Integrated Queue Management + Video Solution
Integrated Queue Management + Video Solution Pays Dividends for Hennepin County, Minnesota.
Mark Oswald, Manager of Hennepin County Taxpayer Services needed a solution that would actively manage his agency's foot-traffic as well as entertain them while they waited. QMATIC's Q-Monitor was a perfect fit.
Paying taxes and license fees is inevitable, but there is no reason why it has to be boring or take forever. One county taxpayer center has proven just that.
Mark Oswald, Manager of Hennepin County Taxpayer Services in Minnesota, oversees the operations of approximately 40 services and is responsible for about 170 full-time employees. He sees his job as one of providing the best customer service center possible for the 800,000+ citizens of Minneapolis. The county already had QMATIC's Customer Flow Management™ solutions in place for lobby control and employee productivity.
QMATIC's behind-the-scenes statistics helped Oswald in deciding to cross-train each employee to perform any of the services offered. Giving employees individual ownership and responsibility increased the workers' morale and gave them a ladder of opportunity in the organization. (The county currently has 114 counters at 6 payment enters.) The result was greater customer service, more satisfied employees, and an overall better-quality experience for taxpayers.
However, Oswald knew his department could provide an even superior waiting environment.
QMATIC's Solution
Hennepin County decided to install QMATIC's Q-Monitor™, a solution designed to give customers an opportunity to relax- rather than wait in line- and something to watch while they wait, distracting them from thinking about how long it will be before they are called to the counter.
"They still have to wait for whatever they have come in to the taxpayer center to take care of, but if they are actively engaged in watching the monitors, they don't feel like they're waiting as long. Their perception totally changes - for the better," said Oswald.
There was just one hurdle to get over in implementing the monitor - paying for the system. Working with a county budget didn't leave a lot of room for innovations and new technology. Therefore, Oswald got creative, adopted a "retail attitude," and found an advertising agency to sell ads at each of the county's six taxpayer centers.
The programming also includes movie trailers, local and national news, as well as public service announcements. The pioneering concept took off and Hennepin County quickly paid for the monitors in about a year. Advertisers gained value by being given the opportunity to target their messages to different areas of the county and change their ads as needed.
The advertising revenues not only paid for Q-Monitor, but the costs of offering credit cards was also covered and did not require the agency to raise real estate taxes.
"Customers wanted to use credit cards and they now are," Oswald said. "The advertising on Q-Monitor pays for the system and for the credit card discount we have to pay. Without (the advertising revenue), we would have had to raise property taxes to use the system. And that is something we just couldn't do."
Hennepin County's goal is to be as high tech and customer friendly as possible while being completely self-funded. "The margins on all of our services are very small. We have to deal in volume. I look at Hennepin County Taxpayer Services as a business-to-market organization."
The numbers show that the county is reaching its goal. In the last quarter of 2005, the percentage of customers being served in less than thirty minutes was over 95%, but Oswald won't stop until that percentage goes up: "We will be known as the Taxpayer Service Center with the most convenient, fast, and accurate service."
Key features of the solution:
Functionality. Q-Monitor offered the ideal solution for Hennepin County's needs. It was very simple to operate and had an excellent admin interface that allowed them to manage content and advertisements very easily.
QMS Integration. Q-Monitor seamlessly integrated with their QMATIC QMS and added value to their existing investment by tying queue management information directly to the monitors.
Generation of Usable Data. The system collected key metrics, like wait-times, purpose of visit, customers in the queue, and numbers of customers served at different times of the day that were invaluable in accurately predicting staffing needs and delivering content.
"The advertising on Q-Monitor pays for the system and for the credit card discount we have to pay. Without (the advertising revenue), we would have had to raise property taxes to use the system. And that is something we just couldn't do," said Mark Oswald, Manager, HCTS.
Benefits of the implementation:
New Revenue Stream: As a direct result of the implementation of the QMATIC QMS with Q-Monitor, they discovered a completely new revenue-stream that enabled them to keep down fees, taxes, and fund additional initiatives.
Eliminated Queues. By removing residents from physical queues and placing them in ‘virtual queues' that were less stressful for their customers.
Perception of Faster Service. Even when customers were not actually helped more quickly they perceived that they were completing their counter business more rapidly.
Overall Positive Response. Customers overwhelmingly (90%) approved of the QMS implemented by QMATIC. Their perception of shorter wait-times and a system that managed their wait was a great benefit to their customer service strategy.
