iCITY eSERVICES Governments Need to Offer Services Online

Citizens are increasingly expecting the same powerful and convenient online services from their governments that they receive from banks and other corporations. Electronic Service Delivery (ESD) applications are an excellent way for governments to provide more comprehensive and timely services to citizens without increasing administrative costs.

ESD applications bring more relevance to external facing government websites by populating them with self service applications that citizens can access 24 X 7. These applications allow citizens to interact with the government from the comfort of their own home and on their own time. These applications also facilitate greater traffic and usage of municipal and government websites because they are not merely static information, but transactional and commonly accessed/used software.

The iCity portal solution for governments provides an efficient, fast, and cost effective way to bring eServices to the community. Leveraging single sign on technologies, citizens securely log into the government portal and are able to perform a range of transactions. These applications can integrate with and update backend systems for accounting and auditing purposes within the government. With iCity's suite of ESD applications, governments can quickly deploy applications of the following nature:

• Water/Utility/Hydro Bills
  Citizens can register to access water, utility and hydro bills online, peruse statements, and pay these bills through the Internet. Accepted transactions include credit cards, direct banking and Interac.
• Tax Certificates
  Citizens, lawyers and property managers can order and pay for tax certificates of their property online via the portal.
• Property Taxes
  Citizens can view and pay their property taxes online. Accepted transactions include credit cards, direct banking and Interac.
• Service Requests
  Through the portal, citizens can alert the city of problems or issues that require the city's attention. Street light outages, downed stop signs, broken telephone poles and any number of problems that require the dispatch of city crews and services can be managed through the Services Requests module. Importantly, this also allows the municipality to keep citizens up to date via email of the status of the service requests by informing residents of what is being done to solve/fix the problem.
• Parking/Traffic Tickets/Provincial Offence Act Tickets
  The payment of parking and traffic tickets online is invaluable for local residents and visitors alike. The iCity solution enables citizens and visitors who receive traffic or speed violations to pay their fines immediately through the web without traveling to City Hall or sending cheques in the mail. The Parking/Traffic ticket module is functionally robust to account for the accumulation of "penalty" interest for tickets that have not been paid in the standard time frame.
• Recreational Program
  Citizens can select community services and programs within specified time frames and enroll for programs online. The additional ability to view maximum and minimum enrollments, as well as the number of seats available before enrollment, gives citizens insight to make better decisions. The capability to pay for fee-based programs and perform multiple enrollments in one transaction makes the Recreational Programs Registration an essential tool for municipalities and communities.
• Events Registration and Ticket Purchase
  The Events Registration module allows citizens to register for community events online. The module can link to the payment application in those instances where events have a cost associated with them. Providing online registration and ticket purchasing for local events, concerts and festivals all through the web, increases the range and exposure of the local government and events promising increased attendance and turnout.
• Recreational and Meeting Facility Bookings
  Citizens and businesses alike can peruse community facilities and make bookings online. The simple calendar function included in this ESD enables simple date searches to check for availability, lists prices for rental if applicable and displays "add on accessories" to facility rentals that the citizen can opt to include.
• Pet Licenses
  With the majority of domestic animals requiring a license, the Pet License ESD gives citizens a convenient manner of applying for or renewing pet licenses. Pet owners can upload veterinary certificates and send them into the city as part of their application.
• Building Permits
  The Building Permits module enables municipalities to offer a convenient online service to citizens where building permits can be selected and purchased.
• Online Sales for City Merchandise, Services, and Publications
  Municipalities can increase gift sales of official government merchandise by offering items online that are purchased via a standard online shopping cart. The service can also be used for citizens to purchase maps, city publications, bus passes and even additional garbage bag tags (for those municipalities that have garbage bag pickup limits). This comprehensive ESD service reduces administrative tasks for government staff and streamlines request fulfillment processes.

Contact Imex today for a demonstration of the iCity ESD components and to understand how ESD can bring new relevance to a government's website and community.