We’ve all been there—sacrificing a day to wait in endless lines at the DMV just to renew a driver’s license or expired tags, or spending countless hours on the phone with an agency service representative trying to track down lost or misfiled paperwork. Now, both citizens and government alike are calling for improvements to customer service.

Americans are asking government agencies to improve service.

We partnered with MeriTalk this year to commission the second Federal Customer Experience Survey [PDF]. While there is some improvement overall, 79 percent of Americans still believe the federal government can improve citizen service. Despite a significant jump from 24% in 2010, this year only 31% of Americans are very satisfied with federal service.

Americans report the biggest improvements in agency responsiveness and information consistency, where the percentage of very satisfied Americans grew from 27% to 39% and 24% to 35% over the past year.

These numbers aren’t perfect, but do show that government agencies are making an effort to improve service levels. Notably, Americans named the Internal Revenue Service and Social Security Administration as the top performing agencies in the delivery of customer service. The reason? These agencies are able to deliver accurate, timely information that is relevant to the specific request. Period.

At the DMV image by Flickr user @cdharrison, used under Creative Commons license.

Government is calling for an end to bad customer service.

In line with the public’s call for improved citizen service is the April 2011 Presidential Executive Order (EO), Streamlining Service Delivery and Improving Customer Service. This EO requires agencies to develop a Customer Service Plan to streamline and improve citizen service, solicit public feedback and apply feedback to enhance service. To address the EO, we know that many federal CIOs have turned to the cloud.

When determining what applications are best suited to the cloud delivery model, I recommend looking toward web self-service first. I know, and have seen firsthand, that combining cloud solutions with web self-service is a great way to improve constituent services and reduce overhead costs in parallel.

Additionally, cloud-based solutions can create convenient and enjoyable customer experiences by offering multi-channel access to information and services. But to be effective, a solid cross-channel contact center must sit on a common knowledgebase. This will efficiently fuel answers and ensure consistency via the phone, web or social outlets. It also provides a quick, easy way for citizens to find answers to their questions without agent assistance, leaving administrators with the time to address citizen concerns that require direct and personalized action.

Sophisticated search functions provide answer summaries for individual questions accompanied by related topics so that citizens can quickly identify information they need and bypass the content they don’t. This versatile approach to customer service ensures citizens’ questions are fully answered, regardless of the communication method.

And I don’t think it’s an understatement to say that social applications and mobile technologies are here to stay. These channels can help agencies answer citizen inquiries on the go. For example, USDA Food Safety and Inspection Services recently released a mobile version of "Ask Karen." "Ask Karen" is a virtual food safety representative that offers advice about properly handling, storing and preparing food to prevent illness and allows citizens to ask food safety questions while in the grocery store or at the grill.

Solutions like these provide easy access to information, streamline communications, and free up call center agents and subject matter experts to work on mission critical tasks. Now government can maximize the use of agency dollars without sacrificing service levels.

Kevin Paschuck is vice president of public sector at RightNow Technologies, a leading provider of cloud-based CRM solutions that help government agencies rid the world of bad citizen experiences. He can be reached at kevin.paschuck@rightnow.com.