Appcare, the new name for webcare via WhatsApp, is hot. The messaging service is the new kid on the block in webcare departments. Earlier, several companies shared their first experiences . Municipalities are also discovering this new form of webcare. Some started a trial, even more express the ambition to also be reachable via WhatsApp. But what does it take for municipalities to organize this? We asked several municipalities themselves.
The annual research into social media and
municipalities (to be published on 15 September) shows that 11 percent of the 393 municipalities use WhatsApp as an external communication channel. 2 percent indicate that they already have a number, but do not communicate this to the outside world. Various municipalities such as Utrecht, ukraine phone number libraryGroningen and also smaller municipalities such as Hof van Twente see opportunities to use the messenger service.
The municipality of Lelystad started its ‘appcare’ in mid-August. The municipality of Terneuzen is the expert by experience in the Netherlands and has been testing WhatsApp as a webcare channel for two years, but is still a positive exception. We asked the municipalities of Terneuzen and Lelystad about their experiences with the new webcare channel. The experiences are still in their early stages, but no less interesting for municipalities as an orientation on the use of WhatsApp.
With some 9.7 million Dutch users, it is actually strange that WhatsApp did not gain a foothold in munic india number list ipalities earlier. Everyone knows and uses it. Terneuzen saw the potential in it two years ago. A special working group wanted to investigate whether the service could also be used for customer contact:
We are accessible to our residents in
all possible ways. WhatsApp is a nice, accessible and user-friendly addition to these existing channels. what is the purpose of an area graph? It also ties in with the municipality’s channel policy and the motto ‘digital where possible’.”WhatsApp the
The municipality of Lelystad started in early August 2015 and is initially using the app on a project basis: