As part of the City of Wichita’s enterprise Laserfiche document management solution, their Web-based accident report system establishes a new source of revenue, saves significant staff time and demonstrates the value of integrated systems to both the City and its citizens.

Call it e-government, or simply call it a smart way to get things done. Here’s how Imaging Analyst Cliff Thomas and his colleagues at the City of Wichita got beyond the buzzwords and made it happen.

When the City of Wichita IT and Police Records staff met to discuss ways to streamline internal processes that would also improve public service, they agreed to begin with traffic accident reports. Thomas recalls, “We all said, ‘Why not put them online?’”

All Wichita citizens involved in an accident must submit copies of accident reports to the state Registry of Motor Vehicles and send the case numbers to their insurance companies. In turn, insurers request their own copies directly from the Wichita Police Department for use when settling claims.Prior to the launch of the online system, six to eight citizens came to the front counter of the Police Records Division each day to request copies of accident reports. They completed the request form and paid a convenience fee. Records staff told them that the report would be mailed within two weeks.

On average it took more than 20 minutes for a clerk to process each request, including searching for and photocopying each report. The division provided copies of all accident reports to insurance companies for a nominal fee. Delivering these services consumed 50 to 60 staff-hours each month.

Why not put accident reports online? That was just one good question among many. Others included how to link the payment application to the document management system, how to securely roll it out to the public and how to generate new revenue in the process.

In the initial phases of Wichita’s document management project, the City built a Laserfiche repository of more than 6.5 million searchable digital images, reclaiming hundreds of square feet of office space in the process. Currently, more than 5.5 million of those pages are imaged police records, including accident reports.

The City was already using Laserfiche WebLink to provide Web-based, thin-client document retrieval to authorized City staff. Integrating WebLink with a payment processing solution to enable online availability of accident reports seemed a natural progression toward greater electronic delivery of public services.

The remaining “big question,” says Thomas, “was whether we would be able to set up a payment system that could tell our document imaging system to release an imaged file.

“It turned out to be a relatively easy programming challenge, however, utilizing the Laserfiche Integrator’s Toolkit, especially since Laserfiche was already integrated with our public safety software program. Basically, we use the case number of the report to set everything in motion. It works beautifully.”

The new online accident report system eliminates human involvement with transactions and has reduced in-person accident report requests at the Police Records Division to a trickle. When a citizen does come to the front counter, records clerks use the online system to find and print requested reports in seconds.

By delivering an online service in which the public sees immediate value, Wichita is able to charge $16 for each report. Charges to insurance companies have increased from $2 to $16 per report. According to Thomas, because the insurers recognize the value in faster access, they don’t mind paying more for the ability to simply retrieve reports over the Web by case number.

“They love the new system,” says Thomas. “It saves them both man hours and messenger costs. On balance, they’re making out, too.”

Thomas concludes, “In my opinion, the reason we’re doing so well is because Laserfiche software allowed us to scale up. The scalability enabled us to get started, win over staff and figure out where we wanted to go. I think that is an ideal approach for any local government in which cost and staff acceptance are concerns.”

Tags: Enterprise, integration, Laserfiche Toolkit, law enforcement, toolkit, WebLink

Posted on Friday, April 15th, 2005 at 4:19 pm under Customer Stories, Government Newsletter, Law Enforcement, Municipal Government, State and Local Government. You can comment on this article. trackback from your own site.