Case Study: City of Wilmington

We needed to handle all types of calls, half of which are payment related. Our agents help callers track due dates, inform them about payments received, make sure they receive notifications, and automate fee assessments.

We prepared thoroughly for our role. Working closely with city stakeholders to understand their needs, we developed a customized rollout plan so we could hit the ground running. This included the implementation of a cloud-based Transaction Control Number (TCN) tool for call management and analytics.

Additional steps have been key to our success:

1. Analyze call volumes and peak times: We discovered abandonment rates were highest between 9–11 AM. Previously, agents were evenly spread between morning and afternoon shifts.

2. Right-sized staffing: To reduce abandoned calls, we began staffing more agents at peak hours and fewer at non-peak hours, resulting in cost savings.

3. Use flexible staffing: Using TCN data, we began using fewer agents during the slower call periods and additional agents for the 7:30 AM and 11:00 AM shifts. By only staffing agents when they are needed, we save our client money on labor and staffing costs.

4. Resolve legal queries: Pulling TCN audio for call investigations, we provide playback details for the city’s legal departments.

5. Provide custom reporting: We expanded from standard call center reports to include quarterly and weekly formats with graphs and metrics—using Excel templates and customized visuals for superior presentations.

Our agents must also engage with off-hour call activity such as prompts not answered by agents that get fielded through an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) platform. Previously, the City of Wilmington had an external vendor, but we built customized reports for improved tracking. With customized reporting, we maintain oversight of the call system and communicate with local officials about the public’s concerns.

Call activity we track includes:

• Calls for the mayor’s office
• Payment inquiries
• Daytime call center overflow
• Directory assistance

Tickets assigned to each call in the city’s CRM system contain unique transactional histories, helping agents resolve issues and support de-escalation.

Our support regularly includes the rollout of new city programs. One example is a lottery that offers qualifying residents up to $10,000 for urgent home repairs. Each time a new program is launched, our agents are trained 1-2 weeks in advance to handle inbound calls from local residents. This requires call center agents to watch in-depth training videos between shifts.

Our team works closely with city stakeholders to understand their needs, produce data, and adjust our approach wherever possible. Wilmington now enjoys a stronger public image and constituent satisfaction thanks to our efforts.

Here are the results of our partnership:

• We met and exceeded all of the city’s performance goals.
• We reduced call abandonment rates to under 3%.
• Our new workflow helped reduce overall costs.
• We impressed their legal department by providing valuable information for legal cases.

Our combined efforts resulted in significant cost and labor savings. We did so by reducing in-house agent dependency, while freeing the client’s L&I and finance departments so they would no longer have to manage incoming calls directly. All in all, our custom services improved public satisfaction and produced faster resolution times.

Most constituents’ calls are related to city programs or payments. However, the city frequently has other goals—local event promotions, polling station updates, spring water openings, movie night, etc.—that generate inbound inquiries.

Here’s how we balance it all:

• Implementing a call-back feature after 30 seconds on hold to reduce queue time and abandonment rates
• Making outbound calls in response to voicemail messages
• Assisting with citywide services like reporting outages, fire hydrant incidents, and public office service lines
• Providing bilingual support for Spanish-speaking callers

Our partnership with the City of Wilmington has new goals on the horizon. We are training agents for a new citywide payment system to address growing call volumes and continue modernizing call transaction processes. We help residents set up accounts, enable autopay, and retrieve new account numbers. We are working on a tech upgrade to consolidate the city’s billing systems (water, sewer, L&I, garbage) into a single platform. As they migrate to a new CRM ticketing system, we are helping transition staff to the new platform.

When it comes to problem-solving, we are just getting started. We look forward to finding new ways to support improvements that will help our client resolve issues and improve workflows.