For the Washington County, MD, a new wireless permitting and inspections system has dramatically changed how building inspections are carried out in the county. Prior to the launch of the Department of Permits & Inspections' new system, everything in the field was done on paper. This resulted in many inefficiencies in the way the department organized and carried out its business.
For instance, inspectors would frequently arrive at a site only to discover that to deal with unexpected issues, they needed additional information on such things as zoning and site history -- information that was only available back at the office. This meant a trip to back to the office and then a return to the site.
Additionally, when inspectors returned to the office, they would have to enter information from the field inspection reports into the department computer system. There was a lot of double work in how the department operated according to Angela Smith, deputy director of the department.
And there were inconsistencies. "With an inspection team of 11, we had inspectors who were doing the same inspection but differently, or who were looking for different types of things during their inspections," Smith explained.
Inspection schedules were not flexible. "When inspectors left here, they could only do the inspections that they left the office with," she added. "If they got called to a site to inspect a structure because they were in the area, they simply couldn't do it without set back information, plot plans and zoning information from the office."
In January 2004, the department began a process to work smarter, increase efficiency and provide greater service to its customers.
Right from the outset, this involved the inspectors themselves. Smith explained, "We sat down with them before looking at any applications and asked, what does your day consist of? What are the frustrations you are dealing with on a daily basis? What keeps you from performing the tasks that you need to perform? We got their input and then decided what services we wanted to offer. I think a lot of times when administration makes decisions, they don't include the people who are going to be directly effected."
Improving Service
The deployment of a wireless inspection and permitting system for the department was paid for entirely by the County Commissioners. The case made to them to "sell" them on the upgrade was more than simply saving money and improving the efficiency of department operations.
"In today's society, although money does play a part, its not the ultimate focus. Time is money. If we can save people time by being more efficient with our services, we are finding that our contractors do not have a problem with sometimes paying additional costs," said Smith.
She said that the County Commissioners saw how the community was growing and realized there were services that the department could expand upon. And they could change the image of the department from one of not caring to one that was far more flexible in dealing with customers.
The new wireless system certainly has accomplished this. Now, inspectors can be on a site in 24 hours. If a contractor has questions, the inspector can pull up the history of the property or any other needed information right there in the field. They can print out permits and notices right then and there. "As a result, we found that our inspectors were even a great influence and more help to our contractors and homeowners in addressing the concerns and questions right in the field," said Smith.
This was all part of the vision presented
to County Commissioners and now realized. "Ultimately if we are saving the contractors time, they are going to be able to turn around and apply for more permits, which is going to generate more revenue." Smith said.
Speed of Deployment
The department deployed an Accela Wireless system that Smith describes as essentially a tracking system that can be used for many different purposes -- permits, fire departments, public works departments or planning departments.
"It's a very flexible system that enables you to set the criteria of what information you want to track," explained Smith. "Some software systems you purchase, it's in a box and you can't change the screens. But as a department grows, you have to have software that is going to grow with it. You are constantly given additional responsibilities, new products, new things you've got to check for, verify and track."
In the field inspectors were outfitted with Model 18 Panasonic Toughbooks which, Smith added, seem to be doing the job.
As part of the deployment, the department also set up in house training-- both group and one on one -- for inspectors who had different levels of computer experience. However, they found that after the software was installed on the department's server, the inspectors were already taking the Toughbooks out with them in the field even before the training started.
From the time that the software was installed to the actual launch of the wireless service in serving customers, it was only a matter of four or five weeks. "It was a very quick implementation," said Smith.
Expanded Service
Out in the field, with wireless connectivity to the office, inspectors can schedule or cancel inspections. They leave field correction notices and also can set up permits in the field as well as take fees. They even have the capability of looking at one another's schedules so that if they finish early, they can move over and help another inspector get through their load.
"If an inspector is in a subdivision that is booming and there is a townhouse scheduled for inspection today and another one scheduled for next Monday or Tuesday, a contractor can ask for the inspector to check that other site as well," said Smith. "Through the flexibility of their schedules and having access to all the needed information through the wireless network, they can roll with the inspection right then and there."
Smith said that the quality and consistency of inspections has also improved greatly. There are now guidesheets on the system so that inspectors are all inspecting for the same things. If work is not approved, inspectors leave the field correction notice right there. And in real time, the customers can then check on the status of inspections through the Interactive Voice Response system. Soon they will be able to also check this through the department web site. "This can save contractors a lot of time," explained Smith. "If you have leading contractors who have maybe 20 or 30 different sites throughout your county or city, they don't want to have to be going to every site to check whether our sicker is there yet or not."
Inspectors can even upload pictures. "We've had times when inspectors arrived on the scene and apparently there has been problems with the buildings," explained Smith. "Perhaps the building needed to be condemned. Maybe the inspector wanted a decision from the code official just to verify. They will take pictures and send them through the
Accela Wireless. Within a couple of minutes, the code official has the pictures here in the office and can make a quick decision of what needs to be done. So now virtually all issues the field can be addressed at the time when they need to be addressed."
The actual wireless infrastructure that the system operates on is a licensed band public safety network the county is building. The Water and Sewer Department is putting up towers at the different treatment plants around the county and more are going up all the time.
Public safety is only using the network for building connectivity so far, not in vehicles. And water and power only has limited users so far as well.
"More or less, the Permits Department has been the guinea pigs in terms of the number of people using the wireless infrastructure," Smith added. "We've been finding issues and some of the things that needed to be improved -- where there are hot spots and dead spots. Because of our terrain, we still do have a few dead spots in the county. So were are helping to address issue like this."
According to Smith, wireless has transformed how the department operates and already achieved everything they hoped for. And the approach to implementation was both smooth and rapid.
"It all starts with looking at your processes," she said. "You have to look outside the box and think, how can we work better? It's all about growing and expanding. The only thing for sure is change. So what we've got to do is learn to be proactive -- not reactive, but proactive."
