SUCCESS STORY SUMMARY
Challenge:
Indianapolis Public Schools needed to overhaul fragmented systems and build a districtwide culture of efficient, transparent customer service.
Solution:
By implementing K12 Insight’s Let’s Talk and embedding it into the Rebuilding Stronger plan, IPS unified communication, automated workflows, and fostered true partnership with K12 Insight.
Results:
IPS saved millions, broke down silos, and built a data-backed service culture that ensures every family and staff member is served quickly and well.
Located in the heart of Indiana’s capital, Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) serves more than 28,000 students across dozens of campuses and a growing slate of choice programs. Like many large school systems, IPS faced a web of siloed systems, manual processes, and inconsistent experiences that frustrated families and staff alike.
“A few years ago, we had six systems that didn’t talk to each other, backend frustrations from burnt-out staff, and dissatisfied families experiencing poor customer service,” said Ashley Cowger, executive director of strategy and integration at IPS.
For Cowger, the problems came down to three guiding questions that still shape the district’s approach today: Are we serving our people well? Are we efficient at serving parents and teachers? Are we getting the most out of our vendors and partners?
“In my past as a teacher, the most difficult part of getting assistance was remembering who to connect with and how,” Cowger said. “Staff find themselves forwarding emails from one department to another while principals have to talk to multiple departments to help out one parent. It’s exhausting, time-consuming, and expensive for everyone.”
The biggest barrier, she added, was “what we believed was possible.”
Through its ambitious Rebuilding Stronger plan, IPS set out to answer those three questions by redesigning customer service districtwide.
The district partnered with K12 Insight to implement Let’s Talk, a unified service desk that became the foundation of a new, transparent, data-driven approach.
“We got rid of all the tools that didn’t talk to each other, saving us millions of dollars, and we implemented a system that values transparency above all else, allowing all support and service to operate from one location,” Cowger said.
Let’s Talk collects inquiries from every channel into a single inbox, automatically routing questions to the correct department based on keywords. It also provides robust metrics on average response times, satisfaction ratings, and trending topics, all accessible from a mobile device.
“Today, if you asked me whether we’re serving our people well, I could give you a data-backed answer based on every point of contact between stakeholders districtwide, internal or external, from any department on any issue and I could do it all with two taps on my mobile device,” Cowger said.
Just as importantly, IPS sought a true partnership. “There are a lot of vendors but few true partners like K12 Insight,” Cowger said. “The right vendor partner can elevate and advance your goals — K12 Insight is one of those partners.”
By implementing Let’s Talk as a core part of the Rebuilding Stronger initiative, IPS moved away from fragmented systems and manual workarounds toward a culture rooted in transparency, accountability, and superior service.
The district now tracks every customer interaction, ensures inquiries reach the right team without wasted time, and has built workflows that break down silos, all while saving millions previously spent on disconnected systems.
“Superior service requires intentional design,” Cowger said. “It’s not just in one office or for the duration of one project, but across the full span of your district and with the understanding that a school system will never reach a state of perfect communications.”
Thanks to Let’s Talk and a deliberate approach to change management, IPS can answer those three guiding questions with confidence, backed by real-time data and a districtwide commitment to serving its community well.”
To learn more about how Let’s Talk changed the game for Indianapolis Public Schools, watch this webinar on demand with Ashley Cowger from Indianapolis Public Schools and Zach Lind from Ithaca City Schools.
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