Applying Online Booking Systems & Online Scheduling Systems within Local Government

For the periods between 2013 and 2014, and 2019 and 2020, the Guardian reported that Council Tax will be spent by local government and authorities most prominently in care for vulnerable adults, looking after children, bin collection, and children’s education. As these matters can be emotionally-charged, it is essential that public engagement tools like government room and service booking systems are effectively applied when gathering public opinions through council meetings, information events and private appointments. Fast and accessible booking systems can help enhance the quality of government service and reputation, making sure citizens feel that their needs are being met, while limiting bureaucracy’s potential impact on public engagement quality.

Local government can apply online booking software to fulfil a multitude of different purposes, including arranging public activities, school meetings, waste collection and registrar appointments, collecting RSVPs for events, and organising everyday leisure and educational programmes. In simple terms, applying booking software on a local government and council level, helps ensure that people’s engagement with community leaders and public services is as streamlined and effective as possible.

Potential applications for improving the lives of employees through room booking systems, and the other bonuses they can bring to government offices, should likewise not be overlooked.

The below are a few more detailed benefits that government booking systems can have for constituencies, and for employees.

 

For public clients and information-seekers:

• Quick, easy appointment making and room booking – There are plenty of disadvantages of old-fashioned phone booking systems, such as long waits on hold, restricted calling hours, and excessive admin work, to name but a few. BookingLive’s efficient software can be directly incorporated into any website’s design, letting you easily signpost the booking service, and letting your customers make arrangements as fast as they would over the phone.

• Round-the-clock booking – Letting your clients make bookings after business hours solves a few problems. It means that their planning and your customer services don’t have to be limited to the 9-to-5 day, and that emergency services can be always on hand.

• Good for external partners and professionals – Beyond its public engagement applications, booking software can also be used to set up partner meetings, press conferences, and other professional events. Fast and simple access means that busy professionals can spend minimal time lining up meetings, and while mobile accessibility makes the tool even more practical and accessible.

For you and your employees:

• Organising meeting rooms and other employee facilities – Rooms available for internal meetings and events need to be carefully managed, and require good quality room scheduling applications needing minimal training, and designed to prevent both overbooking and underuse. Emailed reminders will keep all employees on the same page and make sure everyone shows up, while reporting tools will help indicate which rooms are being underutilized.

• Keeping data secure and accessible – Off-location data storage is particularly useful, as it allows sensitive data to be stored securely, but also remain available for extraction into visual formats which can be used to support planning. They can make it easy to determine the degree to which KPIs are being met, meaning strategies can be altered accordingly.

• Cost savings – Eliminating admin and public engagement costs is beneficial for any organization. Streamlining how event and services are managed has the potential to save local governments considerable funds, which can then be applied to critical public services.

• Fighting bureaucracy – Every large organisation faces problems related to size and complexity, and governments are no different. In both their internal and external applications, booking systems can eliminate the potential impacts of bureaucracy. This efficiency shows appreciation for civil servant’s time, and reminds the public that the government is there to support them and work for them.

 

Why BookingLive is great for governments

Some features of our software are beneficial in any situation. We’ve designed it to be flexible, customisable, accessible, and easy to use – the qualities that we presented in our blog on best business software for 2018. It can be seamlessly fitted into any website design or colour scheme.

There are also some benefits that make BookingLive’s software particularly great for governments. It offers multi-use resource management, coordinating a multitude of services from the one digital platform. It can be accessed by employees and the public not only through desktops, but also through mobile devices and tablets. Its customisable and flexible nature means it can keep pace with innovation and invention, while giving civil servants more time for coming up with creative solutions to persistent problems. BookingLive’s software is compatible with the most popular office applications used in the public sector and we are also a G-Cloud Approved Supplier.

If you’re using BookingLive’s government booking software, we’d love to hear how you are applying it. If you’re thinking of using our software, please check out our case studies, and contact us if you have any questions about what we offer!