Life in the service fast lane

Ensuring the safety of UK road users
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is one of several agencies helping people to stay safe on Great Britain’s roads. It carries out driving tests, approves people to be driving instructors and MOT testers, and conducts tests to make sure lorries and buses are safe to drive, along with roadside checks on drivers and vehicles. DVSA has 4,800 employees, the majority of whom work away from an office environment.

A digital-first, all-mobile operation
In recent years DVSA has taken huge strides to become a digital-first operation. Roadside checks and driving tests are managed on iPhones and iPads, office workers have laptops, and Office 365 is standard. This has required a rethink of the support given to staff. The agency wanted to create a streamlined service approach that would allow round-the-clock support. This would allow for greater self-service and the introduction of virtual agents.

Implementing a new service portal
The adoption of the Now Platform has transformed DVSA’s service outlook. UK-based service partner, FlyForm, working to ServiceNow’s design best practice, built a portal on the Now Platform that has steadily grown in terms of self-service and automation. As COVID-19 impacted, and office staff were required to work from home, FlyForm helped to build up the service catalog, from ordering IT office supplies, to guaranteeing the swift delivery of road safety and personal protective equipment for frontline staff.

“ServiceNow allows me to see what work is scheduled and share that workload equitably across the team,” says a DVSA service desk team leader. “Supporting colleagues is now more important than ever as we are all working remotely, and the information I get from ServiceNow helps me balance statistics, performance, and identify any issues our users may have.”

Transforming service expectations
ServiceNow IT Service Management Pro is at the core of DVSA’s new service position. Today, the agency has more than 225 catalog items available to answer staff requests. ServiceNow Virtual Agent has helped deflect 55% of calls, and all staff can raise incidents and requests from a smartphone. And the ‘smartness’ of the portal continues to grow—there has been a 370% increase in knowledge articles viewed each month since launch.

Focus on the user
The aim is to maintain momentum, particularly around the user experience. Integration with the HappySignals experience management platform and ServiceNow Performance Analytics will enable DVSA to collect users’ feedback and usage behavior to inform future updates. In addition, it is exploring Predictive Intelligence, Software Asset Management, and further CMDB enrichment.

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