Far too many government staff members find their daily workload bogged down by inefficient and unintuitive processes and tools. Whether it’s trying to physically deliver paper documents and manually track applications, or using outdated software that doesn’t quite fit your needs and makes collaboration difficult. Local governments everywhere are realizing that decades-old tools are no longer cutting it.
Deploying new solutions and services to better support constituent needs remains a difficult task in government today, but strategic project management and communications can make all the difference. With the help of modern GovTech partners, leading local governments are tackling these challenges because they recognize the operational and fiscal benefits to both employees and community members.
ViewPoint Government Solutions is excited to announce the opening of their new Los Angeles office. This move is a reflection of their continued growth in the govtech field of online permitting as well as the hotbed of forward-thinking governments in California and on the West Coast.
We’re constantly introducing new features in ViewPoint Cloud to help improve the way you work.
The new Required Attachments feature lets department staff designate required or optional files to be included with each application of a given type.
Population: 93,000
State: Connecticut (Region)
Municipalities Involved: 28 Capitol Region Council of Governments (CRCOG) Towns & Cities
Problem Addressed: Updating legacy paper-based and outdated software systems
Project Highlights: Regional IT procurement model, rapid implementation
With the recent additions of Hamden and Windsor Locks, ViewPoint now provides online permitting, licensing, and code enforcement solutions for 36 Connecticut communities. ViewPoint’s widespread success in Connecticut dates back over a decade, after joining forces with the Capitol Region Council of Governments (CRCOG). After selecting ViewPoint for a state-funded regional technology initiative, CRCOG has helped close to 30 of ViewPoint’s 36 Connecticut communities improve their internal operations and modernize their citizen services.
Inspection capabilities are crucial when it comes to the health of municipal permitting and licensing processes. Building codes serve as the tentpole for ensuring physical public safety, but they’re only as valuable as a municipality’s ability to conduct quality inspections and ultimately confirm compliance. This is why the upcoming release of the new Inspections feature in ViewPoint Cloud is taking the product to the next level.
This month’s launch of ViewPoint Cloud 3 includes a new and improved reporting engine. Whether you want see what tasks are assigned to who, export a monthly report, or find records that have outstanding payments, Reports provides an adaptable, intuitive interface for surfacing that information.
This article was authored by John Covey and originally published in the Alliance for Innovation’s Solutions Journal.
About John Covey
Having worked in the technology field for the last 36 years, John currently serves as the Chief Information Officer in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts. As a civic technologist, he supports ViewPoint in continuously improving ViewPoint Cloud, bringing modern permitting services to more forward-thinking local governments like the Town of Shrewsbury.
Population: 20,256
State: California
Departments & Divisions Involved: Community Development, Code Enforcement, Planning
Problem Addressed: Centralizing data from paper-based system
Project Highlight: Rapid implementation
Two years ago, the City of Lomita’s Community Development Department found themselves looking for a better way to manage their paper-based permitting system.
We’re thrilled to announce the general availability of a new payment method in ViewPoint Cloud: E-Check.
Population: 160,000 (total); 26,761 (average)
State: Ohio
Municipalities Involved: Hudson, Oxford, Upper Arlington, Wooster, Fairfield, Bexley
Problems Addressed: Improving customer experience, integrating back and front end, moving to cloud-based software
Project Highlights: Saving money on cloud-based software, improving process efficiency
Over a hundred years old and situated next to Ohio State University, the community of Upper Arlington, Ohio has seen recent rises in property values spurring new development, and in turn, permitting and licensing requests.
Casey is a local entrepreneur looking to open a seafood restaurant in the City of Park View, USA. She has her business plan mapped out, but even so, the permitting process for her restaurant remains a daunting task. Park View has a website, but it’s unclear which forms she needs and which departments should be involved. The process feels unnecessarily slow and cumbersome. Her government feels disconnected and inaccessible to Casey’s ambition for development.
Renewing licenses can be a pain for applicants, but is often especially frustrating and tiring for department staff members. Listening to feedback from our customers, we heard common pain points like identifying licenses that are up for renewal, notifying applicants, and processing large influxes of renewals applications in a short time period.
Using what we learned, we designed ‘Campaign Renewals’, an all-new feature of our newest platform—ViewPoint Cloud3.
Efficient workflows are the key to a streamlined permitting process, especially when applications need to be reviewed by multiple departments.
With ViewPoint Cloud’s latest platform release, workflows just got a whole lot smarter. Now, you can set workflow steps to appear conditionally, based on your applicants’ form responses.
Population: 34,609
State: Ohio
Departments: Building, Zoning and Planning, Property Maintenance, Right of Way, Emergency Services, Special Events
Problems Addressed: Improving permitting functionality, modernizing services
Project Highlights: Saving money on cloud-based software, improving process efficiency
Last month, Dan Ralley, Assistant City Manager in Upper Arlington, Ohio and our very own Carl Anderson spoke on ELGL’s GovLov Podcast to talk about best practices for successful ePermitting partnerships.
Some of the key takeaways from Upper Arlington’s selection process:
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