The challenge
Strathfield Council serves approximately 50,000 residents across Sydney’s Inner West, a culturally diverse community with high expectations for digital service delivery. Like many councils, Strathfield was managing resident service requests through traditional phone and email channels, with no dedicated digital self-service option for residents on the go.
Council identified a clear opportunity: provide residents with a modern, mobile-first way to interact with council services — one that matched the way people already used their smartphones for everything from banking to grocery shopping.
- No mobile app for residents to lodge or track service requests
- High proportion of inbound calls for routine request status updates
- No push notification capability to keep residents informed proactively
- Staff unable to see a unified view of resident interactions across channels
- Legacy systems required manual data handling between departments
Why iConciergeCRM
Strathfield Council chose iConciergeCRM because it was the only platform that offered a fully branded, council-specific mobile app rather than a generic resident portal. The ability to publish a Strathfield-branded app to the Apple App Store and Google Play — with the council’s own identity, colours, and service categories — was a key differentiator.
The Cordova and Monaca-based mobile development framework used by iConciergeCRM allowed Big Technology Consulting to build and deploy a cross-platform native app efficiently, without the cost and complexity of building two separate native applications from scratch.
“The iConciergeCRM mobile app has given our residents a direct line to council services. The uptake has been strong, and the reduction in routine phone enquiries has freed up our team to focus on resolving issues rather than answering status questions.”Customer Services Manager, Strathfield Council Replace with an approved direct quote from your Strathfield Council contact.
The solution
Big Technology Consulting implemented iConciergeCRM for Strathfield Council with a strong focus on the mobile resident experience, deploying a fully branded iOS and Android application alongside the staff-facing back-end platform.
- Branded iOS app published to the Apple App Store under Strathfield Council
- Branded Android app published to Google Play Store under Strathfield Council
- Resident registration and profile management within the mobile app
- Full service request lodgement with photo attachment capability
- Real-time request tracking and status updates via push notifications
- Staff desktop interface with case management and workflow tools
- Council-configured service request categories mapped to departments
- Knowledge base integration for resident self-service before lodging
- Analytics dashboards for team leaders and management reporting
The mobile app was built using Cordova and Monaca, enabling cross-platform deployment from a single codebase — significantly reducing development time and ongoing maintenance overhead compared to building separate native iOS and Android applications.
Mobile-first design
The Strathfield deployment placed particular emphasis on the resident mobile experience. The app was designed to be intuitive for residents of all ages and digital literacy levels, with a simple three-step process: select a service category, describe the issue and attach a photo, then submit.
Push notifications keep residents informed at every stage — when their request is received, when it is assigned, and when it is resolved — eliminating the need to call the council for status updates. Residents can also view their full request history within the app, providing transparency and building trust.
From the council’s perspective, every mobile submission arrives in the staff dashboard as a fully structured service request, ready for assignment and action — no manual data entry, no email processing, no phone call transcription.
Outcomes
Mobile app in residents’ hands
Strathfield Council’s branded app is available on the Apple App Store and Google Play, giving residents a permanent, branded presence on their smartphones.
Proactive resident communication
Push notifications replaced reactive phone calls. Residents are notified at each stage of their request without needing to contact council.
Reduced routine call volumes
Self-service request lodgement and automatic status updates reduced the volume of inbound calls for routine status enquiries.
Structured digital submissions
Every mobile submission arrives as a structured service request — no manual transcription, no email triage, no data entry by staff.
Note: Replace with specific quantified outcomes confirmed with Strathfield Council — app download numbers, call volume reduction percentages, request resolution time improvements.
Technology overview
The Strathfield deployment used the iConciergeCRM platform’s mobile app framework, built on Apache Cordova and the Monaca development environment. This approach enabled:
- Single codebase deployed to both iOS and Android simultaneously
- Native device features including camera, push notifications, and GPS
- Council-branded app store listings with custom icon and splash screen
- Over-the-air updates for content changes without app store resubmission
- Secure API communication between the mobile app and iConciergeCRM back-end
Looking ahead
Big Technology Consulting continues to support Strathfield Council with ongoing platform enhancements and mobile app updates. The strong resident uptake of the mobile app has established a digital engagement channel that can be extended to additional service types as the council’s digital service delivery strategy evolves.
The Strathfield deployment demonstrates how a mid-sized council with a digitally engaged community can rapidly transform resident service delivery through a purpose-built mobile platform — without the cost and risk of a large-scale enterprise implementation.