In spite of government's modest level of experience with electronic service delivery, certain best practices are emerging. Take IVR, which is used to run telephone filing and payment services. Studies and experience in the field show that callers have a certain comprehension threshold beyond which they have difficulty following spoken instructions. The best IVR services are those that are short and to the point. Too many options only confuse callers.
Flexibility is another virtue of successful electronic services.
NIGP's first electronic purchasing service failed because it was too inflexible for people's needs, explained D'Arcy Roper, NIGP's vice president for services. NIGP learned from its mistakes, however. Government purchasing agencies that use EC4GOV can conduct electronic procurement via EDI, the Internet or fax. Agencies can contract with EC4GOV to come in and develop an entire electronic procurement system, or they can simply buy the products they need to build their own system. It's very flexible, said Roper.