Department of Economic Development joins Dubai eGovernment's AskDubai platform

DED is the seventh government department to go live on the AskDubai platform for providing a more dynamic and interactive communication channel to the public.

Callers can obtain information on all vital issues concerning Licencing, including change of trade name, registration amendments, cancellation of licence, registration of companies, professional business company, branch of a foreign company, representative office of a foreign company or banking liaison office, licence renewal requirements, fees for all types of registrations, capital requirements.

When calling AskDubai on 700040000, customers can easily track the status of their transactions with the Department of Economic Development by simply providing the Transaction Reference to the customer service representative. The status will be instantly given while the customer is on hold.

The AskDubai contact center will also provide information related to Commercial Permits, including all aspects of organizing sales, promotions, raffles, draws, exhibitions as well as online payments, cancellation of permits for advertising signboards, licences for Internet cafes, permits for counters and kiosks, satellite offices and rules and regulations for all the above activities.

'With Dubai's standing as the region's commercial hub rising every year, the pressure on the Department of Economic Development has increased,' said Mr. Ali Ibrahim, Deputy General Director for Executive Affairs, Department of Economic Development. 'There has been a manifold increase in the number of commercial establishments setting up businesses and those applying for commercial permits for diverse business activities in Dubai. This implies an increased number of queries regarding documentation, fees and other requirements. It is, therefore, no longer feasible to deliver these services through in-house inquiry service.'

'We have been studying closely AskDubai's state of the art technologies that give multiple access using advanced CRM systems, allowing interactive 24-hour response mechanisms. AskDubai offers an ideal combination of agents and electronic systems to deliver customer satisfaction. We have collaborated with AskDubai to ensure that agents are fully trained in all aspects of our services so that they can provide accurate guidance to callers.'

'It is a matter of great pride for Dubai eGovernment that such a pivotal department as the Department of Economic Development has joined AskDubai,' said Mahmood Al Bastaki, Business Process Re-engineering Consultant, Dubai eGovernment. 'AskDubai has been designed to handle the large-volume calls generated by departments like DED. We expect the trend of outsourcing the call centre requirements to gain further momentum, as it allows government departments to focus on their core operations and leave the management of customer response mechanisms to experts. AskDubai provides the ideal solution through multiple choice of communication such as the Internet, fax, voice mail, SMS and agents.'

Outlining the advantages of an integrated and shared call centre for government departments, Al Bastaki said AskDubai served as a single point of contact to government departments in Dubai, and it was accessible round the clock, provided bilingual support through multiple channels and unified inquiries, complaints and feedback.

Since its launch in June 2003, AskDubai has been adopted by six government departments, namely Dubai Police, Dubai Development Board, Dubai Land Department, Dubai Municipality, Dubai Civil Defence and DOHMS. It has handled more than 75,000 inbound calls and 1,500 emails as of July 2004. In addition, it initiated more than 23,000 outbound calls and 700 online chats.

Customers can contact AskDubai on phone line 7000 40000 or submit their queries to help@dubai.ae available on the portal www.dubai.ae or send a fax on 04 330 3399. Those wishing to post comments can go to 'Feedback.' There is a facility to chat online with one of the agents. Users can also go to the 'Schedule a Callback' link to be called back at an appointed time. They can choose 'Chat and Talk' link if they want a representative to call them back on the telephone while they are still chatting online.