e Appointments for Government Offices | Five Benefits

government building with American flags

People enjoy the ability to book e Appointments online. It’s convenient, they don’t have to listen to hold music, and they can choose a time slot that fits with their schedule. Folks aren’t used to the luxury of such freedom with their government offices. They’re more accustomed to arriving at the building, taking a number behind all of the people who are already there, and waiting their turn. They can’t leave to run an errand because they run the risk of losing their place in line, at which point they either have to start all over again or return to the office on a different day. What a waste of energy!

QLess allows citizens to schedule their visits online or through the app. In either case, it takes no time for users to search for and find the government facility they want. From that point, they’re in charge. They don’t have to rearrange their schedule around a trip to the DMV. Adopting a virtual queue that runs on a cloud system has too many benefits to count, but we want to tempt you with the top five. Understand that switching to a digital queuing platform is cost-effective both initially and over time. It will improve employee morale and productivity while earning your office a sterling reputation for customer service.

Calendar Management Made EZ

One of the most significant benefits of e Appointments for government offices is how effortless it is to manage your calendar. Your employees can access the system at any time to find out their individual schedules for the day. In situations where a citizen books an appointment for another day or the next week, then the government agents in your department can also get an idea about what’s coming up for the next few days. An organized schedule decreases downtime among your employees. You won’t have issues where visitors overrun one official while some of the others have nothing to do. The work gets spread around more evenly, which decreases the chances of burnout, as well.

Citizens Can Set Appointments Whenever and Wherever

Digital queue software hasn’t made its way to every government office yet, so in many of them, it’s impossible to make a regular appointment, let alone an e Appointment. The QLess system offers a taste of freedom to taxpayers whose chief complaint involves unreasonable wait times at places such as the tax office, town hall, and even the Department of Education. Instead of heading off to their task and hoping that someone can see them soon, citizens can instead download the QLess app or visit the .gov website for the department they need, where they can choose the date they want to visit and a time that’s convenient for them. It doesn’t matter where they are or when they book the appointment, provided that there’s a slot open, of course.

Improved Allocation of Staff Resources

Once your staff isn’t fumbling through the daily calendar or focusing on appeasing citizens rather than helping them, they will have ample time to perform their day-to-day tasks. Without an online appointment app, it’s catch as catch can. Employees don’t know what’s coming and they spend far too much time answering questions and informing visitors that they need different forms or documents to apply for a permit or register a car. QLess can take care of many of those issues. For example, citizens can print the forms they need at the on-site kiosks that you can have installed at your office. The system can also answer questions about what citizens need to bring, e.g., different forms of ID, proof of address, or notarized documents.

Wait Times Decrease Exponentially

man checks his watch

Making e Appointments available will please your community to no end. In addition to choosing when they want to visit your department, your citizens have the luxury of never waiting around for someone to help them. The QLess platform reminds a citizen of his or her upcoming appointment at specific increments, all the way up to the reserved time. Visitors can show up precisely when they need to and not a moment before, knowing that they’ll receive efficient assistance. Appointments go by quickly, allowing community members to get in and out while increasing the number of people each employee can serve. Even when things do run behind schedule, the system notifies anyone who will be affected so that they know they have extra time before they come to the office.

It Reaches a New Generation

The demographics of your community are changing, even as you read this. The up and coming generations aren’t like their forebears. They don’t enjoy placing or taking voice calls, to the point where they rarely listen to voicemail messages. In addition to a preference for texting and emailing in that order, they enjoy making appointments but–you guessed it–they hate doing it over the phone. Give them the opportunity to book an appointment online, and they will love you. Send them text alerts, and they will sing your praises to other members of the community. They may venture to Facebook or Google to leave excellent reviews, too. Allow them to text back, and they will be loyal forever–even to the local city clerk. You can achieve all of that with the help of e Appointments via the QLess system.

Your community will appreciate the flexibility and freedom of e Appointments, while your employees will enjoy its easy-to-understand interface and its organizational features. Although your office is dependent on the whims and needs of the taxpayers who come in, you can still create a schedule that allows you to allocate staff resources where they need to go.

To learn how to transform your government office and boost operational efficiencies, read our whitepaper, The Digital Citizen.