LINK Development solution streamlines university placement programme for Egyptian government

At the end of last year, LINK Development completed, in just four months, the implementation of a Microsoft Citizen Relationship Management (CiRM) solution for MSAD that involved call centre automation and integration with the Egyptian e-government gateway - "Bawaba'' as well as other ministries' portals. The project immediately improved the service offered to citizens and businesses, among them the university placement programme, Thanwaya Ama Tansik (Tansik).

"Prior to the CiRM solution, the call centre was largely dependent on paperwork. Its automation has enabled it to integrate its processes seamlessly with the government 'Bawaba' gateway and to become the engine room for Tansik", explains Hanan Abdel Meguid, CEO, LINK Development. "Automation decreased turnaround time of case handling by up to 30 per cent in general, while the convenience of the solution has led to higher use of the call centre by the public, with a doubling of overall call volume.

"The aim was to increase customer satisfaction by significantly reducing the average turnaround time and enabling the ministries to take and respond to a higher number of calls and inquiries," she adds.

Tansik was the first real and extreme test for the system involving a high level of activity over a short time period.

"We are delighted with the results," says Abdel Meguid." It came through with flying colours having quickly and efficiently handled 63,000 inquiries during a ten-day period last month. These included enquiries not just from Cairo but from 26 Governates across the country."

Over the past years an ever-increasing number of students in Egypt are requiring information regarding their university applications and placement at the same time, putting mounting pressure on the manual process.

"This year was different," says Dr Ahmed Darwish, Minister of State for Administrative Development "because the call centre and portal were successfully used to manage and simplify this process. Students no longer had to pay personal, time-consuming visits to Tansik offices. Instead they have been able to check their grades, apply for universities and check on their acceptance on-line with the call centre on hand for troubleshooting enquiries. The combined speed and accuracy of the response has removed a lot of anxiety for the youngsters, who received the information very quickly."

Meanwhile, Dr Darwish says that the success of Tansik as part of the CiRM programme marks a big step forward in the Government's agenda to improve services and promote transparency with citizens.

"We are continuously re-evaluating current processes and services and this is another illustration of our commitment to introduce new improved ways of doing things, and using technology for the benefit of the public," he said. "This is in line with the e-government initiative and HE President Mohamed Hosni Mubarak's directive to enhance public services, promote transparency, and interact with citizens at all levels."

As always, LINK Development has been a valuable partner in this project and never failed to, not only meet, but exceed expectations, from the level of quality delivered to the rapid implementation," he added. "This project only adds to the trust we have in this organization and its capabilities."

While high school graduates - and their parents - are the latest beneficiaries of the system, a wide range of citizen issues, from complaints to questions and suggestions regarding a diversity of e-Government services, can be received and tracked, and more importantly, a quick response and solution provided.

Citizens, including students, have also been accessing the bilingual government portal (www.egypt.gov.eg) in order to submit their requests, and through the automated workflow provided by the CRM module, they are immediately assigned a case number to track their enquiry.

Abdel Meguid concludes, "LINK Development has been a strategic advisor and partner on various aspects of e-Government since the start of the initiative, with work ranging from citizen relationship management solutions to the delivery of the e-government Bawaba gateway. We take great pride in our role in supporting the government in its drive to provide the best services possible to the Egyptian public."