Dover's police department and city clerk’s office knew they needed to implement new systems and processes to streamline the flow of, and access to, information.
They lacked an efficient means of indexing and retrieving files, and when city residents needed to look up publicly-available information, they had to physically visit the city clerk’s office because there was no system in place to facilitate remote web access.
When they began seeking a new solution, the city identified a number of requirements: namely a means of sharing property information records between departments, a way to make them available both internally and externally, and a system that alleviated employees' manual entry efforts.
Complicating things further, the various departments within the city had different needs. For example, the city's police department required secure access to their case files while the city clerk's office needed a tool that would allow constituents to access public information like meeting minutes for city council meetings and land/property records.
The City of Dover, New Hampshire is committed to providing transparency for its constituents and employees, getting as much information out to citizens as quickly as possible.
When existing tools were no longer meeting their needs, the city sought a technology solution that would allow for greater efficiencies. In 2005, the city signed on to use DocuPhase's document management solution.
"When we started with DocuPhase, we had 1.5 departments using the system's scanning and archival tools. Today, we have 12 city departments using DocuPhase, several of them using multiple electronic cabinets. As a city, Dover is continuing to become more efficient and more transparent every day. DocuPhase's scanning and indexing capabilities play an integral role in that continuous improvement."
Annie Dove Director of Information Technology, City of Dover
The city evaluated providers and ultimately found that DocuPhase's electronic document management solution was best suited for their needs.
The implementation started small: Initially, only the police department and city clerk's office adopted DocuPhase's workflow automation and document management capabilities.
However, several more departments quickly followed suit after realizing the increased efficiency benefits of the new solution. The community services and human resource departments, for instance, realized that these features were well suited for managing their personnel records, correspondence and more.
In addition to facilitating easier access to information, DocuPhase also made it simple for the city to maintain and ensure security and confidentiality of documents and records. Since the platform integrates with the city's existing authentication protocol, employees' access to non-public documents is linked to their access to other city systems. This ensures that only current, authorized employees can access confidential records and data.
Finally, DocuPhase assists the city's disaster recovery efforts. Since documents are stored on a virtual server, recovery efforts in the instance of an emergency are far more reliable than in paper-based systems where records are at high risk of damage.
After implementing DocuPhase, the City of Dover has been able to deliver on its goal of transparency for constituents while also realizing major process efficiencies and cost reductions.
Compared to legacy processes in which paperwork required manual routing and sign-off capture, DocuPhase's workflow automation capabilities now allow the council clerk, finance director, city attorney and others to review and approve information quickly and easily when preparing records for city council meetings.
For constituents, access to a variety of records (including ordinances, resolutions, financial and purchasing information, and property records) is now available from DocuPhase's intuitive web-based document management platform rather than having to visit the city clerk's office in person.
And city employees have benefited from the move to DocuPhase as well. For one thing, the increased accountability that results from DocuPhase's automatic approval logging and activity time-stamping grants greater visibility into who is taking action in a workflow. This helps to identify and address bottlenecks as they arise, creating a more efficient flow of communication. Different departments (such as planning, inspections, and engineering) can now also access, share, and collaborate on documents such as property records in tandem.
By implementing DocuPhase's document management and workflow automation solutions, the City of Dover was able to eliminate many of its paper-based processes by digitizing their paper forms and records; improve its transparency with constituents by providing easier access to public records; and increase employee efficiency through faster, more collaborative workflows.
Overview Dover's police department and city clerk’s office knew they needed to implement ...
Overview Dover's police department and city clerk’s office knew they needed to implement ...
Overview Dover's police department and city clerk’s office knew they needed to implement ...
Overview Dover's police department and city clerk’s office knew they needed to implement ...
