4 Reasons Why Government Live Chat Software is Critical in 2022

Public customer service expectations are higher than ever before. As the private sector has adopted digital channels and technologies to improve customer experience (CX) and satisfaction, the public sector has begun to fall behind. In the US, the top-performing private sector boasts an 8.3 out of 10 customer satisfaction score. In US government, this score languishes at 4.5. 

Citizens expect fast, convenient and personalized support. For government organizations, this means reliance on the traditional channels of phone and email is no longer enough – government live chat software is essential. 

In this blog, we’ll look at the top five reasons why live chat for government is the ideal support channel. Keep reading to see why introducing government live chat software could be the best decision you make all year. 

1. Citizens expect fast support and communication

When seeking customer service support, 92% of respondents said that they expect to find answers in 10 minutes or less. Imagine the frustration of these individuals when they receive a slow response while attempting to access much-needed government services like employment assistance or questions around immigration status. Unfortunately, the reality is that many individuals do experience slow service when engaging with government organizations. In a 2021 survey, nearly 40% of Americans reported experiencing phone wait times of more than five minutes with federal agencies.

Live chat is key to improving customer service in government. Live chat is the most effective channel at reducing wait times because chats can be sent and received in real-time, while agents can handle multiple simultaneous conversations. Long phone wait times and irritating automated phone systems become history. 

WCB Manitoba introduced Comm100 Live Chat to help staff handle high volumes of inquiries, and it’s led to better and faster service for citizens. With integration to WCB Manitoba’s knowledge base, it’s easy for agents to link website visitors directly to the information that they’re seeking. Live chat for government also allows agents to send documents directly to individuals seeking them. The various tools and resources available to agents through live chat mean reduced wait times for citizens and better results for WCB Manitoba. 

2. The public values privacy

The public values personal privacy extremely highly – more than half of Americans said that they’d prefer to maintain their privacy over protecting national security. To show an understanding and appreciation of this, government agencies must ensure that every interaction protects citizen privacy, including customer service. Convenience and speed of government services simply cannot exclude privacy. 

Unfortunately, data security in government is a specific concern for many citizens. A 2020 survey showed that 22.6% of respondents had concerns that their information was at risk of being hacked. 

Government live chat software helps to alleviate these concerns. Some live chat software like Comm100 complies with major international security standards and privacy laws such as SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001 and PIPEDA.  

As data residency laws are updated to fall in line with modern standards of cloud data storage, governments are becoming more open to cloud environments. For those organizations still bound by laws regulating the transmission and storage of data within a specified geographic region, on-premise deployment of live chat proves to be a popular option. Comm100’s on-premise deployment of live chat for government allows organizations to host and maintain their own live chat, using their own hardware, and maintaining full custody of data storage.  

Read more: Digital Transformation in Customer Service – Navigating Security Threats 

3. Maintaining public accountability

Simply providing digital services is not enough for government organizations. Those services need to be accountable to the public. If an individual makes an inquiry using a web form, for example, the organization should ideally treat that submission the same as someone arriving at a physical office and ensure that they receive prompt and helpful assistance. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case. 

By implementing government live chat software, agencies can collect responses and then aggregate and analyze that data for trends. On a public-facing service site, this can create more opportunities to understand citizen needs and direct resources more appropriately. With the ability to qualitatively sort conversation data, this also means that live chat can be used to receive feedback on services without the complications typically involved in running a public survey. 

Santa Fe County realized this benefit when they implemented Comm100 Live Chat. As Santa Fe County’s Tommy Garcia, Quality Control Program Manager, explained: 

“Getting access to all the data that comes through Comm1000’s platform is gold. We present a lot of this data to our administration to show them what our constituents are asking for, what they need, and how they feel… We read through chat transcripts, which is a great training tool too.”  

Watch the video below for the full story. 

4. Meeting accessibility needs

More than in any other organization, it’s important that government services are accessible to all citizens. Under some governments, this means removing any barriers that prevent participation by persons with an impairment, including customer service and support. 

By introducing live chat for government, public-facing organizations can ensure that all citizens are being served and given equal opportunity to access resources. Comm100 complies with WCAG guidelines to support individuals who may have visual or hearing impairments, or motor disabilities. Compared to traditional phone support, live chat also provides a greater variety of communication options. Comm100 Live Chat, for example, offers in-built video chat, allowing for the potential of lip reading or signing over video, and provides audio for the visually impaired. 

Comm100 even has language support through a visitor-side interface that can change languages depending on region, and auto translation for agents. For government services like immigration programs, these translation features can help international visitors to access information that could otherwise be difficult to locate or understand. 

Read more: Accessibility in Customer Service – How Comm100 Live Chat Meets Government Requirements 

Wrap Up 

Citizen expectations have never been higher, and the opportunities for government engagement have never been greater. To see how government live chat software can improve services to citizens in your organization, contact Comm100 today to book a personalized demo.