Informing proactively: appointments, deadlines and status in citizen service

Anyone who works in citizen service knows the questions. Has my application arrived? Is anything missing? When is my appointment? How far along is my case? Every one of these questions is legitimate. And every one can be answered before it is asked.

Proactive notifications reverse the direction. The citizen no longer has to chase; the administration gets in touch when something changes. This post shows which occasions are suitable, and what belongs in a message and what does not.

#Which occasions are suitable

Not every step in a procedure needs a message. Suitable moments are those in which people would otherwise call, or in which they have to do something themselves.

The right-hand column is decisive. A message without a way back creates new calls: the citizen now knows something is missing but not how to submit it.

#What belongs in a message and what does not

Notifications by SMS or email are not a protected space. They show up on lock screens, in shared inboxes and on family tablets. So the rule is: as much as necessary, as little as possible.

With social benefits, restraint is mandatory. Whatever social data contains belongs behind a login, not in a smartphone preview. More on this in Social data protection in the contact centre.

#Timing and frequency

A reminder that comes too early is forgotten before it matters. One that comes too late leaves no time to act. For appointments, a reminder a few days ahead makes sense; for deadlines, add a second one shortly before they expire.

Restraint matters just as much. Anyone who gets a message for every internal processing step soon stops reading them. Report only what means something to the citizen: a new status, a task or an appointment.

And send at times when people can respond. A message at 11 pm about a missing document causes more worry than it helps.

#Legal basis and consent

For public authorities the situation differs from that of companies. For official notices without promotional content, the yardstick is generally data protection law rather than competition law.

Processing can rest on the performance of a task in the public interest (Article 6(1)(e) GDPR), provided a legal provision supports it. Where that is not clear-cut, or for additional channels such as SMS, consent is the clearer route.

#The way back: from notice to completed step

The best notification is one after which no call is needed. For that, the link in the message must lead straight to the next step.

With the Univerx Channel, a link from SMS or email opens a guided dialogue, with no app to download. There, citizens can upload documents, clear up questions and confirm details where needed.

For identification, the Channel is designed for the German online ID and eIDAS identities.

Sign4 / 5

Online ID card✓ Identity confirmed

Shared view

SignatureSigned

#Measuring the effect without promises

Whether notifications actually reduce calls depends on your procedures. A blanket figure would be a guess. It can still be measured, with your own data.

1. Establish the baseline. How many contacts today are about status, appointments and missing documents? Conversation analytics sorts contacts by topic.
2. Introduce one occasion. Start with one occasion, such as the missing-document message, in one procedure.
3. Compare. Do contacts on exactly this topic develop differently from before? Does the share of complete submissions rise?
4. Expand. Only when the first occasion holds up does the next one follow.

#Accessible and understandable

A notification reaches everyone, so everyone must be able to understand it. Plain language, short sentences and a way back that works with screen readers and magnification are part of the design. The post Accessible web messaging lists ten checkpoints.

#How Univerx supports this

Notifications in Univerx Outbound send notices by SMS, email or messaging without an agent having to act.

Journey orchestration triggers them when something changes in the procedure. The Univerx Channel closes the way back: result and record go back into the case, so caseworkers can see what has arrived.

The guide Digital citizen service: identity, documents, case covers the whole path from application to decision.