The following individuals, teams and agencies have been recognized by their peers as providing customer service excellence. Congratulations on a job well done!
Region I Regional Award Winners
Individual Award
Sandy Grossman, New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission
Sandy Grossman provides a high level of customer service to both internal and external customers of the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission. Among her many other duties, each month, Sandy coordinates the appearance of the MVC’s Chief Administrator on NJ101.5 FM’s “Ask the MVC” show. This show provides an opportunity for MVC customers to call the Chief Administrator for help with their motor vehicle problems. Sandy provides informational assistance during the program, which airs live after normal work hours. The day after the show, Sandy follows up with each of the callers who require more in-depth assistance—oftentimes requiring her to follow up with 25 to 30 individuals. Sandy’s involvement has helped to make “Ask the MVC” one of the most-listened programs on 101.5 FM.
Team Award
Commercial Bus Inspection & Investigation Unit, New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission
The New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission’s 63-person School Bus Inspection Unit ensures the safety of New Jersey’s school children. The unit performs more than 77,000 safety and emission tests each year at over 1,300 terminals statewide. The School Bus Inspection and Investigation Unit assisted in the development of the Bus Inspection System. The new system provides each mobile inspection team with a wireless-equipped laptop that allows real-time access and updates to inspection records and billing invoices at the Trenton Office Complex. The inspectors are also provided the tools to input real-time inspection data while inside the actual vehicles. The school bus inspection data is available to the public on a special section of MVC’s Web site. This allows parents and guardians to have instant vehicle history information of the school bus that transports their child each day. The information is also available to private schools and boards of education looking to procure transportation services for their districts.
Agency Award
Interactive Voice Response System Redesign Project, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation
PennDOT’s contracted driver and vehicle services call center responds to approximately 3.5 million customers each year. The Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system is available for customers 24/7. Through extensive study, PennDOT was able to identify why customers call and how the IVR could better meet their needs. PennDOT now provides its customers with increased access to information such as checking the status of a driver’s license, including application status; verifying PennDOT receipt of suspension documents; and requesting a restoration requirement letter for a diver’s license suspension. The implementation of the new IVR has increased the self-service customer success rating from 27 percent to 31 percent, equating to an additional 140,000 customers each year served through automation.
Region II Regional Award Winners
Individual Award
Stacy Sizemore, Examiner 1, Driver License Division, Alabama Department of Public Safety
Stacy was recognized for her impeccable work standards and constantly meeting the needs of a demanding and often impatient public. She has found a way to balance productivity, the desired work schedules of the Decatur, Hamilton, and Sheffield Driver License staffs, office morale and staff training needs. By doing so, she shows that she understands the staffing needs of these offices, and ensures that every office has the staff and tools to provide better service to the public. Stacy assisted in the reorganization of the Hartselle Commercial Driver License Office and helped ensure that the examiner assigned was properly trained in the required reports and proper Commercial Driver License procedures. Even through a shortage of personnel in the Decatur District, Stacy has made it possible for examiners to perform their job duties and still provide quality customer service to the citizens of Alabama.
Team Award
Gordon Brown and Deb Berlinger, STARNet (Staff Training & Resources) Development Team, Division of Driver License, Florida Department Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles
STARNet provides all front-line employees immediate access to resources such as customer service tools and tips, the Driver License Assistance Center, Monthly E-News Letter, lawful presence requirements and the Florida Examiner’s Manual among other tools. Gordon Brown and Deb Berlinger are have been recognized for developing an intranet site that allows employee to have access to necessary resources. With this new system, immediate updates can be made to the web pages to quickly notify members of any changes. This program allows personnel to serve customers accurately, without having to rely on hardcopies and outdated materials. Since the creation of STARNet, the web site has received over 30,000 hits every month.
Agency Award
Kentucky Department of Vehicle Regulation
With a need for providing information to the public in the most convenient way possible, Kentucky’s One Stop Shop was created. The entire Kentucky Transportation Cabinet was moving to a new building thus allowing them to design the layout of an efficient One Stop Shop to meet the needs of the taxpayers and staff. The One Stop Shop is composed of Driver Licensing, Motor Carriers, and Motor Vehicle Licensing departments. The staff is cross-trained so that all services can be provided from all departments. Since the implementation of the One Stop Shop, many improvements have been made. The Shop now have cubicles that ensure confidentiality with customers, handheld pagers provided to customers upon signing in and the use of the Scotland Yard Software, which lets the receptionist know which clerks are available, if a clerk is with a customer, at lunch, out sick or when they will be back at their workstation just by looking at the receptionist’s computer monitor. The One Stop Shop stays open until all customers who have signed in have been served.
Region III Regional Award Winners
Individual Award
Syndi Worrel, North Dakota
Syndi is being recognized for her role in design and opening of the Express Renewal Office in Fargo, North Dakota. As she traveled the state, Syndi recognized that the conditions at the Fargo driver’s license office had become difficult and frustrating for the public due to congestion and limited office space. When an adjacent room became available, Syndi began planning for an “Express Renewal Office.” She spent time observing traffic flow and listening to customers waiting in line. Syndi was instrumental in designing the space, securing funding for the furniture, and rerouting walk-in traffic to make the Fargo office flow better for staff and customers alike. Syndi assists in the offices by taking the hands—sometimes literally—of elderly applicants and guiding them through the licensing or non-driver identification process. She will “jump” in to help at the front counter or run road tests at a moment’s notice to accommodate the public and examiners. Syndi also realizes the importance of partnerships to promote safety and makes an effort to respond to invitations for public speaking and conducting training for law enforcement. Thanks in part to Syndi’s work, the Fargo Express Renewal Office served approximately 11,000 customers more efficiently than ever before.
Team Award
Waukesha DMV Service Center Team, Division of Motor Vehicles, Wisconsin Department of Transportation
The Waukesha DMV Service Center Team has developed their own “Rules of the Road,” which have become the guiding force behind the local DMV initiative to better serve the customers while maintaining an open team atmosphere. The “Rules of the Road” are: Maintain and nurture team relationships; meet daily to review ideas for service improvement or alter internal procedures; optimize the utilization of all resources; preplan and be prepared to deal with daily challenges; be vigilant in the review and application of the highest standards of document scrutiny; realize that individual customers may have individual needs and adjust procedures; utilize all resources available to assist non-English speaking customers; and rally to support one another in the absence of the Team Leader or Supervisor. For calendar year 2006, the maximum number of employees available for work at the Waukesha customer service center was 14, 5 of whom were part time employees. Additionally the team assisted the Elkhorn and Racine stations during staff shortages. During the year, all examiners completed and successfully passed the AAMVA examiner test, making 100 percent of all examiners in Waukesha AAMVA-certified. The Waukesha examiners willingly and enthusiastically work overtime on weekends, conducting skills tests in order to meet customer demands and minimize inside-DMV office wait times. Employees traveled to local high schools to administer written and vision tests, also helping to reduce wait times. In the first three quarters of 2006, the Waukesha team processed over 108,000 customer licensing and registration applications and collected over $6 million while maintaining a financial accuracy of 99.81 percent. The positive feedback from customers includes “You guys rock my world.”
Agency Award
Milwaukee Central Bilingual Customer Service Center, Wisconsin Division of Motor Vehicles
With the increase in customers who were limited in English, there was a need for a service center that was staffed by bilingual employees. The Wisconsin Division of Motor Vehicles reached out to a number of community organizations in the area to assist in determining what the actual need was and solicit input from elected officials and the community. A community organization offered lease space in their facility, which was centrally located to the target customers. The office served 45,070 driver license and vehicle registration transactions and 1,500 in the first 11 months. The initiative has helped increase the level of service and a noticeable percentage of limited-English proficient and/or non-English speaking customers now patronize the bilingual center. Having a bilingual center reduces customer apprehension experienced by some when conducting business in a regulatory government agency. The opening of this center has helped improve overall customer service and wait times at other locations as well.
Region IV Award Winners
Individual Award
Thomas Adams, Communications Officer 2, Vancouver (District 5), Washington State Patrol
Thomas Adams began his career with the Washington State Patrol in 2001 as a Communications Officer with the Vancouver Communications Center. He was promoted to CO2, due in no small part to his superior performance, dedication to the job, positive attitude and willingness to “go above and beyond.” As a CO2, he is expected to assist the center’s Communications Training Officer with ongoing training for all employees. Tom routinely provides new material and “fresh” approaches. He has made training fun and entertaining—and something his co-workers look forward to doing. He uses quiz-making software and designs quizzes at home on his own time. In addition, Tom began using his self-taught computer skills to adapt and improve an intranet Web page for use by the Communications Center’s employees. It’s so popular that some COs in other centers actually us his Web page even though they are in another district. Because of this success, Tom was appointed to be the Webmaster for the District’s public web page. He is the only Communications Officer in the agency performing this duty. Tom continues to provide consistent, excellent customer service to both internal and external users.
Team Award
Clear Communications Program Team, Washington State Department of Licensing
Plain Talk was designed as a new writing approach from the Washington State Department of Licensing to its customers. This customer-friendly style of writing is now required of all employees. Plain Talk documents speak to DOL’s intended audience in language that is easy to understand, promoting customers to comprehend intended messages the first time they read them. Using Plain Talk principles will help agency performance by reducing phone calls and questions from customers, producing fewer complaints and improving compliance. The agency-wide implementation of Plain Talk included: creating an intranet site for a one-stop resource with useful tips and tools for success; instituting an agency policy requiring all employees to use Plain Talk principles in written communications; requiring all 1,100 employees to take the online, self-paced training within the first week of appointment; requiring all current employees to complete the training; offering in-depth training to all employees; and placing resources throughout each division to help co-workers with peer reviews, usability tests or other Plain Talk questions. In 2006, 1,192 DOL employees (95 percent) completed the state’s first online Plain Talk training program and more than 435 employees across the state took part in the agency’s comprehensive class. More than 600 new Web pages following Plain Talk principles were created, all agency forms were renamed to make them easier to identify, and more than 250 forms, letters, brochures, mailers and administrative rules were rewritten to apply Plain Talk principles.
Agency Award
Web site Redesign, Washington State Department of Licensing
The Washington State Department of Licensing serves nearly every citizen by licensing drivers, vehicles, and new businesses with more than 30 types of professional licenses. DOL’s Web site was redesigned through a process called “user-centered design.” Through the process, DOT researched, defined and selected key user groups and re-architected and redesigned the site based on their input and Web usage. The selected key users were comprised of two groups—the general public (customers who have or need driver’s licenses, own cars or boats, etc.) and small business owners and managers. While the former Web site had a system usability scale rating of 55.4, the new site has a usability scale rating of 82.5. The Web site has allowed visitors to find what they need with half as many page views. In addition, the number of online transactions continued to increase at a consistent rate, the number of Call Center calls consisted of fewer complaints about the Web site, and most other types of calls decreased in frequency. The new Web site contains a promotions spot on the homepage, the content of which is changed every two weeks.