Reopening services at City of Mississauga

The City of Mississauga, Canada’s 6th largest City, was one of many municipalities where operations were impacted during the first wave of COVID19.

With agile thinking and careful planning, the City shifted an entire workforce from working in the office to working from home.

Enabling remote work at such magnitude is one thing, but how does a municipality continue to deliver services to its citizens, in a safe and efficient way? Learn how 18 libraries embraced FrontDesk’s platform for curbside pickup.

A brief background

The City of Mississauga has several public-facing service counters located across the City. In-person customer service interactions are a focal point in the customer’s experience and add value for thousands of residents and business owners in Mississauga each year.

Prior to implementing Front-Desk in 2019, the approach in managing counter operations included many manual steps and processes, use of extra staffing for peak hours, lengthy queues or wait times, manual tracking or monitoring and use of waiting areas. But, that soon changed, when the citizens of Mississauga were introduced to a “service by appointment only” approach.

This new approach and use of FrontDesk technology made Mississauga’s COVID19 recovery quick, safe and sustainable.

Photo of 2 condos in the City of Mississauga

“The utilization of FrontDesk in the City resulted in a significant positive impact for thousands of residents interacting with many different City services. This extremely valuable tool helped the public stay safe during the pandemic emergency.

The experience has taught us that there are many more ways that FrontDesk can be used for managing access to the range of public services. We are looking forward to the innovations still to come through FrontDesk technology.”

– Paul Burns, IT Business Manager, City Services, City of Mississauga, February 2021

Opening the doors to a new reality

With safety being a top priority, under the direction of the Province of Ontario, the City of Mississauga gradually resumed delivery of public services in Summer of 2020. Supported by the organization’s leadership team and a group of dedicated public service professionals, FrontDesk was rapidly implemented in key business areas offering services such as renewal of business licenses, study space reservations and tax service inquiries to name a few.

“I would say that it takes good employees to deliver good service. If they do not feel safe it is a big issue. I think we did a really good job in making safety for employees and the public a priority”

– Shawn Slack, CIO, City of Mississauga, October 2020

With strict public health measures in place, the City of Mississauga use FrontDesk to effectively manage customer foot traffic during peak hours, thus limiting gatherings and helping in promoting physical distancing measures that are already in place. FrontDesk also provides walk-in visitors, the ability to book an appointment on the spot using one of its on-site kiosks.

Visitors with appointments may chose to check-in using their own mobile devices, limiting contact with surfaces in public space. By using email and SMS communications, business areas can communicate with clients, by sending them important process information or reminders about the appointment and safety protocols, such as wearing a face-covering or a mask during their visit.

Widely used and widely accepted

FrontDesk is used by many business areas at the City in accordance with specific needs and it contributes in different ways to streamline and deliver flexible citizen service.

Seamlessly linked within the City’s website and deployed at various locations using self-serve kiosks, FrontDesk offers visitors the ability to make reservations online.

FrontDesk also sends reminders to visitors of their upcoming appointments as well as notifies them with customizable SMS and email notifications.

When a citizen arrives and checks-in, staff are instantly notified, and can then get ready to process the requests almost immediately; thus reducing or eliminating any wait time.

Manage the day, safely and efficiently

With strict public health measures in place, the City of Mississauga use FrontDesk to effectively manage customer foot traffic during peak hours, thus limiting gatherings and helping in promoting physical distancing measures that are already in place.

FrontDesk also provides walk-n visitors, the ability to book an appointment on the spot using one of its on-site kiosks.

“The FrontDesk system offers an intuitive interface with several features and customizable settings, allowing IT staff to rapidly scale the solution to fit the needs of various business areas across the City.”

– Ali Khan, Leader – IT Projects, City of Mississauga, January 2021

Modern technology for a safe reopening

Visitors with appointments may choose to check-in using their own mobile devices, limiting contact with surfaces in public space.

By using email and SMS communications, business areas can communicate with clients, by sending them important process information or reminders about the appointment and safety protocols, such as wearing a face-covering or a mask during their visit.

Person holding smartphone

Quick Facts

-2min
Average wait time
60.000+
Curbside Pickups
5.700+
Marriage Licences

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