Pijnacker City Hall Creates a Mobile Workforce with Qmatic

In the municipality of Pijnacker-Nootdorp, located in the Netherlands, more than 90% of the residents say they are “very satisfied” with where they live. An impressive number, that of course says a lot about the municipality’s drive to make the place suit the people. Nor do they shy away from innovation. For example, residents who visit the Pijnacker City Hall now seamlessly check-in at a new Qmatic kiosk.

Esther Kramer is the Senior Information Manager. A role with a fair amount of IT content, because her department looks after the information architecture, develops IT policy, and so on. It may seem a bit strange that she is directly involved in the physical management
of customer streams, but it is in fact logical.

“Providing information is first and foremost about delivering high-quality service to customers. This means not only finding information on websites or replying to emails, for example, but also managing the journey for customers who come here in person. Of course, there are also all sorts of links between Qmatic and internal platforms. Just think of all the messages to employees when a citizen comes to visit. Or the information that visitors can read on Qmatic screens. Physical visitor streams therefore have a digital impact, and we always discuss this in depth with the Customer Contact Center (CCC), the gateway to the local authority," stated Kramer. 

Citizens save more time

According to Kramer, the new Qmatic solution saves visitors more time, “We have been using Qmatic solutions for some time now. But the old-style kiosks did not allow people to check in using a QR code on their smartphone, for example. That will soon be possible. so people will no longer have to type in their data. We were also running a slightly older version of the Qmatic platform. Because we as a municipality want to use new technologies to make life easier for our citizens – and to be fair, they are in fact asking us for this – we decided to upgrade to the Qmatic Orchestra platform and replace the kiosks
at the same time. Another benefit is that our citizens can receive a text message with the details of their appointment with the local authority.”

Mobile Integration Boosts Convenience

The improved integration with mobile applications and devices is where Esther sees the greatest benefit. “Things like text message confirmation of appointments and the QR code check-in options that I just mentioned. But what is coming next may be even more attractive. We are working with Qmatic to prepare for the introduction of beacons.” Beacons? “These are Wi-Fi components that automatically detect people as soon as they come into the building, without the visitor having to do anything. That is of course very convenient, because if the system recognizes the mobile phone and therefore the citizen, they no longer need to do anything themselves. The Qmatic Orchestra platform takes care of the entire login process for them.”

A mobile workforce

It’s clear that the Qmatic customer guidance systems are appreciated by customers. But how do employees perceive it? Very positively. Staff members now receive instant information on who the next person is at the counter. But it doesn’t actually have to be at the counter. With the new platform, employees no longer need to be shackled to their PC. They can also receive customers on a mobile device, for example an iPad. That saves time for our service staff. And because the systems are easy to use, the learning curve is
minimal. In our Customer Contact Centre (CCC) the status of each counter is maintained in real time in the background. Are the appointments going well? Are more staff needed? At the end of the day reports are run to give insight in the service levels provided. This helps us to make adjustments to improve our service.” Although Kramer manages some very complex IT projects in her role as the link between IT and the business, her input during the implementation of the new Qmatic solution was relatively small. “Mainly because it all went so smooth. I regard a project as successful when it contributes to the quality of customer service. And in that respect, this project is certainly successful. I am already looking forward to the pilot project with the beacons!”