Public sector organisations provide critical services to citizens and, in order to improve efficiency, this is increasingly delivered via websites, chatbots, self-service portals or – more and more rarely – over the phone. Some services, however, still require face-to-face appointment and it is through the provision of helpdesk services that this critical interaction happens. Helpdesks are usually the first port of call for tasks involving proof of ID, and other documentation verification such as birth registration, marriage licenses, citizenship ceremonies, council tax issues, housing support and much more.

The CX challenge

Customer Experience (CX) is defined as the sum of all experiences a customer has with an organisation. Because government is often a sole-source service provider (i.e., there is only one place to pay taxes, or get a driver’s license), CX is even more important in the public sector than in other organisations.

In a face-to-face environment, CX can be negatively impacted by the assistance-provider physically turning away for long periods of time. But as part of their role in capturing citizen information, checking ID and other data, local government front desk or processing teams often spend a lot of time turned away from the citizens they are helping so that they can process information using a printer or photocopier. Although a crucial part of the process, this procedure can waste valuable time, as it involves staff having to leave their desk. It is also less conducive to the delivery of a positive CX, which matters in today’s world where individual experiences are shared and amplified via social media platforms.

There is a solution to improving this customer experience: rather than forcing helpdesk staff to turn away, place the means to capture information squarely on top of the front desk, at the point of service, instead. In this way, local government employees can process, capture, and engage with their customers needs whilst they complete these tasks.

The Fujitsu Image Scanners fi-8000 opportunity

Putting a robust, fast, and advanced device such as the Fujitsu fi-8000 at the point of contact can make a real difference to CX. By simply inserting the relevant pages and documents into the desktop image capture device, it can quickly capture key data points and upload them to the relevant databases or check them against specific information.

Using the fi-8000’s state-of-the-art capture and advanced Clear Image Capture technology ensuring industry-leading optical character recognition (OCR) accuracy rates, IDs and other required documents can be rapidly scanned, understood, and the information they hold uploaded before being recorded in the correct files. But the assistance doesn’t stop there as, helpfully, these devices have a paper protection feature and patented image monitoring technologies that can combine for the safe capture and protection of passports, without the need to put them in a protective film. In addition, whether it is driving licenses, bills, forms, or passports being processed, they can all be entered into the device at the same time (even with labels attached), with the reassurance that the fi-8000 series automatically preventing misfeeds and jams thanks to its Automatic Separation Control capability. This not only enables significant time savings and secure data sharing benefits but means a face-to-face orientation can be maintained throughout the interaction, greatly improving the experience for both customer and employee.

As expected in an image capture device that is suitable for a public sector helpdesk environment, the fi-8000 range delivers the highest levels of reliability, reduces power consumption, and is designed to deliver maximum uptime and real-world productivity gains. With the Overscan Control function automatically adjusting the scanning area to prevent image loss on slightly skewed documents, the need for rescanning – which wastes precious time – is eliminated and uninterrupted operation ensured.

Helping the Helpdesk

Fujitsu’s fi-8000 devices support a vision where local government processes and contact with citizens is as efficient and effective as possible, such as reducing waiting times. With an image capture device of this calibre, helpdesk staff have full visibility of the data they need without the stress of manually inputting it or changing turning their backs on the citizens needing their assistance.

If you’d like to find out more visit:

Website: https://www.fujitsu.com/uk/fi8000
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fujitsu-pfu-emea-limited/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/InformationCaptureCommunity
Email: daniel.melly.pfu@fujitsu.com

This article is sponsored by PFU (EMEA) Limited – a RICOH company.