New software for appointment bookings in Citizens Service Center and branch offices
The City of Bonn is constantly working on advancing digitalization. This means that citizens can make use of more and more services online where the legal basis exists. At the same time, it is continuously working to improve its services when a visit to the city administration is necessary.

With this in mind, on Friday, January 12, 2024, the city administration will introduce new software for booking appointments for the Citizens Service Center in the City Hall - which combines the registration office, vehicle registration office and driving license office - as well as for its branch offices in the district town halls of Bad Godesberg, Beuel and Hardtberg. On the one hand, the new program will give Bonn residents a better overview of available appointments for their concerns. On the other hand, the software will help to optimize the processing of appointments on site.

Up to 15 percent of booked appointments are not kept

"Unfortunately, year after year we find that 10 to 15 percent of booked appointments are not kept by citizens, even though we repeatedly ask them to cancel unused appointments in good time," reports Ralf Bockshecker, Head of Citizens' Services. With an average of 5,000 appointments processed at the Citizens Service Center every week, this means around 600 appointments per week where no one shows up. It is particularly annoying when several appointments are booked as a precaution for the same request and the surplus appointments are then not canceled. Ralf Bockshecker: "Given the high number of appointments, this practice leads to avoidable delays in the process and unnecessary waiting times. We therefore want to significantly reduce these so-called 'no-shows' in future."

He presented the new appointment booking software at a press event on Wednesday, 10 January 2024, together with Nadine Quäsching, Head of the Citizens Service Center, and Alexander Freiberg from the Personnel and Organization Office. "The new software is not only very user-friendly, it also helps to obtain sound data and key figures to enable better appointment management," explained Ralf Bockshecker.

Appointment must be confirmed via link

With the help of the new software, citizens will in future be able to see at which office the earliest possible appointment for their request is available - be it in the City Hall or in one of the three district town halls in Bad Godesberg, Beuel or Hardtberg. Following the booking process, citizens receive an email with an activation link to confirm the appointment.

After confirmation, the appointment is bindingly reserved. In addition, in future, reservations will be limited to two appointments per e-mail address in the released booking period. The city administration would like to avoid incorrect and unnecessary double bookings.

On-site registration at the terminal

With the changeover, citizens will in future have to register when entering the Citizens Service Center Bonn using the appointment booking number or a QR code. This process will take place before the appointment in the waiting area of the Citizens Service Center at so-called check-in terminals. During an introductory phase lasting several weeks, employees of the city administration will draw citizens' attention to the obligation to register and - if necessary - assist them with the registration process. Citizens who have made an appointment by telephone will also receive an appointment booking number, which they must use to dial in at the check-in terminal.

With the help of the registration, the employees only call up the citizens who have already arrived and can provide a prompt service according to the processing situation.

This procedure will initially be established in the Citizens Service Center in order to decide whether to use the check-in terminals in the district town halls.

Appointments for the Citizens Service Center and its branch offices can be booked via the link  www.bonn.de/termine (opens in a new tab) or by calling the call center on 0228 - 77 66 77.