Nowadays, public works spend a lot of time and money on fixing assets. But your assets can benefit with the help of technology. Yes, the process to gather reports can be immensely improved through deploying a 311 Reporting Mobile App. Here are four specific ways in which Public Works is able to provide better service, reduce resources, and save money.

1.Quick Reporting from anywhere
Whether it’s your own colleague, field worker, or a member of the public, you’re worst Public Works nightmare should be a general apathy towards reporting issues with your assets. Because if you don’t know something is broken, you can’t fix it.

However, people will walk by a broken asset and assume that their local government just doesn’t think maintenance and upkeep are a priority. It won’t be fair, but you’ll be blamed.

But, with a mobile app for reporting service requests, you can now empower citizens to do some of the work that has traditionally fallen to your employees: citizens in effect can act as eye balls out in the field and immediately crowdsource back to your information about broken assets.

2.Accurate Reporting location data
Imagine this situation: You open your email first thing in the morning and your Public Works team has an email from a concerned citizen that reads: “There is a broken sidewalk near the Atlanta wood road Please Fix it!”
When you try to understand this free-form, and request, you quickly realize that you’re going to need a strong cup of coffee this morning.

The citizen gave you no information about where on Main St, which restaurant is referenced, which side of the street, etc. That means you better get ready to send your technician out in the truck just to track down the issue.

Now imagine this same situation, but you receive a precise a, b coordinate, and the closest nearby address. No searching hamburger stands. No truck driving around burning gas.

By providing frictionless location data, there’s no need to verify location. What’s better, you can tie into your existing GIS system to ensure your authoritative data is providing precise information for you specifically and not some generic online map made by a search engine company.

3.Enhanced communication between citizens
Smart Cities aren’t built in a day, or even a few months. It can take years to get on the right path to being a smart city. You have to stay up with the trends, innovation, and technology. But while that takes time, there are ways you can start building your strategy to prepare for the future, and one of those ways is to start with communication.

Once you communicate and are responsive to your citizens, you’re signaling that you care about their concerns and you’re working to better their community. This communication will reinforce your message that your efforts are spent on bettering the lives of everyday citizens. This level of dialog and responsiveness will encourage citizens to continue caring about the assets that help drive life day in and day out.

4.Different department issue sharing
Your smart city mobile app should be configured to automatically transfer and dynamically route issues received to Public Works, Parks and Recreation, Utility Departments, and much more. Better yet, those issues should flow directly into the appropriate backend software system, such as Asset Management, Permitting and Licensing, and more, via a bi-directional integration.

If you are looking for the best 311 Mobile application, Take a look at our Citizen Engagement 311 Reporting Application with the City of Ontario, California in Spring 2018. Since its release, the myOntario app (iOS / Android) has proven to be a huge success for the city, allowing better interaction between the city and its citizens.

If you want to know more about Civita App or try it for yourself, Book a free demo.