Managing various municipal permits can be challenging. Not all citizens need the same things, and not every current issue is relevant to everyone. Automating permit filing requires careful attention to organization and effective communication. Citizens also need to be updated on filing and ruling stages that are important to them. A solution like this requires advanced tools that won’t swamp city officials with cumbersome or expensive combinations of tools.
Usually, permit filing might be restricted to a single acceptance email and a final decision. However, this does not have to be the case. Citizens often need these permits for reasons related to livelihood or important adjustments to property. They will be put more at ease if they know what is happening with their filing. Numerous varied apps or solutions can be applied to make a patchwork filing system, but this ultimately does little to help staff or citizens, as things frequently tend to fall into gaps between solutions.
Now, these solutions get the job done. But they have limitations too. One of the primary limitations is that if one tool goes down or requires maintenance, any kind of messaging can grind to a halt. A single, centralized solution that can manage these filings and ensure that the correct update and judgement messages reach the requestor at the correct times. Setting something like that up probably sounds complicated and technical.
We have a better solution, however, that doesn’t require technical knowledge or long training periods. Using a SimplyCast use case, users can learn as necessary and rely on pre-built solutions to solve specific problems one at a time until they have a comprehensive, multi-case platform built. To that end, we created the Permit Filing use case to handle the permit acquisition process automatically.
To mitigate the issues that normally come with building something like this, a digital solution should be adopted so the filing process can operate seamlessly and without having to handshake with other applications. For that purpose, you’ll need:
- A means of collecting contact information for permit applicants
- A way to send confirmations, status updates, or permit request decisions to citizens
- A system that logs citizen request data to refine permit filing efforts
In this blog, we are presenting a four-step strategy to set up an automated permit filing solution that allows hundreds of applications to be routed and communicated about at once. This solution will also help cities to keep their permits in order and know what projects are taking place in the municipality at any given time.
Step 1: Allowing Requests
In this step, the city can provide citizens with the means to submit a request. This can be done with an online form that can be accessed online or by scanning physical QR codes. When the form is filled out, automation tools will review the criteria provided and send the task to the correct department. Using decisions to parse specific information and match a request to the correct handler ensures that issues can be resolved quickly. A confirmation message can be sent to let citizens know that their permit request has been received.
Step 2: Automatic Assignment
Once automation tools have sorted out where a request should go, an email will be automatically sent to the department handling that type of permit. A task will be created for them in the system. This allows for several things: First, it allows for quick assignment of tasks, and ensures that the handling staff member can route the task appropriately. Second, it provides a written, organized record of how many issues a given handler has on their plate to alert the city to staffing shortages or bottlenecks. Finally, it starts a workflow that will notify the submitting citizen when the task has been resolved and offer them ways to follow-up if their permit judgement requires an appeal.
Step 3: Follow-up and Reporting
When a permit is assessed, depending on the severity of the request, the submitting citizen will either receive an automated completion notice or a manual follow-up. Even manual follow-up messages can be sent through the platform, ensuring that reports are present for all communication with citizens. These reports can then be used to ensure quality of service, review issues, and assess the needs of the city through the kinds of permits being requested.
What’s Next?
To implement this solution, you’ll need the right digital tools to ensure that all the steps in this strategy are executed perfectly. For that, you will need a digital form builder, email marketing software, SMS marketing software, voice broadcasting software, a CRM, and most importantly, automation tools to help sort requests and assign handlers. These applications should work together seamlessly, and issues should not result in a loss of service unless the entire solution is unavailable. Furthermore, you need to be able to expand your services at a moment’s notice to deal with unforeseen circumstances. You also want to be able to add new capabilities without too much trouble.
This might seem like a lot of work, especially if you feel like you need to build something in-house. It can feel like an insurmountable task to achieve all these results on a timeline that often only includes a few years at a time.
Fortunately, SimplyCast anticipated the growing demand for a digital permit filing solution and brings you a complete platform which is 100 percent ready to go. Using our internal resources, digital engagement tools and marketing automation technology, we have built a solution that can take care of every task involved in your permit filing strategy. You can even expand this platform to help deal with other issues you may be facing in the future, only having to learn as much at one time as you can manage.
Our platform is scalable so getting hundreds of requests at once is not a big deal. SimplyCast is an ISO 27001:2013-certified company so you don’t have to worry about your clients’ information and the potentially confidential information shared during the meeting.
Simply request a personalized demo of the solution with our account management team today. Click the button below and let us know you’re looking at UC0000187 Permit Filing. Wd can further help you develop automated city support features to improve quality of life. Together we can build cities that are more efficient and helpful to everyone that lives in them.
