Synopsis
When its Lotus-based case management platform reached end of life, a government tax department worked with BP3 to build a replacement on IBM Business Automation Workflow. The new application routes roughly 4,000 daily taxpayer inquiries to the right team out of approximately 300, integrates data from multiple systems to support each decision, and tracks every case to closure. Taxpayers now receive first contact within two working days, the average case closes in three, and the department meets its service level agreements on a platform built to evolve with the service.
Every working day, a government tax department receives thousands of calls from taxpayers. Many are resolved immediately. Around 4,000, though, need more than an instant answer: back-office verification, routing to the right specialist team, and structured follow up until the case is closed. At that volume, the system managing the work is the service.
For years, that system was a Lotus-based application. It had done its job, but the platform was reaching end of life, as every platform eventually does. Rather than patch around a retiring system, the department used the transition as an opportunity to raise the standard of the service itself, and engaged BP3 to build the replacement.
BP3 developed and maintains a new case management application on IBM Business Automation Workflow. Each incoming inquiry is routed to the right team out of approximately 300 based on its subject, with the option to reassign when a case turns out to belong elsewhere. The application integrates data from multiple source systems so that the people handling each case have what they need to decide, and it prioritizes making first contact with the taxpayer within the first two working days.
The results hold up under real-world pressure. Despite fluctuating volumes, the application consistently manages around 4,000 new cases daily, and the average case concludes within three days. The department has full visibility into the lifecycle of every inquiry, which means service level agreements are not just met but monitored continuously.
The broader lesson applies well beyond tax administration. When a legacy platform approaches end of support, the cheapest-looking option is usually to keep it alive a little longer. This department took the other path: treat the deadline as a design opportunity, and come out of it with a service that works better than the one it replaced.
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