Operating on a predominantly paper-based system, it didn't take long for Colleyville officials to realize that keeping up with the needs of a growing population - accustomed to the technologically advanced amenities of a large city - would require them to switch to an automated process. The solution came from CRW Systems Inc.'s TRAKiT.
Colleyville began shopping for an automated solution in 2007, hiring Building Official Bill Elliott to initiate this process. Elliott hit the ground running, gathering a group of stakeholders. Officials came together from the building inspections, code enforcement, planning, finance, community development, emergency response, police and fire departments to discuss their challenges and needs.
"Everyone put in what they wanted from the very beginning so that the city got a product that worked with everyone's needs and made them think about how they were going to change their process," Elliott explained.
Even so, departments providing planning, inspections and permitting services were in most immediate need of an automated operating system to accommodate the surge in service requests resulting from the population increase.
"All the work of the planning department is in their files, and only they really understand it," Elliott said. "Then they get to the building inspection department. ... We take in building plans, store them and create building permit files in paper files. Then down the line, if the city secretary needs information, she creates her own file separate from ours. We were totally duplicating."
Photo: Colleyville building inspectors carry handheld devices, right, that allow them to access and update case information in real time. Constituents and city departments can then view the data instantly.
Other issues persisted with the paper-driven system. City officials played beat-the-clock when attempting to meet public information requests in the state-mandated 10 days. Information stored at remote facilities was often lost after the employees who stored them left. Officials spent a lot of time tracking down records and accurate information on cases from different departments. All of these issues added up to inefficiency and low-quality customer service - a concern for Colleyville, according to Elliott.
To end an era of redundant, fragmented and labor-intensive city services, Colleyville sought a customizable IT solution for each department's needs. The solution would need to store information digitally, smoothly convert data from existing infrastructures into new ones, and most importantly, meet the performance expectations of the city's urban transplants.
Something for Everyone
TRAKiT offered Colleyville a comprehensive package that's actually several solutions in one.
To address permitting-related issues, the city turned to PermitTRAK. Used by departments performing inspections and issuing permits, this software lets users schedule inspections and upload results onto a central database. The software further streamlines the permitting process allowing employees and the public to view details pertinent to the applicant file. City employees can also create department forms and permits automatically, furnishing the documents with information from the database.
Another software component, ProjectTRAK, helps the city better manage planning and development projects. The public and users can view the
status of plan reviews and permits from their own computers instead of waiting to receive a paper notice. The program also integrates word-processing applications, spreadsheets, GIS data and maps into the system. This feature was particularly important to Fire Marshal Robert McKeown and GIS Coordinator Sunny Lindsey, both of whom manage information for other departments. Those departments can now directly access the information they need, significantly reducing the workload for McKeown and Lindsey.
"Once you've printed out a map," Lindsey explained of the paper process, "it gets outdated in the next 30 days. This way, as soon as I put in a new subdivision or parcel layer, instantly everyone has access to it."
Further reducing the use of paper and need for remote storage, Colleyville is using a large scanner to convert building and permit plans into electronic documents. This will grant all city departments access to plans simultaneously without creating multiple files.
"Information won't be duplicated," Elliott said. "The information will be available to all those in the planning review process from their own computers." This includes the public.
MobileTRAK, another part of the software, works in tandem with handheld devices, an interactive voice response (IVR) system and a thermal printer. Using the handheld devices, inspection officials can access and update case information in real time, uploading data to the system from the field for constituents and other departments to view instantly.
"Whenever they create information in the field, it's going to be wirelessly transmitted back to the office," Elliott said. "We know what they're doing in the field the minute they do it."
The IVR system enhances these features, allowing constituents to communicate with departments by phone 24/7 by sending and receiving voice messages on the status of projects, permits and inspections.
With the thermal printer, once officials have completed an inspection or review, they can print the results from their handheld device to leave with the contractor and have a copy sent to the office via wireless technology. Paperwork that was once done in the office can now be done remotely. In the instance of inspections, once a digital copy has been sent to the office, the IVR system is prompted to call the contractor of the permit and inform him or her of the permit status.
"Our guys will have GIS [and] GPS availability out in the field, they'll have 2-megapixel cameras in their phones, and they can load those into the system for the files. And anyone can use it," Elliott said. "On top of that, it's going to be even better because we'll be able to access all that data and the database from the field."
The biggest benefit of the implementation, Elliott said, will come years down the line when records must be located for review or when a citizen requests information. Retrieval won't be an issue - everything can be accessed via TRAKiT.
"The work we're doing today is going to benefit the people who come after us later on. We're laying the groundwork," Elliott said.
Looking to the Future
Despite achieving most of its immediate goals, Colleyville has already begun to explore expanding upon its investment. Public works and engineering may possibly join the network after further discussions in late 2009.
Elliott is researching setting up kiosks at the local Lowe's, Home Depot and Ace Hardware. Constituents would be able to access the program from these kiosks to view their permits.
Colleyville will continue to strive toward making development in its city as easy and convenient as possible, maintaining its competitive edge among larger cities like Arlington.
"Developers have a choice in where they want to go, and Colleyville wants to be their top choice," Lindsey said. "We want to be the city that they choose."
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