A digital customer enquiry is a request that still needs an answer. It might arrive through a website form, email or a social account, but arrival alone does not mean someone owns the next step. For a business handling enquiries in Albany and Perth, a useful shortlist begins with that handover, rather than with the longest list of communication features.
Learn the difference between a channel and a workflow
A channel is where the customer makes contact. A workflow describes what happens afterwards: checking the request, allocating it, obtaining missing information and responding. Several channels can feed one workflow. Equally, one shared inbox can contain several different workflows that need different people.
Start with a simple distinction between a product question, a request for a quote and a concern about an existing order. Each may need different information and authority. A tool that groups all three as “new messages” still needs a way for staff to recognise the difference.
Define what the two locations change
Albany and Perth should appear in your requirements because they affect your business’s actual service arrangements, not because a supplier claims to understand a stereotypical regional or metropolitan customer. Record which team can answer each request, which locations you serve and where an enquiry needs a local check.
For example, a customer might ask whether an item can be collected from a particular premises. The useful information is the requested collection point and the person authorised to confirm availability there. Their city alone does not establish stock, delivery timing or a booking.
If your teams work different rosters, define the handover explicitly. Show who checks an enquiry received after the responsible person’s shift ends. Do not let an automatic acknowledgement imply that an Albany or Perth team is currently reviewing the request unless that is true.
Find out how customers actually contact you
Review a manageable sample of your existing enquiries, removing personal information from the planning copy. Note the channel, question type, information missing and next action. Count repeated contacts about the same unresolved issue separately from genuinely new requests when assessing workload.
The government’s market research guidance describes customer feedback, interviews and observation as research methods. Ask customers how they prefer to make a particular request and watch whether they can find the right contact route. A small sample informs your shortlist; it does not establish what every customer in either city wants.
Translate the findings into basic requirements
Useful requirements describe staff work in ordinary language. You may need to assign a request to a named person, see whether a reply has been sent, locate an earlier discussion and transfer responsibility without losing context. Decide which are necessary before considering optional automation.
- Identify the request type and relevant service location.
- Make the current responsible person visible.
- Keep a clear distinction between waiting, answered and unresolved.
- Let authorised staff find necessary previous correspondence.
- Provide a way to correct an incorrect allocation.
A status such as “closed” needs a shared meaning. It could mean a response was sent, a customer accepted an answer or the business decided no further action was possible. Choose wording that reflects your process so reports do not quietly overstate successful resolution.
Understand staff access before testing
Not everyone who answers enquiries needs access to every customer record or system setting. The ASD’s access control guidance explains limiting permissions to duties and reviewing them when roles change. Apply this to the specific information each team needs.
Use invented messages for demonstrations. Ask an ordinary staff user to receive, allocate and answer one, then transfer it to the other location. Check what the receiving person can see. A demonstration through an administrator account cannot establish that the intended staff role will work.
Build a shortlist with visible trade-offs
Keep a comparison note for each candidate showing necessary functions, unresolved questions, setup work, recurring charges and staff training. Include the work needed to connect existing contact channels and prevent an unattended second inbox becoming a hidden backlog.
Ask how correspondence can be retrieved if you change systems. A downloadable file is only helpful if an authorised receiving person can connect each message to its request, date and status. Test a small invented export before treating portability as demonstrated.
Include a request sent to the wrong location in your test. Check that transferring it does not erase the original arrival time or trigger two contradictory replies. The customer should not have to repeat the entire question simply because responsibility changed internally.
The first choice need not automate every answer. A clear allocation process can be more useful than an automatic response that cannot address the customer’s question. Review whether staff can find the next action and whether customers receive accurate expectations. Those observations provide a practical basis for choosing a tool that fits your Albany and Perth operations.