SAP Releases Government Tailored Solution for 'Citizen Contact Centers'

While it may not always seem like it when interacting with government agencies, they are large purchasers of customer relationship management (CRM) software. CRM vendors are more often today pitching their products to various government agencies, particularly those that have a lot of interaction with private U.S. citizens in what is known as “citizen contact centers.”

The goal is to interact with U.S. citizens in precisely the same way a contact center would interact with its customers.

SAP (News - Alert) is one of these companies. Earlier this month, the German software giant announced the release of the SAP CRM rapid-deployment solution for citizen contact center as part of the SAP Urban Matters program. The solution was designed to help simplify and accelerate the implementation of a government multichannel contact center, enabling governments to provide services and information to citizens in a consistent manner while providing the highest levels of customer service.

The solution also allows governments to more efficiently manage and monitor their organizations and operations.

The “citizen contact center” offering is actually a combination of software, pre-configured content and pre-defined services specifically tailored for government multichannel contact centers, says SAP. The solution supports phone, e-mail, chat and other Web-based channels, and is delivered with low upfront cost thanks to fixed-price and time frame implementation services that mitigate financial risk and uncertainty.

As a result of pre-configuration and the rapid-deployment methodology, governments can deploy in less than 12 weeks.

“Governments everywhere are looking for ways to increase efficiency, improve services and get citizens more engaged,” Jens Romaus, senior vice president and global head, Public Services Industry Solutions for SAP, said in a recent statement. “The rapid deployment of citizen contact center with CRM enables our customers to quickly benefit from superior functionality combined with industry best practices. The solution can be deployed quickly for a fixed cost, helping them achieve quick results while minimizing the risks typically associated with a new software project.”

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