Cloud computing has launched us into the 21st century like an acrobat out of a cannon. File sharing and backup, remote workers, thin clients, hosted contact centers, the list goes on and on, but one thing it hasn’t helped with are dreaded government documents. Or has it?
Most of us netfile our taxes these days, which is far better than printing out novel sized tax returns, cramming them into envelopes and waiting in line at the post office. But even more interesting than taxes, if there is such a thing, is a proposal in Vancouver to create an app for city services.
We’ve all had to stand in line at one government office or another to get a form, fill out the form, then get back in line to submit the form. It’s time consuming and often aggravating, but that could all be coming to a foreseeable end. Councillor Andrea Reimer will be motioning at Vancouver City Hall to create a new mobile phone app that will give citizens access to city services and information.
Vancouver’s Mayor, Gregor Robertson, is fully behind the motion, which tells me that the next long line up I stand in will be at an amusement park. Vancouver isn’t breaking new ground here. The U. S. Federal Government has jumped into cloud adoption with two feet and many North American governmental organizations are using the Telax hosted contact center solution. Some universities are even offering Master’s in cloud computing these days. The bandwagon is filling up.
Allowing people to obtain permits through a smartphone helps on both sides of the counter, and ideas that help everybody are the best kind.
Tags: app, call center, cloud computing, contact center, government, hosted call center, smartphone, telax