Development Services Review. Final Report. Zucker July 2016

Many jurisdictions that have successfully transitioned to digital plan reviews have found it necessary to upgrade computer monitors and several have located dual monitors in workspaces to improve efficiency. As noted in the “Planning” Chapter below, the City has budgeted for larger equipment monitors to facilitate plan review. G. T ELEPHONE C OVERAGE Interviews with staff and comments from customers expressed frustration about the frequent problem of having telephone calls transferred to a staff person that cannot answer their specific question. There appears to be such a strong emphasis placed on transferring the customer quickly that insufficient time is being devoted to confirm the call is being sent to the proper person. By asking appropriate questions and having sufficient knowledge of the various Department and Division’s operations the person charged with the responsibility to answer the phones should be able to transfer the caller to the appropriate staff person. Many jurisdictions have created a “cheat sheet” that summarizes the types of functions that are performed by the various Departments and Divisions. This information is provided to any staff person responsible to answer phones as an aide to help them insure they are transferring the customer to the proper location. Staff advises that such an information sheet existed at some time in the past but is no longer available. We recommend such an information sheet be developed and distributed to all staff charged with the responsibility to answer public phones. 20. Recommendation: The City Manager should create an informational sheet that summarizes the functions of each Department and Division as an aide to the Central Receptions function and staff answering customer phones to help insure calls are transferred to the proper staff. There are some occasions when Inspection staff needs to contact specific office staff to obtain information critical to their assignment in the field. Inspection staff reported that frequently their efforts to contact the main office resulted in their calls going straight to voice mail. We recommend that a specific phone number be established for exclusive use by field staff to contact office personnel. Office staff responsible for answering calls should be alerted to treat such calls from the field as a priority and not simply allow them to go straight to voice mail. 21. Recommendation: Community Development should create a phone number to be used exclusively by field staff to contact the office and office staff should be directed to treat such calls as a priority. Both customers and staff voiced complaints about staff’s inability to effectively manage the volume of telephone calls that come into the main line for Community Development. Many calls go directly to voice mail because a staff member is not

Morgan Hill, California

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Zucker Systems