Citizen service without broken hand-offs: what has to come together

Many applications start online today and still end on paper. A citizen fills in a form on the portal. Then a document is missing, then a signature, and finally a letter arrives.

Each of those steps makes sense on its own. Together they add up to a path that takes weeks and several contacts.

That is what German administrations call a Medienbruch, a broken hand-off: the case changes medium and loses time, context and often data along the way.

#Where the break actually happens

Most administrations have expanded their portals in recent years, so the break is rarely at the start. It sits at the handovers: wherever a question comes up that the form cannot answer.

Each row is a building block of its own. Only when all four come together does a request stay within one contact.

#Block 1: identification that fits the request

Not every request needs identification. Someone asking about opening hours does not have to prove who they are. Someone changing the bank account for an ongoing benefit does.

The German online ID card is the obvious tool. Under section 18 of the German ID Card Act, anyone aged 16 or over can use it to prove their identity electronically, to authorities and businesses alike.

The Univerx Channel is designed to start this identification in the middle of a conversation: the agent sends a link, the citizen confirms with card and PIN, and the result appears in the case. More in the post The online ID card in customer contact.

#Block 2: a shared view

Many follow-up calls fail not on substance but on description. "Field seven, second line, no, the one below." A phone call about a form that only one side can see costs time and patience.

A shared view solves this. Both sides see the same page or form, by video if wanted. Sensitive fields can be masked during co-browsing. Missing documents are uploaded on the spot instead of being sent in later.

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Online ID card✓ Identity confirmed

Shared view

SignatureSigned

#Block 3: a signature in the same contact

When a statement has to be legally binding, the signature comes in. A closer look pays off here, because the eIDAS regulation knows three levels: simple, advanced and qualified electronic signatures.

For German administrative procedure, section 3a of the Administrative Procedure Act lists the ways in which electronic form replaces written form. They include the qualified electronic signature and an electronic form submitted with the online ID card.

#Block 4: the result belongs in the case

The fourth block is the one most often missed. If a request is settled in the conversation but the result has to be retyped, the broken hand-off simply moves inside. It then hits the case officer instead of the citizen.

That is why result and record go back into the case. Follow-up work runs through task routing into the right workbins. Uploaded documents can be read and checked by Semantic²; how that turns into a finding is described in What Semantic² reads.

#How the blocks work together

From the citizen's side it is a single contact. From the administration's side it is five clearly separated steps, each with a record.

1. Invite: a link from chat, email or SMS opens the channel, with no download.
2. Identify: online ID card or eIDAS identity instead of an ID copy.
3. Clarify: guided dialogue with a shared view; documents are uploaded directly.
4. Sign: the signature in the same conversation, at the level the procedure requires.
5. Close: result and record go back into the case.

#What changes for the team

For the citizen service team the work shifts. Less time goes into explaining forms and chasing missing documents. More time is left for the actual question behind the call.

The order on the desktop matters here: identity, documents and signature status sit visibly on the case, not in separate windows. Whoever takes over sees at once what has been settled and what is still open. Nobody has to ask the citizen a second time.

#What the legal framework requires

Under section 1a of the German Online Access Act, federal and state governments must offer their administrative services electronically via administrative portals as well. The portal is a given. Citizen service complements it wherever questions arise.

Benefit agencies also have to observe social data protection. Which roles, recording rules and analytics apply then is covered in Social data protection in the contact centre.

#Where to start

Do not start with the whole administration; start with one service. A good candidate generates many follow-up questions and requires a signature.

The full path, with roles, documents and social data protection, is described in the guide Digital citizen service. For an overview aimed at public bodies, see Public sector.