OroCRM system implementation for citizen-centric governance

Our client is a local Argentinian municipal authority. With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the client’s custom platform became inefficient at managing numerous public appeals from citizens. Lacking automation, CRM features, and integration capabilities, the platform was unable to process the increasing volume of citizen requests, distribute these requests across various departments based on relevant competencies, and support department-specific permissions. To centralize citizen data in one system, optimize government–citizen communication through automation, and effectively manage citizen relationships, the municipal authority needed a tailored CRM solution that could integrate with third-party communication systems. Given EffectiveSoft’s proven track record of implementing CRM solutions, the client chose us to tackle the project.

To achieve the established goals, we embedded the OroCRM platform into the client’s infrastructure, extending its communication functionality with email, SMS, and call center integrations. We also implemented necessary customizations to meet the authority’s departmental needs and workflows. We addressed the client’s needs by:

Building integrations for email and SMS sending

As OroCRM’s built-in email and SMS functionality was limited, we integrated the platform with email and SMS API services, including AWS SES, Doppler, SparkPost, Mailgun, and SNS. These services significantly elevated OroCRM’s email and SMS capabilities, enabling the system to effectively manage an increased volume of emails and text messages and support batch sending.

Creating functionality for IP and external call management

To help the client effectively make and receive IP and external calls within OroCRM, reduce wait times for callers, accelerate feedback collection, and boost citizen satisfaction, we incorporated interactive voice response (IVR) technology into the system. IVR enabled automated call management and facilitated scheduling calls, managing call queues, routing calls to the appropriate departments or agents, and collecting relevant citizen data.

Profiling and optimizing the OroCRM’s database performance

We profiled the performance of the OroCRM’s database to identify bottlenecks and pinpoint areas for optimization. As the database stored relevant information about 40 million citizens and imported messages from the integrated systems, tasks were processed asynchronously as background jobs, resulting in increased latency and delayed task completion. By implementing RabbitMQ and ActiveMQ message brokers, we enabled efficient queue management and horizontal scaling. This increased scalability, performance, and overall efficiency, allowing OroCRM to process a greater number of messages daily. Additionally, our developers addressed synchronization and deadlock issues that had caused data conflicts and errors because of concurrent updates across various threads. By updating the queues and deploying 16–24 consumers, we eliminated errors and enabled the system to process over 10 million messages per day. As a result of these optimizations, OroCRM’s database performance was significantly enhanced. It now supports up to 100 million database records and manages far more extensive volumes of data.

Upgrading the OroCRM’s source code

To safeguard the platform against potential vulnerabilities, improve its performance, facilitate further maintenance and support, and reduce technical debt, we upgraded the OroCRM’s source code to the latest PHP 8.3 and Symfony 6.4 versions.

EffectiveSoft successfully completed the project, meeting the client’s precise requirements. By implementing the OroCRM platform and tailoring it to specific demands, we helped the municipal authority automate the communication process with citizens, ensuring quicker and more efficient handling of incoming requests. The solution we delivered enhanced the transparency of government processes, improved accessibility to public services, and elevated service quality, fostering trust between the local government and citizens and bringing their interactions to the next level of efficiency.