eComplaints Online Intake and Case Management System

About the Program

Category: Information Technology (Best in Category)

Year: 2014

Consumer Affairs (DCA) was struggling to maintain five legacy database systems to manage about 5,000 consumer complaints, requests for mediations, and referrals from other agencies the Department received each year. The aging databases were unreliable, produced inconsistent reports, and required paper forms and hard copy case files. DCA program supervisors and staff teamed up with County Internal Services Department (ISD) analysts and programmers to develop a new online consumer compliant intake and case management system that replaced all five legacy databases with a single integrated system. The new system included an online submission feature allowing the public to quickly and easily submit questions, complaints, and requests online (while still retaining the option of using paper forms). The case management features helped reduce processing time, consolidate caseload information, and improve the analysis of complaint data. Implementation of the eComplaints system resulted in reductions in the processing time of new complaints, the average time to close a case, and the number of aging cases. It also led to increases in the number of cases closed and the number of successful mediations. The system enabled DCA to help more people, in less time, with improved results.