FORT JACKSON, S.C. -- Smart phones give users the capabilities to do anything from video chats to voting for the next American Idol. Now your phone can serve as a direct line to the Fort Jackson garrison commander.
The Interactive Customer Evaluation program has been used by customers to tell managers great and not so great things about service provided for the past 10 years. ICE personnel have recently developed a Quick Response code that lets customers submit ICE comments electronically through their iPhone, BlackBerry or Android with a scan of the code instead of using cards that could take up to a month for feedback.
The new system is a product of an objective established by the garrison commander one year ago.
"The commander wanted us to look at ways to integrate smart phone technology into our ICE process," said Jim Olsen of Plans, Analysis, and Integration Office, who manages the program now. "Since we have lost our staff that was dedicated to the ICE cards, it makes it much faster for the customer to just submit the cards online and within three days they will get a response from the management of the facility."
When customers use the popular yellow ICE cards and boxes in facilities on post, there is quite a significant lag time between when a card is submitted and when it is entered into the system
for action.
"I go out and collect all of the cards from the boxes, that alone usually takes all day," said Alma Durant at PAIO. "Then on another day we will begin entering the cards into the system with the help of office members and our volunteer, Leigh Williams. With all of the cards we deal with, that could be a few weeks later when a card finally gets added."
According to Olsen, the ICE personnel see more than 25,000 yellow cards each year.
"It's a great program and we enjoy the response. At the end of the day, to make this program sustainable, we really need to move away from the hard copy cards to the electronic ICE comments," Olsen said.
The changes in staff have also led the development of the "Tell the Commander" program.
"This is for people who have brought an issue to their chain of command or management of a facility and still have not received an answer or resolution they are satisfied with," Olsen said. "They can submit the issue directly to the garrison commander and he can work those issues out."
The new sounding board for Fort Jackson customers has been effective in its early months of existence.
"We've seen some great comments come through that really show critical thinking and suggestions on how things can change for the better," Olsen said. "It's good to get the positive comments, but we really look for those with suggestions for change because that's when things happen."
New ICE posters featuring Uncle Sam are posted in various locations on Fort Jackson with the QR code displayed and ready for scanning. To make sure that your voice is heard, be sure to answer all the questions in the survey.
"All of the answers in the ICE submissions are important, but what we really want to know is if you were satisfied with your experience," Olsen said. "If not, we want to move toward fixing it and really listening to the voice of the customer to make this post a better place."
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