Measurement & Service Value
Customer Satisfaction Surveys are a primary measurement of our success in meeting service delivery objectives. Outside parties survey clients on requests and incident response tickets. The surveys measure courtesy, knowledge, timeliness, quality, and overall satisfaction on a scale of 1 – 5.
Over 3,000 surveys have been responded to over the last 2 years. Ratings are compared to government peers and to all industries. For 3 years the Information Systems Department has exceeded both Government and all industries in satisfaction levels. In 2018, the department was ranked 1st Place in the Help Desk Institute Elite 50 for outstanding performance when compared against other benchmark entities.
This honor helps reinforce the value of measurement and importance of recognizing the hard work staff perform to make sure clients are satisfied with services being provided… everyday! The Information Systems Department utilizes customer satisfaction feedback proactively to adjust training plans and to reassign staff from other areas to help insure client satisfaction remains a top focus and priority.
Innovation and sound business practices are critical to our success in in demonstrating product and service value. Technology is constantly changing and emerging solutions can often be incorporated to provide improved delivery of public services. Sonoma County has been recognized as a leader in technology and innovation achieving top 5 rankings in the Digital Counties Survey since 2014 achieving 1stPlace in 2016 and again in 2018.
The survey collects information about our technology portfolio and about specific areas deemed important to the public. This is a national award conducted by the Center for Digital Government in partnership with the National Association of Counties (NACo) and provides a basis for both learning about technology trends and helps focus future efforts on the right things.
Equally important to maintaining a culture of customer satisfaction and innovation is managing and forecasting service demand for products and understanding expanding client expectations. Workload Indicators serve this purpose and help demonstrate how all primary IT functional areas deliver value and support change.
Regular increases in user counts, devices supported, and related work activity with constantly changing technology demonstrates how our business partners view this resource as vital component of quality public service delivery. Summary information follows and additional detail is available in online ISD Performance Metrics and detailed Customer Satisfaction reports.
Inventory Indicators relate to the number of devices, users, volumes, and capacities that drive workload and resource consumption. In all IT categories we are seeing a significant growth in inventory indicators.
Mobility (Cell, Tablet, Phones, etc.) is a relatively new and rapidly expanding service category with impacts to online service expectations for both employees and the public. Dramatic shifts are occurring as information is made available anytime-anywhere, from any device. This expands network (both wired and wireless) bandwidth needs across the enterprise and to Internet resources
Web Content and Electronic Documents shape the basis for online services and open government. These technologies present internal efficiencies while improving access for residents and businesses throughout our communities. The County continually makes incremental progress in attracting new users to these resources and is working hard to expand availability of electronic documents and content for online use.
Measuring certain metrics help validate success. Internet users have nearly doubled over the past 3 years and the volume of web page views has followed similar trends. At the same time the County has worked to expand the number of documents stored in electronic form to reduce the need for paper based access and copies.
This shift to digital information is evident when compared to paper based activities in past years. Mail, courier services, print, and copy volumes have gradually declined as business processes and access methods transition to digital information and evolving communication tools. The department has used these measurements to recommend adjustments to service offerings and to help facilitate a more rapid transition to electronic service delivery. Internal business efficiencies coupled with environmental benefits (using less paper products and minimizing automobile trips) make this an imperative to support the County goals and protect our environment.
Work Request Indicators relate to the volume of requests for service (add, move, change, help, maintenance, incident, reports, etc.) Many of these are small or routine projects or account administrative activities with quick response expectations and consume 60 – 75% of our work team resources.
In 2013/14, all service desks were consolidated to improve single point service delivery and to facilitate convergence of voice and data environments.
The service desk processes approximately 28,000 requests each year. As an efficiency effort, the service desk began transition to electronic submittal via email and a self-service portal for routine administrative requests. This has shifted workloads and improved call response for direct assistance or emergency needs.
Project Load Indicators relate to the volume of medium to large projects. Projects have a start and end date and typically cross all functional teams. Approximately 60% of the project inventory is related to enterprise technical infrastructure. While counts are significant, the size/scope of individual projects in each fiscal year can significantly impact completion counts as represented in the chart. Dedicating resource to large scale projects and impacts of emergency response and recovery efforts after the 2017 fires reduces backlogs of routine and mid-sized projects in planning and hold states as departments recognize County priorities versus department needs. Heading into 2019/20, we anticipate increase project demands as department move to completion rates for small and medium size projects as resources conclude work on the large scale projects.
