GeODC software speeds delivery of CRM and online public information
GeODC has launched an innovative software package to help UK local authorities deliver public information services. Called QA Suite, the software simplifies and greatly speeds up the processing and quality checking of data captured by GeODC from council files, maps and drawings. This allows councils to roll out Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and web information services quickly with assurance that the information provided is accurate.
Local councils are currently implementing systems to make all important council information easily available both internally and externally. This is allowing customer services to be centralised through call centres and also enabling information such as planning applications and associated maps to be provided online via council websites.GeODC provides document scanning, text data capture, digitisation and geo-coding services to local authorities. The services computerise the tens of thousands paper files, microfiche records, plans and maps held by councils so that records can be made easily accessible online to support customer service and moves to open government.
With the high diversity of record types, matching associated scanned documents, text and graphical files is very time consuming. Users typically view different records in different software programs and then manually match scans, text files and graphics. GeODC's QA Suite allows records to be matched and checked instantly on screen using a single software program. This not only saves considerable time and costs but also greatly reduces the chance of errors.
"We discovered that one of the biggest delays in delivering information services was the time involved in processing and checking data once it had been captured. This has proved to be a real burden on council staff and we knew if we could simplify their work, the whole process could be speeded up. QA Suite is a very easy to use tool that we estimate will cut data handling and quality checking time by literally weeks" says Martin Dines, GeODC Programme Manager.
"The quality of data needed to support open access information is paramount. The software has been developed as a result of feedback from our customers and armed with QA Suite they can help their councils deliver online services quickly, backed with comprehensive and high-quality information" says Dines.
