It has chosen the eForms solution AchieveForms, provided by Business Web Software, and the package will integrate with the council’s existing business systems and is to be deployed for data capture across all departments.
Following a one month evaluation, Blackpool Council opted to purchase AchieveForms and is to begin form development imminently. The first phase of the Council’s plans includes creating a single financial assessment form to simplify the benefits application procedure, using a template created by Business Web Software.
Integrations are planned with the council’s existing systems Singularity Workflow, Lagan CRM and Microsoft Content Management Server. These integrations will amplify the efficiency gains prompted by the use of AchieveForms, as data entry time is further reduced by the instant transfer of information from input to council data store.
The second phase of development is to use AchieveForms during the overhaul of the council website, with a possible further integration with Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server.
By moving from a paper-based to an online form system, Blackpool Council will experience efficiency gains internally which will allow them to concentrate on improving their customer service. As council employees are freed from cumbersome administrative tasks they have more time to spend on serving the public, be it through face-to-face contact with the residents of Blackpool or developing services further. The reduction in paper use prompted by changing to an online form system will also make the council more environmentally friendly.
The experience of contacting the council will be improved for the resident as the externally published forms provide an interface with the council and its services available around the clock and in the convenience of their own homes and public libraries. The customer-centric design of the forms promotes the easy collection of data through functions such as conditional fields, which appear in relation to the data already given by the resident, and validated fields to ensure data is collected in the correct format.
By selecting to move forward with an eForms solution Blackpool Council is continuing its commitment to serving the residents of the Blackpool area. Grasping the possibilities of e-Government is just one example of the strides forward the council is making, reflecting its upgrading from ‘fair’ to ‘good’ in the Audit Commission’s comprehensive performance assessment between 2003 and 2004.
Quelle: Publictechnology, 14.10.2005
