Citizens need to be able to trust your agency when they’re engaging with you. They expect that you’ll protect their data, share consistent messages when they need them and be easy to engage with. Many government agencies are making major progress toward meeting these expectations through the power of cloud technology. And this agency move to the cloud has accelerated with the 2020 global pandemic. But there’s more to building trust than simply deploying technology.

In the first of three fireside chat webinars, GovLoop interviewed two industry experts talk about the cloud’s impact on citizen trust, customer experience and employee engagement:

  • Barbara Morton, Deputy Chief Veterans Experience Office, Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
  • David York, Senior Vice President of US Public Sector at Genesys

Why Consistent Messaging Is So Difficult

One of the main challenges to improving citizen trust is consistent messaging. In a poll conducted during this first webinar, getting accurate information was the top challenge to improving citizen trust. Large agencies such as the VA, which has nearly 400,000 employees and contractors, know this can be a challenging obstacle to overcome.

“The cloud helps by providing a multichannel solution, but that alone doesn’t solve the problem. What’s needed is to share context across the different channels,” said David York.

That’s a primary reason why the Veterans Experience Office (VEO) is undertaking a key integration effort across contact centers using secure cloud technology. This gives agents who are serving veterans the same information across different facilities and channels.

According to Morton, “By leveraging cloud so that veterans do not have to repeat the same information, the VA is positively impacting the trust veterans have in their services.”

VA Focuses on Employee Training First

With cloud deployment underway, the VA has already deployed customer experience training for more than 90,000 employees.

“This training sets the tone and gives common ground in terms of experience and how we want to interact with veterans, their families and caregivers,” said Morton.

York agrees, “If you don’t empower your employees with the common organizational mission, you’re going to struggle with the experience. Employees are the first touch citizens or vets have with an agency.”

Cloud Solves Common Problems with Service Delivery

Another webinar poll revealed that 83% of attendees see cloud as either somewhat or very significant to their customer experience efforts.

One primary value of the cloud is that it addresses the information overload that employees face – that is, more data collected through new digital channels. Having the right information at their fingertips — and leveraging communications technologies like chatbots or other assistance powered by artificial intelligence — will reduce that load and enable employees to deliver clear, trustworthy communications.

“Any interaction with a government organization has to be easy, effective and emotionally resonant,” added Morton. “When these three qualities are met in a customer’s experience, trust in that organization goes up.”

Hear more from Barbara Morton and David York on how solutions certified by FedRAMP and GSA Centers of Excellence can help your move to cloud.

Download the on-demand fireside chat, “How the cloud can impact citizen trust in government.”