Since the appearance of COVID-19 last year, the pressure has been on government agencies and social services providers to adhere to national standards for public health emergencies while making resources available to the public.
In addition to negotiating the new rules governing social interaction, agencies have had to respond to an increased need for social services while struggling with lack of staffing and restricted budgets. In fact, 56% of organizations cite limited staff availability and 60% are dealing with destabilizing financial conditions as they move forward into 2021.
But as the pandemic continues, client and constituent needs are becoming increasingly critical as physical and mental distress combine with economic hardships, making dependence on government agencies and other community-based organizations essential to public well-being.
While that certain sounds like a grim outlook for both agencies and the public, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. The right tech tools can help government and social agencies provide the same high level of services the public expects while keeping a close eye on budget concerns.
Let’s take a closer look at how inexpensive, easy-to-use technologies can help elevate agencies’ response to public demand while helping staff stay connected and informed of changing protocols.
How These Tech Tools Can Help Government and Social Agencies Rise to Modern Challenges
Even before the pandemic, the landscape of public services was already changing. Today’s modern public is more connected than ever before — and technology is the basis for that connection. In North America, nearly 90% of the population uses the internet and in the U.S., 80% of these people are connecting online every day.
For government agencies and social services providers, this reliance on technology offers a new way to connect with individuals for counseling, information, and more. It also offers an exceptional opportunity for agencies to streamline internal processes, such as management, education, and research.
Two affordable and simple to deploy technologies often go hand-in-hand to provide a strong, actionable solution to agency needs: Voice-over-Internet-Protocol (VoIP) and video conferencing.
Let’s explore how these tech tools can help you take your agency’s internal and external operations to the next level — without a huge impact to your budget.
- Video Conferencing
The public is used to connecting online through mobile phone apps like FaceTime and WhatsApp to computer-based conferencing tools such as Zoom and Skype. Setting up a proprietary video conferencing system in your agency can help bring this face-to-face interaction home — without the privacy and cybersecurity issues that often complicate the previously mentioned solutions.
Video cameras and conferencing technology help providers provide care to more individuals by reducing the need for travel — plus they can check in for mini-sessions or meetings when needed.
Continuing education and changes in internal rules or policies can be addressed using video collaboration, bringing geographically diverse staff together or helping to maintain social distancing while providing needed training and updates.
- VoIP Phone Systems
A VoIP phone system can serve as a low-cost way to launch your internal video conferencing set-up, as well as allow your staff to take their technology where they need it — crucial for those staff members who must work from home.
VoIP systems can be used to set up a “help” number that citizens can call to alert agencies of various issues such as power outages, suspicious activities, or other municipal issues. Since these systems run over your existing internet connection, no additional lines — or costs — are incurred.
In addition, VoIP dovetails with typical business software to help employees manage their time, compare calendars, and collaborate on projects for an enhanced workflow. And finally, these systems take the place of traditional phone systems and provide high-level enhancements such as voice-to-text messaging, on-demand lines, hunt groups, call and voicemail forwarding, call routing, and many more.
Blue Technologies Has the Targeted Tech Tools You Need
If your agency needs a better way to connect with the public you serve, count on Blue Technologies to provide the latest — and most cost-effective — VoIP and video conferencing tech available.
Our communication technology experts can help devise and implement the right solution based on your current infrastructure and your challenges and goals.
Experience the power a strong connection can bring to your agency. Contact a Blue Technologies consultant today and learn how our cutting-edge video conferencing and VoIP solutions can serve you — and help you serve your clients better.
