Photo: Anton Östlund / visitvasternorrland.se
Sollefteå is the latest in a long line of municipalities that have decided to join the Infracontrol Online cloud service in order to handle fault reports more easily. This will allow better control of new incoming cases and improve quality assurance of service to local inhabitants. An important part of this is the ability to get back in touch with the reporter of a fault and create a constructive citizen dialog.
Åke Gullersbo, Manager of the Land and Traffic Department at the Sollefteå Municipal Planning Office, tells us why they chose Infracontrol Online:
“It’s an easy way for us to maintain control of cases in the areas of water, sewerage, streets and parks. We want to constantly improve our service to citizens and we hope that this will be a good tool to that end. We chose Infracontrol Online as it’s easy to use and because there are many other municipalities who already use it for similar tasks.”
Assured service quality for residents and visitors
The municipality, with around 20,000 residents, is in central Sweden in the heart of the Ådalen region. Sollefteå, the principal town, is located on the south bank of the Ångerman River in a municipality whose rivers play an important part in making it Sweden’s second largest producer of hydroelectric power. But there are also still waters here where people can enjoy peaceful rafting, canoing in beaver country, hiking through ancient forests or skiing across a silent snowbound winter landscape. In its endeavors to provide even better service to its citizens and visitors, the municipality has sought the help of Infracontrol Online:
“It’s important for us to take care of fault reports from our residents and visitors,” says Åke Gullersbo. “They provide us with valuable information about things that require action or further investigation. Infracontrol Online will also provide us with a good, simple means of getting back in touch with people submitting fault reports. In this way, we can all help each other improve day-to-day life and make sure that everything works as it should.”
There are increasing demands for accessibility in municipalities and people should have the ability to submit observations and report faults at any time day or night. Being able to handle cases simply and effectively is a great asset for the municipality, which receives information quickly should anything be perceived as lacking the quality one would expect.
Emil Jadenberg, Business Development Manager at Infracontrol, tells us it is especially important when procuring service assignments from external parties:
“Efficient case handling allows us to monitor and follow-up cases in a simple way. It means we can assure the quality of the services we buy in and make sure we’re getting the quality we pay for.”
Cloud services with many advantages
Infracontrol Online is what is known as a cloud service, which means the municipality avoids investing in its own system, which will subsequently require administration and development. Clients connect to Infracontrol’s servers, which run the service, to gain access to the functions they require. This means they automatically enjoy the upgrades and improvements that are continually made without having to do anything themselves.
“We carry out four scheduled upgrades per year,” says Per Andersson, Product Manager at Infracontrol Online. “This may involve new functions or improvement to existing functions, but it also concerns straightforward performance improvements or security updates.”
Another advantage with this kind of cloud service is the ease with which new information can be entered. A good example is the smartphone app that forms part of Infracontrol Online. It allows residents to take a picture with their smartphone, mark the location on the map and submit their observations. Another example is the ability to submit observations and fault reports via municipal Facebook pages.
“All of these new abilities for submitting observations and reporting faults contribute to a constructive dialog between residents and the municipality’s administration,” says Jenny Gustavsson, Marketing Manager at Infracontrol. “The better and clearer the information they get and the quicker they get it, the easier it is for them and their case handlers to address and action all the cases.”
Sollefteå municipality has just begun work on introducing Infracontrol Online for case handling in the areas of water, sewerage, streets and parks and they expect the service to be in full operation by February 2013.
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