By Tim Cherry
Staff writer
Thursday, September 6, 2012

A customer feedback tool provides Fort Belvoir patrons a leading role in enhancing the installation’s businesses.

The Interactive Customer Evaluation program, also known as ICE, is a Department of Defense web-based initiative that gives customers a web based platform to voice anonymous complaints and compliments about service-providers such as the Directorate of Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation and Directorate of Logistics.

ICE helps organizations improve problems within their services while empowering customers to have a say in the operation of post businesses, said Donna Landon, Plans, Analysis & Integration Office, management analyst.

“The speed of the process makes it a benefit as management is enabled to enact potential fixes or acknowledges in a timely manner,” Landon said. “ICE is effective and it does get results.”

The program’s link is located on Belvoir’s website’s homepage at www.belvoir.army.mil and any patron can use the tool to provide instant feedback of post services. The feedback can include, but is not limited to, opinions on individual employees or the services of an organization as a whole.

Most of Belvoir’s tenants and directorates are in the ICE system with the garrison having 175 services listed. According to Landon, the garrison’s approval rating rose from 90 percent to 94 percent during the last year. The number of submissions during this time span was 7,800 which is nearly 24 percent greater than the 6,000 responses ICE typically receives annually, Landon said.

Landon attributes this increase to the ICE program’s increased visibility, through promotion, on Belvoir and throughout the Army. The increased approval rating may also indicate the ICE program is fulfilling its purpose as garrison businesses continue to improve their organizations using customer feedback.

Sally Haskell, Child, Youth and School Services chief, said CYSS benefits greatly from the ICE program.

“Positive feedback is a tremendous staff motivator. It provides documentation that helps us recognize staff efforts and it helps us all validate when we are meeting the needs of our Families,” Haskell said. “Similarly, feedback with concerns lets us know where we need to improve. It gives us a chance to change a challenging situation to a positive outcome.”

CYSS is a Directorate of Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation program, which receives a large portion of the ICE submissions from customers. During the last year, DFMWR received 3,100 submissions and a 92 percent approval rating.

Haskell said the feedback concerning CYSS provides them with customer insight that allows CYSS to make better decisions and enhance the program.

CYSS promotes quarterly ICE campaigns where the organization pushes for submission from parents to maintain a continuous flow of feedback.

“All of this helps give parents confidence in our program and shows them that their input counts,” Haskell said.

To access Belvoir’s ICE program, click on the blue ICE link in the center of Belvoir’s website homepage. The ICE page provides several categories to choose from such as health, housing, administration and recreation.

People can find the proper service by either searching a category or by entering the name or location of a service in the search field at the top right of the page.

Once the proper service is located, the commenter can rate qualities of the businesss from “Excellent” to “Awful” and provide personal observations and recommendations for improvement.

Comments cards are anonymous unless a person chooses to identify themselves.

“The purpose of the tool is to not be vindictive,” Landon said. “We want to figure out where we can do things better, with constructive criticism.”

A person can request the organization reply to their comment, but that requires leaving contact information which would reveal the person’s identity.

Providers must reply to customers who seek a response within five calendar working-days. Customers can contact the PAIO office, if they haven’t received contact within five days.

According to Landon, none of the comments posted on the ICE program are deleted. This allows PAIO and other organizations to analyze comments and determine whether an issue has been addressed.

“If an issue is no longer being reported, then obviously you’ve done something right,” Landon said.

People with questions concerning the ICE system can contact their organization’s ICE administrator or call (703) 805-3382/3314.