The verdict in three sentences
A municipality of 30,000 residents receiving 8,000 service requests a year by phone, email and front desk takes 21 days on average to resolve them, because there is no single route to the public works teams. A SaaS solution costs EUR 6,000 to 20,000 excl. VAT per year, a custom tool EUR 40,000 to 80,000 excl. VAT through public procurement, plus maintenance. The right choice depends mainly on integration with your asset and work order systems, and the 7-day target is reachable either way.
Why resolution times drift to 21 days
The chief executive of a town near Grenoble sees the same loop every week: the front desk logs a pothole in a spreadsheet, an email goes to the depot, a crew fixes it, but nobody closes the request or replies to the resident. Councillors get the follow-ups, often on social media. UK councils and Canadian cities running 311 lines describe the same gap between intake and field teams.
| Step | Current situation | With a dedicated tool (2026 order of magnitude) |
|---|---|---|
| Intake channels | Phone, email, front desk, social media, not centralised | Web form, mobile app, front desk entry in one tool |
| Triage | 2 to 4 days | Category and geolocation at entry, automatic routing |
| Hand-off to department | Email, sometimes lost | Ticket in the relevant team's queue |
| Average resolution time | 21 days | 7 days |
| Reply to resident | Rare | Notification at each status change |
| Duplicates | 15 to 20% of requests | Nearby reports grouped |
| Management reporting | No indicators | Times by department, district and category |
On 8,000 requests, removing 15% duplicates avoids about 1,200 cases a year.
SaaS or custom: the 2026 comparison
Both options work for a municipality of this size. The difference lies in integration with the existing systems and control over data.
| Criterion | SaaS solution | Custom tool |
|---|---|---|
| Initial cost | EUR 0 to 8,000 configuration | EUR 40,000 to 80,000 |
| Annual cost | EUR 6,000 to 20,000 subscription | EUR 6,000 to 12,000 maintenance and hosting |
| 5-year cost | EUR 30,000 to 108,000 | EUR 64,000 to 140,000 |
| Time to go live | 2 to 4 months | 5 to 8 months, procurement included |
| Integration with works teams | Standard connectors, sometimes limited | Built around the town's work order system and GIS |
| Code and data ownership | Data exportable, vendor owns code | Code and data owned by the municipality |
| Hosting | Vendor's cloud, check sovereignty requirements | Free choice, including sovereign hosting |
SaaS suits standard processes. Custom is justified when the town wants requests linked to its GIS, work order tool and existing citizen portal.
Procurement, data protection and accessibility
In France, a EUR 40,000 to 80,000 tool goes through an adapted procedure with a specification and proportionate competition; allow 2 to 3 months. UK councils and Canadian municipalities follow their own procurement rules with similar timelines. Requests contain personal data: processing register, retention periods, resident information and review by the data protection officer under GDPR. The public form must meet accessibility standards (RGAA in France, WCAG 2.1 AA as the common reference), usable by keyboard and screen reader.
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Céline is chief executive of a 30,000-resident town near Grenoble handling 8,000 requests a year. She chooses a custom tool at EUR 60,000 excl. VAT plus EUR 9,000 a year. Front desk and depot staff spent about 1.5 hours per request on entry, chasing and replies, 12,000 hours a year. With automatic routing and deduplication this drops to 0.9 hours, freeing 4,800 hours. At a loaded cost of EUR 30 an hour, that is EUR 144,000 of staff time a year redeployed to field work. Average resolution time falls from 21 to 8 days in year one.
FAQ
How much does citizen request software cost in 2026?
A SaaS solution costs EUR 6,000 to 20,000 excl. VAT a year for 30,000 residents. A custom tool costs EUR 40,000 to 80,000, plus EUR 6,000 to 12,000 annual maintenance.
Is public procurement required?
Yes, once the amount exceeds the exemption thresholds. For EUR 40,000 to 80,000, an adapted procedure with a specification is usually enough, with 2 to 3 months of consultation.
Can the tool connect to our GIS?
A custom tool reads and writes directly to the GIS and work order system. Budget EUR 5,000 to 12,000 per integration.
How do we cut resolution time from 21 to 7 days?
Automatic routing removes 2 to 4 days of triage, and per-department tracking exposes stuck queues. Most municipalities reach 7 to 10 days within 12 months.
Do residents need to install an app?
No, an accessible web form is enough, with an optional mobile app. In equipped municipalities, 40 to 60% of requests come through the web after a year.
Let's scope your project. Share your request volume, works systems and procurement calendar, and we will scope the tool, the budget in EUR excl. VAT and the go-live timeline. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
