Case Study: City of Madison achieves enhanced resident engagement and faster service response with Accela Service Request Management

Enhancing Engagement and City Responsiveness to Resident Service Requests

The City of Madison partnered with Accela to upgrade its Report a Problem portal after discovering that roughly 15,000 annual submissions were handled via email distribution lists and manual copy‑and‑paste processes. That approach created inconsistent workflows, no automated tracking or public visibility into request status, extra staff burden, and gaps in engagement—especially among underserved communities—limiting the city’s ability to respond equitably and efficiently.

A 12‑member cross‑departmental team implemented Accela’s Service Request Management (with other Accela modules as needed) for five high‑use forms, automating assignment, routing, and integration with external systems and enabling residents to track request status online. The result: reduced manual workload, real‑time performance monitoring for managers, clearer visibility and “closed‑loop” communication for residents, improved engagement and sense of ownership, and data to better target services and scale the solution to additional forms.

City of Madison

Eric Olson

Web Development Manager