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Canada: Whitby Recognized for Improving Service Requests Using GIS

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Town of Whitby Mayor, Pat Perkins, accepted the ESRI Canada Award of Excellence at the ESRI Canada User Conference in Toronto.  John Houweling, Ontario Regional Manager, presented the award in recognition of the Town’s innovative use of ArcGIS and Cityworks.   

"This Award of Excellence goes to a very deserving organization that is dedicated to service delivery to residents," said Mr. Houweling. "Their work in centralizing operational service request calls into a GIS-based application has clearly improved services to Town residents – I wish them continued success."

The Town, with the support of ESRI Canada, reviewed the business service requirement of the Operational Services Division in 2006.  It was determined that all service requests would be tracked in a centralized database associated to a geospatial component.  Cityworks was selected to assist them in capturing and tracking service requests in a digital format. Whitby’s call-takers now respond to service requests quickly and in a standardized and consistent fashion.

The Town of Whitby uses GIS technology in a variety of applications and departments. The Town’s enterprise GIS maintains data including parcels, street centerlines, addresses, zoning, and waste collection. Data that is stored in the GIS is used within Cityworks for analysis and reports that help provide the tools to make better decisions. 

Stephanie Mazer, a development project manager for the Town says, "Operational Services staff have embraced Cityworks and ArcGIS and have communicated to other departments Cityworks’ ease-of-use, and the many benefits of accessible relevant information at their fingertips."

The implementation of Cityworks allows the Town to provide a consolidated and constant view of customer needs, and allows staff to provide accurate responses quickly, reducing caller frustration. For example, when new residents call to find out when their waste collection is scheduled, the call takers can quickly locate the caller’s address and determine the collection date. 

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