Snap Send Solve a win for accessibility | ourballarat autumn 2023
Residents across the municipality are easily reporting local issues to the City of Ballarat via the free Snap Send Solve app.
As a Customer Experience Officer, Josh has first-hand knowledge of how busy the City of Ballarat customer service phone lines can be.
“We take between 340 and 650 calls a day, with residents reporting issues or seeking information,” Josh says.
While Customer Experience staff are equipped to escalate issues to relevant departments, the process is not always simple for the resident.
“This can be further complicated if the resident is from a Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) background and is not confident speaking on the phone,” Josh says.
“We have translation and interpreting services. However, this can add a layer of complexity to the call for the resident.”
Increasing Accessibility
The City of Ballarat entered a partnership with app Snap Send Solve in September 2022.
Prior to the partnership, residents could still report issues via the free app however the partnership has enabled a range of improved features.
Available 24/7 and in multiple languages, Snap Send Solve is both more efficient and more accessible than a phone call — residents can make a report in less than 30 seconds. It also has GPS locator capabilities, which makes reporting issues simple.
“Ballarat is a diverse city — Snap Send Solve takes the effort out of reporting issues to the City of Ballarat, particularly for people from CALD backgrounds,” Josh says.
The app allows residents to take up to five photographs and provides the GPS location of the problem.
Getting things done
In the first three months of the City of Ballarat’s partnership with Snap Send Solve, residents lodged more than 900 reports via the app.
The City of Ballarat is working to address the reports submitted via the app.
An example of a report submitted to the app was a broken park bench in Lake Gardens.
Within a month, City of Ballarat staff had attended the site, assessed the damage, scheduled the works and repaired the park bench.
How to use Snap, Send, Solve
Download Snap Send Solve from the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store.
City of Ballarat Council Plan Alignment
The projects, initiatives, and ideas in this article align with the following goals of the City of Ballarat Council Plan 2021-2025:
Goal 4
A city that conserves and enhances our natural and built assets