Starting over

One of the first local authorities to introduce document imaging and workflow processes into its revenues and benefits service was King's Lynn and West Norfolk council. It realised that its core revenues and benefits systems needed an overhaul.

The systems were running on a mainframe, which meant extremely high costs.

There was also a lack of integration – the council used three databases, storing all information in triplicate. This meant that there had to be regular interfacing just to keep the systems in step with each other.

Finally, the systems were becoming outdated, and the council was growing increasingly concerned that it would not be able to obtain proper support from its then supplier in future.

Eamonn McCusker, the council's information technology business unit manager, highlighted some of the problems: "For example, if someone rang with a change of address, it would have to be amended in three different places.

"This inefficiency, and also potential lack of consistency due to misspellings and so on, led to increased workloads for the staff. We decided we needed a more 'functionally rich' system."

The council decided to replace its systems and began looking for a solution from a company that would take responsibility for the whole system, including revenues, benefits, document imaging, workflow and cash receipting.

King's Lynn and West Norfolk shortlisted four finalists, including the incumbent; in November 2000 it decided to appoint Sx3 to install its new systems.

McCusker said: "They offered value for money, a system that met our requirements, and their proposals for project management, training and support were very important to us."

Sx3 provided both software and implementation services to the council.

To ensure a smooth transition to the new systems, the company trained the council's staff. They are now self-sufficient in running the new software.

In addition, Sx3 provided on-site expertise to support the implementation. As more software is installed in the coming months, Sx3 will provide further training and ensure that the all-important support is always on hand.

The first phase went live, as planned, on 1 October 2001 with software for business rates, council tax and benefits, as well as a system of bar-coding and scanning documents to make processing easier.

The council is also using spectrum cash receipting – a third-party cash-receipting system, project managed by Sx3 – to collect cash and distribute it to the relevant functions.

It was critical for the council to go live on the target date. The previous system was closed for three weeks so data could be moved to the new one. Sx3 had to be confident the system would be ready because once the old systems were shut down, there would be no turning back.

The council plans to carry out its year-end tasks in a weekend instead of the usual three weeks

"To add to the challenge," McCusker said, "due to an internal reorganisation, the revenues and benefits team moved offices, we had a management restructure, and we introduced a call centre on the same day as the new systems were scheduled to go live."

This is only the first phase of a partnership that both parties believe will run for some time.

There are three more phases to be completed in 2002. The first was completed in January, and involved implementing the electronic document management system Workflow, which will distribute bar-coded documents to relevant people for processing.

In March, the screens developed by Sx3 were up-and-running, with enough time to send out council tax bills.

Additional features of the screens include giving customers access to their council tax accounts through the council's website, which allows them to fill in direct debit forms, to query benefit entitlements and to access other services online.

The final phase in July will see World becoming available, a system that enables staff to access revenues and benefits information using web browsers.

Modern, integrated systems provide more accurate information and will reduce the number of errors made with council tax accounts and benefits payments.

Ultimately, the document imaging, workflow and browser technologies will enable council officers to access all relevant information to deal with enquiries promptly, accurately and completely.

The public will also be able to get in touch with the council through internet services they can use at any time of the day, and not just within office hours.

As more people use the internet, council staff will have fewer calls to answer, allowing them to provide a more responsive service to personal callers.

The systems will also increase efficiency and value for the taxpayer, as the council plans to carry out year-end tasks in a single weekend instead of the usual three weeks.

This means they will be able to give customers information straight away, instead of having to wait while the system remains down for three weeks. Staff will also have more confidence that the information held is correct.

The new systems have already proved to be more reliable and require less support: IT support has reported a reduction in call-outs of around 10 a month, giving a saving of more than £3,000 a year.