Public Service of Wallonia Overcome Service Challenges and Streamline Operations with Qmatic

The Public Service of Wallonia (PSW) in Belgium provides a variety of services to assist citizens and businesses in obtaining information and accessing its resources. To assist them, they have established ten Espaces Wallonie throughout the region that offer advisory services related to different fields of competence, including housing and tax. These Espaces Wallonie aim to meet the growing demands of Wallonia's residents by assisting them in completing forms, identifying the appropriate organizations to contact, and obtaining the necessary documentation for their requests.

Dealing with high no-show rates and limited visibility

Before Qmatic, PSW faced numerous challenges. High no-show rates led to a lot of valuable time and resources going to waste. Additionally, team members spent excessive time scheduling appointments over the phone. The lack of a clear overview of current bookings and staff availability made it impossible for call center agents to efficiently allocate appointments across different Espaces Wallonie, especially when some were already at full capacity.

This situation was not only straining their operations but also diminishing the quality of service they could offer to citizens. A major contributing factor to these issues was the absence of an online booking system, which required individuals to either call or visit the Espaces Wallonie in person to book an appointment.

Solution: Qmatic Experience Cloud

In search of a solution that would meet their requirements, PSW found Qmatic and its cloud-based platform, Qmatic Experience Cloud. The platform was not only compliant with their specific needs but also provided a flexible usage-based subscription model, offering the perfect solution to the challenges they were facing.

The platform includes a comprehensive set of capabilities for appointment scheduling, queue management, resource capacity planning, and extensive reporting and analytics capabilities. With Qmatic Experience Cloud, staff can make all appointment scheduling and resource planning through a single interface, making the planning and booking process more efficient and simplified, something that was previously unachievable with their previous solution.

Adding self-service scheduling

The impact of adopting Qmatic Experience Cloud was immediately evident. For citizens, it now offers the option of self-service bookings through the PSW online booking page at any time without needing to wait for a location to open or call the call center. Instead, citizens can easily schedule appointments for 20+ services across 10 locations and get information about the different services, the duration, and the required documentation for the appointment.

After an appointment is made, instructions, booking confirmations, and reminders are sent via email and SMS. The automated appointment reminders actively reduce the no-show rates and allow visitors to reschedule the appointment if they cannot make it.

Reduced workload and easier planning of services and staff schedules

Leveraging Qmatic Experience Cloud, PSW has reduced the workload that was previously burdened by the complexities of booking appointments. This has freed up more time for staff members to focus on higher-value tasks.

The platform's flexibility was also a significant benefit, enabling easier planning changes, cancellations, and adjustments. By collecting information from citizens during scheduling, the advisors at Espaces Wallonie can prepare ahead of time and make the most of their appointments.

Using the resource capacity planning tool, the team can plan for up to 50 days in advance, which makes it easier to plan services and staff schedules and reduce pressure during peak periods. This has also given the system administrators a comprehensive 360° view of all operations, making their jobs much more efficient and easier.

Improved employee experience with 20,000 fewer contacts per year

During the first year of using Qmatic Experience Cloud, the Public Service of Wallonia has reduced the number of contacts by 20,000, leading to better working conditions and less overload. Simultaneously, the rate of self-service bookings rose to 33% of all appointments within just seven months of operation.

"The implementation of Qmatic for our appointment management has lightened my team's workload, freeing up time for higher-value tasks. The possibility of having a permanent 360° view of the available slots and of the planning is much more comfortable in day-to-day contact with our clients. Our staff say it changed their lives, and they don't fear peak periods the same way they did before"

Myriam Roba, Director of the Local Services Department at the Public Service of Wallonia

Looking forward to its next step

Looking to the future, the Public Service of Wallonia will, in addition to offering self-service bookings, also activate its queue management system in the spring of 2024. This will further enhance its operations and the citizen experience at the different Espaces Wallonie. Enabling walk-in visits and pre-booked appointment visitors to conveniently get in line or check in for their appointments using check-in kiosks available throughout their locations. This will help reduce wait times and streamline customer flows, ensuring that visitors can get the service they need in a fair and orderly manner.