index - you will get information about the air condition in Warsaw will receive notifications about current and events in the city
will check how to properly segregate waste
will check where there are public toilets in the city
will check the location of free and paid parking lots
will find the addresses of ECOpoints accepting selected municipal waste
will check where the nearest defibrillator (AED) is, enabling resuscitation
will check the dates of garbage collection
Further modifications to the free of charge Warszawa 19115 application in the year 2022, including a function reminding of the garbage collection dates, highly awaited by residents. Using the Garbage Collection Schedule function, users can not only check the garbage collection dates at the given address, but also set reminders of those dates. The introduced function will be particularly useful for owners of single-family houses, as well as for land managers, cooperatives and housing communities. In addition, citizens can consult the waste sorting rules, and if in doubt, the search engine will tell them where to dispose of what.Through the City Contact Center Warszawa 19115, residents can also use the Warsaw Notification System (PL- Warszawski System Powiadomień ) which allows Varsovians to receive regular information in the categories and city areas they choose.
Organizational changes influence the quality and speed of the work of units responsible for providing city services. The departments responsible for the intervention processing have been consolidated Unified standards have been introduced. At the same time, the city searched for participatory solutions and tools, which would provide a real time assistance to the decisions made by local authorities.
The positive changes are also reflected in the many messages of approval that we receive from the residents in different forms.
How was the service co-created?
The origins of the idea of a single point of contact were twofold. On the one hand, it resulted in the process of building the Warsaw brand and the City Development Strategy. On the other hand, the residents themselves signaled the need for such comprehensive solution.
An important moment in the decision making process concerning the selection of solutions regarding the quality of city life was the city representatives’ visit in several europen capitols. Also the good practices from 311 NYC, helps to create an idea.
This resulted in the realization of the close connection between the implementation of such innovative solutions and a more efficient city management. Apart from the analysis of the constant R&D concerning residents’ needs, a qualitative study dedicated to the project was conducted .
At first, the study examined the attitude towards the concept of the introduction of a “phone contact point” available for residents and visitors of the capital. The results showed that the residents approve of this form of communication regarding customer service, reporting issues and obtaining information. The respondents put special emphasis on the elements of the system such as availability, careful organization and efficiency of providing comprehensive information and regarding the speed of resolving the reported problems. A desirable solution would be available 24/7,Apart from the service in Polish, it should also be available in at least one foreign language (English).
The Warsaw 19115 is a long-term project which assumes a constant development both at the level of the service quality, the IT tools and analysis processes improvement, which will allow for a more efficient use of the gathered data.
As an important tool used in the participatory city management, Warsaw 19115 will also develop in the form of a city dialogue platform.
An important development direction is the further consolidation of the city services within the Warsaw 19115 system and the realization of development plans compatible with the development of the Warsaw agglomeration.

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