Durham One CallBy Cory Fleming, International City/County Management Association

Spencer Stern, Government Finance Officers Association

William Tharp, The Ochs Center for Metropolitan Studies

Case Study

Call 311:Linking 311/CRM Data to Performance Measurement and Budgeting

2  Case Study—Linking 311/CRM Data to Performance Measurement and Budgeting

In This Report

• CommunityandSystemProfile• BriefHistoryofDurhamOneCall• SystemCosts• Durham“AsIs”Scenario• Durham“ToBe”Scenario• Methodology

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Community and System Profile

Durham, North Carolina Durham One Call

Form of GovernmentCouncil-manager

Council Members7 members including the mayor, 3 ward-elected members, and 3 at-large elected members

Population217,847 (2007)

City’s Annual Budget$338,252,160 (FY 2008-09)

Durham One Call System Budget$661,271 (FY 2008-09)

Major Components• Physical Location: Durham City Hall• Square Footage: 1,400 square feet• Number of Phones: 13• Number of Computers: 13

Number of Staff13 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions, including 10 agents, 1 lobby representative, 1 supervisor, and 1 manager

Location within City GovernmentCity Manager’s Office, supervised by the Assistant to the City Manager

Type of SystemCustomer service request and information center with a dedicated seven-digit phone number, voicemail, online inter-face, and walk-up customer service counter in City Hall.

Unique System Features and Management Tools• Cisco 7940 phone with automatic call distribution• FeatureTel VOIP Web portal for call statistical reporting • City Works, version 4.2, which allows users to log calls

and create service requests• Crystal Reports, version 9, a software application

designed to create specialized reports• Jabra GN9120 wireless headsets• MUNIS, an enterprise resources planning (ERP) software

application

Citizen Feedback Mechanisms• Results-Based Accountability• Citizen Satisfaction Survey• Coffee with Council• Inter-Neighborhood Council• Partners Against Crime• Neighborhood Pride Alliance• ComNet

Case Study—Linking 311/CRM Data to Performance Measurement and Budgeting  3

Making the Connections: Community Engagement, Performance Measurement and Budgeting Local governments exist to serve the needs and wants of their citizens, but determining how best to serve those needs and wants involves integrating complex and challenging processes including community engagement, performance measurement, and budget-ing. Centralized customer service systems enable the collection of data that supports all three processes. Also known as constituent relationship management (CRM) systems, data from these systems can:• Support community engagement by giving citizens multiple, easy means for contacting their local government and providing

qualitative and quantitative measures of what services citizens are requesting.• Support performance measurement by monitoring and tracking executive dashboard metrics, service level agreements, time-to-

complete metrics, geographic location of service requests, and constituent satisfaction, among others.• Support budgeting by providing the means to analyze where, when, and how departments are delivering services and enabling

them to improve their operations.

Brief History of Durham One Call CommunityleadersestablishedDurhamOneCall,acentralizedcustomerservicesystem,in2004.Localleadership,includingthethen-citymanagerandagroupofcityandcountyelectedofficials,spearheadedtheimplementationofthecentralizedsystemasameansofbeingmoreresponsivetotheirconstituents.Atthetime,boththecityofDurhamandDurhamCountyhadahighnumberofcallsbeingtransferredamongdepartmentswhichresultedinmanylostcalls.Accountabilitywasaparticularconcern,andthelead-ersfeltthatthetrackingcapabilityassociatedwithacentralizedcallsystemwouldgreatlyenhancetheoverallaccountabilityoflocalgovernmentprogramsandservice.Whileoriginallyenvisionedasajointcity-countyventure,fundingobstaclesaroseforDurhamCounty,whichforceditswithdrawal.ThemissionofDurhamOneCallisto“berespon-

sivetotheneedsanddesiresofitscitizens,businessesandvisitorstoDurham.DurhamOneCallwillbeexemplaryinitsoperation,managementandprofes-sionalism.”1ThecityofDurhamalsohasanumberofothereffortsunderwaythatinfluencetheoveralleffec-tivenessofDurhamOneCall.Forinstance,thecityhasadoptedaCustomer Service Bill of Rightsthatclearlycommunicatesthelocalgovernment’scommitment“toprovideexcellentserviceatalltimesbydeterminingtheneedsofourcitizensandcustomersandsatisfyingthoseneedsbeyondtheirexpectations.”2

ThecityofDurhamhasanestablishedreputationforitsproactiveefforts,mostnotablythroughthecity’sResults-BasedAccountability(RBA)InitiativeorImagineDurham,toengagecitizensindeterminingwhatprogramsandservicestheymostneedandwant.

Theexistenceofanoverarchingcommunityengage-mentandperformancemeasurementeffort,suchastheRBAInitiative,greatlyincreasestheusefulnessofdatageneratedbytheDurhamOneCallsystemTheultimatesuccessofacentralizedcallsystem

requiresthesupportandactiveparticipationofthelocalgovernmentdepartmentsresponsibleforfulfill-ingtheservicerequestsreceivedfromthepublic.ThecityofDurhamhasthoroughlyexaminedmanyofthe“back-end”processesinmanaginginacentralizedcustomerservicesystem;itswillingnesstoshareitsfindingsaspartofthiscasestudycreatesavaluableteachingaidforothercommunitiesworkingthroughsimilarissues.

System CostsIn2002,thecityofDurhamissuedarequestforpro-posals(RFP)fortheprovisionofCRMsoftware.Threecompaniesrespondedtotherequest.ThisprocessresultedintheselectionofAzteca,whichprovidedanintegratedsoftwarepackagetothecityatapriceof$125,000.Initiallaborcostswere$450,000,whichfunded

salariesandbenefitsfortwelveFull-TimeEquivalent(FTE)positionstostaffthecallcenter.TencustomerservicerepresentativepositionswerereallocatedfromseveralcityofDurhamdepartments,includingCustomerBillingServices,SolidWasteManagement,PublicWorks,andthe911callcenter.Additionally,twomanagementpositionswerecreated.Thecitymanager’sofficealsoworkedwiththe

PublicAffairsOfficetodevelopacommunicationplanforthepromotionofDurhamOneCallthroughadvertisementsplacedincitywaterbillingstatements,

4  Case Study—Linking 311/CRM Data to Performance Measurement and Budgeting

televisionpublicserviceannouncements,andcityandDurhamChamberofCommerceWebsites.Thecostofmarketingintheinitialyearwasapproximately$5,000.Inthefirstyearofimplementation,start-upcosts

(includingyearoneoperationalcosts)wereapproxi-mately$642,000,includingcapitalpurchasesofinte-gratedsoftware,adedicatedserver,andworkstations.Theinitialoperatingcostsranapproximately$491,000forsalaries/benefits,annualmaintenance,andmarket-ing.(SeeTable1forasummaryofstart-upcostsforDurhamOneCall.)DurhamOneCall’slaborandbenefitsexpenses

inFY2008-09were$661,271,whichcoversthirteenFTEs,$20,000foranannualmaintenanceagreementforCityWorkssoftware,whichgeneratesservicerequests,and$2,000annuallyforsoftwaresupportforCintechTechnologies,whichisusedforcallstatisti-calreporting.Thecenterisopenfrom7:00a.m.ETto6:00p.m.weekdaysandusesanansweringserviceforcallsafterhoursandontheweekends.

Durham “As Is” ScenarioThecityofDurhamwantstohearfromitsconstituentsandmakesiteasyforindividualstogetinvolved.Itdeploysanimpressivenumberofcommunityengage-menteffortsasdetailedinTable2.Thewidevarietyanddifferenttypesofcommunityengagementeffortsgivecitizensarangeofwaystobecomeinvolvedandhaveasayintheservicesthecityprovides.ThecomplementofDurham’scommunityengagementeffortsallowsforminimalinvolvement,suchasmak-ingasimplephonecalltoreportaproblem,toveryhigh-endinvolvementsuitableforneighboractivists.Someoftheseeffortsprovideprimarilyqualita-

tivefeedbacktothecity,forexample,theInter-

NeighborhoodCouncilandNeighborhoodPrideAlliance,andothereffortsprovidemorequantitativeinformationsuchastheCitizenSatisfactionSurvey.Thisbalancebetweenqualitativeandquantitativeinformationprovidescityleaderswithavirtuallycom-pletepictureofwhatservicesandprogramsaremostimportanttothecitizensofDurham.AtthecenteroftheseeffortsisDurham’sResult-

BasedAccountabilityInitiative.ThroughtheRBAInitiative,thecityandDurhamCountyhavedevelopedasetofninepriorityoutcomestoimprovequalityoflifeinthelargercommunity.DurhamfirstpublishedacommunityprogressreportfortheRBAInitiativewithagrantfromtheNationalCenterforCivicInnovation(NCCI),anonprofitorganizationthatfundsprojectspromotinggoodgovernmentpractices.Durham’sRBAInitiativefostersgoodcommunica-

tionbetweenthelocalgovernmentanditsconstitu-ents.Italsoensuresthatlocalgovernmentisontherighttracktoachievingthedesiredpublicoutcomes.Citizensareengagedindevelopingavisionforthefutureofthecommunityandtheyareroutinelyinformedabouttheprogressmadetowardachievingthosegoals.Thecityandcountymakeapointoflink-ingeachoftheirprogramsandservicestoaspecificdesiredoutcome.Forexample,oneofthedesiredout-comesfortheDurhamcommunityisthat“Everyoneenjoyssustainable,thrivingneighborhoodswithanefficientandwellmaintainedinfrastructure.”3 Tomea-surethisgoal,oneoftheperformancemeasurementsisthenumberofpavedstreetsmaintainedbythecity.Anotherperformancemeasurementusedisthenum-beroforganizedactiveneighborhoodassociations.InFY2008,DurhamOneCallanswered214,286

callsandthelobbyrepresentativeassisted10,486visitorstoCityHall.Thecenteralsoprocessed24,394requestsforcityservices.Acustomerservicefollow-upsurveyindicatedthat95percentofrespondentsweresatisfiedwiththeservicereceived.Thevolumeofcontactsandoverallcitizensatisfactionratingindi-catethatthepublicvaluesDurhamOneCallandreliesheavilyonitasameansforconnectingwithlocalgovernment.WhileDurhamroutinelyreportstheresultsofthe

RBAInitiativetothecommunity,datafromDurhamOneCallhistoricallyhasnotbeenwidelyreportedtothepublic.ThenewmanagerforDurhamOneCallhasbeguntoattendneighborhoodandcommunitygroupmeetings,whichgivestheprogramgreatervisibilityandovertimewillmakeitatrustedsourceofinforma-tionontheservicesbeingprovidedbythecity.

Table 1.  Durham One Call Start-up Costs

Durham One Call Implementation and Operating  Budget, FY 2004–05

Labor $450,000 Integrated Software $125,000 Annual Maintenance $36,000 Workstations  $20,000 Dedicated Server $6,000 Marketing $5,000 

Total $642,000 

Case Study—Linking 311/CRM Data to Performance Measurement and Budgeting  5

AgoodnumberofDurham’scommunityengage-menteffortsalsocontainperformancemeasurementelements.Linksbetweencommunityengagementandperformancemeasurementareimportantbecausetheyfostergreaterpublicconfidenceinlocalgovernment.Inlinkingcommunityengagementeffortstothoseinperformancemeasurement,thecitysendsanimpor-tantmessage,namely“Thisiswhatyou’vetoldusyouwant,andthisiswhatwehavedonetomeetyourrequestforthoseservices.”Inaneraofincreasinglytightandshrinkinglocalgovernmentrevenues,citi-zenswanttoknowwheretheirtaxdollarsaregoingandwhatservicestheyarereceivingforthosedollars.Durham’spracticeofreportingtothepublicthrough

theRBAInitiativedemonstratesthecity’scommitmenttoaccountabilityandtransparencyofoperations.CurrentlythecityusesDurhamOneCalldata

reportsprimarilyfortrackingandmonitoringpur-poses.Departmentmanagersreportthattheyreviewthenumberofunresolvedservicerequestsonaweeklybasis.Thispracticeisacriticalpartofperfor-mancemeasurementandindicatesthedepartments’responsivenesstorequestsforservice.TheSolidWasteDepartmentalsousesDurhamOneCalldatafordailymanagementpurposes.AsDurhamOneCallservicerequestscomein,theyarefoldedintothedepart-ment’sroutineworkflow.Ifstaffmembersnoticeagreaternumberofrequestscominginforaparticularneighborhood,amanagerwillcheckinwiththecrewontheassociatedroutetodetermineifthereareprob-lemsandprovideassistanceasneeded.DurhamOneCallhasthecapabilitytogeneratenew

datareportsthatcouldfurtherassistpartnerdepart-ments,aswellthecitygovernmentasawhole,withothermanagementchallenges,thoughatpresent,thereislittledemand.ThecityhasastrongGISprogram,butcurrently,DurhamOneCalldataarenotusedwith

theprogramonaregularbasistoproducereportsonaneighborhoodactivitywithinthecommunity.Intermsofbudgetingefforts,thecityhasfewer

linksbacktoitsstrongcommunityengagementandperformancemeasurementefforts.Durhamisintheprocessofupgradingitsenterpriseresourcesplanning(ERP)softwareapplication.Itintendstoactivelyiden-tifyandpursuelinkagesbetweenthedatacapturedinthefinancialmodulesandtheback-endperformancereportingsystems.Durham’s“CoffeewithCouncil”meetingsgivethepublicanopportunitytomeetwithmembersofthecitycouncilastheybegintocompilethenextyear’sbudget.Likewise,councilmembersreviewresultsfromtheCitizenSatisfactionSurveyandconsiderthoseinthedevelopmentofthecity’sbudget.ConsiderationofDurhamOneCalldataisnotincorpo-ratedintothecity’sbudgetprocessinaformalsense,thoughindividualdepartmentsindicatedtheyusesomeofthedatainpreparingtheirbudgetrequests.Figure1graphicallyrepresentshowthecity’scur-

renteffortsappeartobeworkingwithinthelocalgovernment.Thecity’slinksbetweenitscommunityengagementandperformancemeasurementeffortsareparticularlynoteworthy.Linksbetweenthecity’sbud-getingprocessesanditscommunityengagementandperformancemeasurementeffortsseemlesstightlyconnected.Thecityhasexcellentmeansforgather-ingandreviewingimportantqualitativedatafromitscitizens.Theuseofquantitativedata,primarilydataavailablethroughDurhamOneCall,isnotasstrong.

Durham “To Be” ScenarioThedriverandfocalpointofthecity’seffortstointe-gratecommunityengagement,performancemeasure-ment,andbudgetingprocessesresidewiththeRBAInitiative,whichestablishesthecommunity’sdesired

Table 2.  Durham Efforts in Three Areas

Community Engagement Performance Measurement Budgeting

Results-Based Accountability (RBA)/Imagine Durham RBA/Imagine Durham Coffee with CouncilDurham One Call Durham One Call Citizen Satisfaction SurveyCitizen Satisfaction Survey Citizen Satisfaction SurveyComNetCoffee with CouncilInter-Neighborhood CouncilPartners Against Crime (PAC)Neighborhood Pride Alliance

6  Case Study—Linking 311/CRM Data to Performance Measurement and Budgeting

goalsandoutcomes(seeFigure3)andexaminesprog-resstowardachievingtheoutcomesthroughcarefullydefinedperformancemeasurements.SupplementingtheworkoftheRBAInitiative,DurhamOneCallcanandshouldaddconsiderablevaluebyprovidingquantitativedatatohelpcityleadersbetterunderstanddemandforlocalgovernmentservicesandprograms.ComprehensiveDurhamOneCalldatareports,

whichsummarizethevolumeandtypeofinforma-tionandservicerequestsbeingreceivedbyalldepart-ments,wouldprovidecityleaderswithdocumentationoffrequentlyrequestedservicesthroughoutthecity.Combinedwiththecity’sothercommunityengage-mentefforts,includingrequestsfromPACs,theInter-NeighborhoodCouncil,andothercommunitygroups,cityleaderscanbeconfidentthattheyhaveabroadviewoftheconstituentneedsandwants.Performancemeasurementinvolvesmuchmore

thanjustDurhamOneCalldata,butthesedatacanbeveryhelpfultopartnerdepartmentsinbettermanag-ingdailyoperations.Mappingoutwhereandwhattypeofrequestsarebeingreceivedcanalertmanagerstotheneedforoutreachandeducationinaparticularneighborhood,reallocationofdepartmentalresourcesorstaffassignmentsbasedondemand,orperhapsoutsourceparticularfunctions.Trackingandmonitor-ingfulfillmentratesbypartnerdepartmentsarealsoimportantusesofDurhamOneCalldata.

DurhamOneCalldatahasauseforbudgetingpur-poses.CombiningthisinformationwithservicerequestsfromDurhamOneCallwithdatacollectedthroughthecity’snewERPsoftwareapplicationwillenablecityleaderstobetterunderstandthecostsassociatedwithful-fillingservicesrequests.Incorporatingreal-timefinancialdataintoDurham’scomprehensiveperformanceman-agementprogramwillenhanceitseffectivenessandmostlikelyhelpindentifymorecost-efficientapproachestodeliveringprogramstoDurhamcitizens.Onarelatedfront,reviewingservicerequestsdur-

inginter-departmentalmeetingscanaidmanagersinstrategicthinkingandproblem-solving.Oneofthebig-gestadvantagesofhavingacentralizedcustomerser-vicesystemistheopportunitytodocumentandreviewlocalgovernmentbusinessprocessesandprocedures.Documentingallthebusinessprocessesgivesthelocalgovernmentanopportunitytodoathoroughreviewofthelinkagesamongprocessesandlookforexistingbottlenecksinworkflowaswellasthepossibilityofachievingnewefficienciesandcostsavings.

Study MethodologyTheauthorsconductedgroupinterviewswithdepart-mentalteamsthroughoutDurhamcitygovernmentaswellasmembersofthepublicinDecember2008.Fourseparateinterviewprotocols,eachdesignedwitha

Figure 1.  Durham “As Is” Figure 2.  Durham “To Be”

Case Study—Linking 311/CRM Data to Performance Measurement and Budgeting  7

KatieKalb,PublicWorksCurtisKenney,PublicWorksNancyKost,SolidWasteDonaldLong,SolidWasteWandaPage,DeputyCityManagerJayReinstein,StrategicInitiativesLorisaSeibel,ResidentCherylShifflet,ResidentConstanceStancil,NeighborhoodImprovementServices

ChristinaTookes,SolidWasteTedVoorhees,DeputyCityManagerKarmishaWallace,AssistanttotheCityManagerVickieWestbrook,WaterManagementRobertWilliams,SolidWasteRosaWilliams,WaterManagementMikeWoodard,CityCouncil

Endnotes 1 Durham One Call...Does It All! FY 2006 Summary.CityofDurham,NorthCarolina,2007.

2 “CityofDurhamCustomerServiceBillofRights.”A Guide to Durham Municipal Services. CityofDurham,NorthCarolina,2005.

3 Imagine Durham, Durham’s Annual Results Based Accountability Report.CityofDurham,NorthCarolina,Fall2007.

specificaudienceinmind,guidedthequestioning.Theauthorsusedaconversationalinterviewingtechniquetomorefullyexploretheparticipants’experiencesandperceptionsoftheDurhamOneCallprogram.Allinterviewsweretaperecordedandreviewedin

compilingnotesforthisreport.TheauthorswishtothankallthestudyparticipantsfortakingthetimetodiscusstheDurhamOneCallsystem.Theircontribu-tionstothestudywereinvaluable.

AngelaAndrews,WaterManagementMichaelBalzarano,PublicWorksRobinBibby,BudgetTerriBirth,PublicWorksTomBonfield,CityManagerJulieBrenman,StrategicInitiativesMatthewBrinkley,BudgetDavidCates,PublicWorksDianeCatotti,CityCouncilGrayDawson,NeighborhoodImprovementServicesTerriEttson,DurhamOneCallBennieFields,NeighborhoodImprovementServicesAntonioHardeman,BudgetJamesHardesty,PublicWorksDarylHedgspeth,NeighborhoodImprovementServices

Figure 3.  Integrating Durham Processes

Partners Against CrimeInter-Neighborhood Council

Neighborhood Pride AllianceCom Net

Durham One CallCitizen Satisfaction Survey

Results-Based Accountability/Imagine Durham

Community Engagement

Coffee with Council

PerformanceMeasurement

Budgeting

ICMA National Study of 311 and Customer Service TechnologyIn2006,theInternationalCity/CountyManagementAssociation(ICMA)receivedfundingfromtheAlfredP.SloanFoundationtoconductthefirstnationalstudyofcentralizedcustomerservicesystemsforlocalgovernments,suchas311callcenters,constituentrelationshipmanagement(CRM)systems,andonlineservicerequestforms,amongothers.WorkingwithTheOchsCenterforMetropolitanStudiesinphasetwoofthestudy,ICMAisconductingresearchanddevelopingnewresourcesandtoolsforcommunitiesconsideringimplementationof311/CRMsystems.Suchsystemsgenerateawealthofinformationthatmaybeusedforavariety

ofpurposesincludingcommunityengagement,performancemeasurement,andbudgeting.Incorporatingthesetypesofdata—forexample,typesandnumberofcitizenrequests;compliancewithservicelevelagreements,whichdefinewhenarequestwilllikelybecompleted;andservicerequestresolutionrates,whichshowhowoftendepartmentsaremeetingtheirgoals—intosuchprocessescanbechallenging.Aspartofitsnationalstudy,ICMAbroughttogetherateamofresearchersandpractitionerstoresearchanddocumentapproachescommunitiesareusingtointegratetheseprocesses.Thisprojectwillproduceaseriesofthreecasestudiesdedicatedtothisissue.Thisreportisthefirstinthatseries.

For more information about the study, contact…

(Ms.)CoryFleming,projectdirectorPhone:207-854-1083E-mail:cfleming@icma.org

09-227

The mission of ICMA is to create excellence in local governance by developing and fostering professional local government management worldwide.

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