Boston uses CRM to help respond to Superstorm Sandy

The city of Boston used customer relationship management (CRM) software during Superstorm Sandy to help workers respond to 4,600 phone calls and reports of downed trees and wires.

The CRM technology from KANA helped the city in its battle against the elements, which included flooding, 60-mile-per-hour winds and power outages. KANA describes itself as a leader in 311 CRM systems, which support non-emergency information calls and service requests.

Boston implemented KANA Lagan technology in 2008 and extended its CRM system in 2011 through the addition of its City Worker mobile app, which takes service requests made by citizens and routes them to Android-based mobile devices of the nearest work crew from the appropriate department, KANA reports.

Justin Holmes, director of constituent engagement for Boston, says, “We were able to respond to more than 700 reported tree emergencies and 300 down wire reports quickly and efficiently thanks to our end-to-end tracking via our KANA Lagan CRM system and our City Worker mobile app, which helped guide us in the optimal deployment of resources. I’m perhaps most proud of our call center’s 100 percent service level--all 4,600 phone calls during the day of the storm were answered by a live person within 30 seconds.”

Boston also responded to issues from citizens who were reporting via the Boston Citizens Connect mobile app, and it leveraged social media channels to communicate with its constituents and to track incidents reports.

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