New service technology has real payoffs for Lakewood residents . . . and city government . . . in a "virtual" city hall. Not only do fast, relatively low cost computers and software programs make it possible for city hall to stay "open" twenty-four hours a day, but the technology also shortens the time it takes to process residents' requests for service and information.
Lakewood Online has this "Service Central" where residents with Internet access can e-mail a request to city hall to repair a streetlight, remove graffiti, or report an abandoned vehicle. CityLine, the city’s automated phone system, is a similar service, requiring a touchtone phone, for recording service requests.
Service representatives at city hall respond to Lakewood Online e-mail and CityLine recorded requests on the city's next business day. If you need more information about a city program or service, staff members will call back with the information or a referral. If we need more information from you, we'll call you at your daytime phone number.
The technology payoff is improved responsiveness and greater access for residents and cost savings for the city.
It's 'high touch' too
The technology behind our Lakewood Online website and CityLine automated information system won't replace the "human touch" that residents want and expect from city hall. As John Naisbitt points out in his book Megatrends, "Whenever new technology is introduced, there must be a counterbalancing human response-high touch-or the 'high tech' is rejected."
"High touch" complements "high tech" at Lakewood's twenty-four hour city hall, because the new services are fully interactive: CityLine has a "Frequently Asked Questions" section that directs callers to the most asked questions about city services and advises callers how to record a service request.
Lakewood Online includes a powerful website search engine that allows users to find what they are looking for by typing key words or just general concepts. The city's website also includes hundreds of hypertext links to related information elsewhere on the website or on other sites throughout the World Wide Web.
Real people will respond all day, every day, if residents have a service emergency-a water leak or a downed stop sign, for example. After business hours, callers with a touchtone telephone can call the main city hall number and activate a pager carried by the city's emergency crew chief. Residents with a rotary phone can call the Lakewood Sheriff's Station at 623-3500. Sheriff's staff will alert the emergency crew.
Lakewood may have a "virtual" city hall, but it is staffed by real people who know that "human touch" service and "high tech" access are a winning combination.
