How the City of DeLand, Florida went from abandoned processes to integrated systems with G-WIZ

Challenge:

DeLand was looking for a platform with strong customer support to allow continuous enhancements and a strong product roadmap they could grow into. DeLand needed a fully integrated solution that allowed users to enter their information once, pay associated fees, and create an intuitive user-experience.

Secondly, after purchasing their legacy portal solution to improve user satisfaction on their website, DeLand’s Building Department wasn’t satisfied with how the product was working. When going through the steps of completing permits, renewals, and business tax receipts; constituents were experiencing difficulties, which forced them to abandon the process entirely. In addition, repetitive entering of information occurred as constituents had to enter the same information multiple times.

Solution:

The City team revisited adding G-WIZ when their legacy portal solution contract was coming to an end and found that Gray Quarter’s G-WIZ had broadened its capabilities, meeting all their requirements for integration and ease of use for applicants. “G-WIZ checked off everything on our list that we wanted as far as integrating it, make it easier for applicants when they're coming in from a first step to all the way to the very end of the application. – Debi Glick – Planning, Zoning and Building, City of DeLand, Florida”

With G-WIZ, users were able to follow an intuitive process that navigated the application or license workflow while providing the correct fees prior to submission. To solve the challenge of repetitive entry, G-WIZ communicates all user-entered details to the Cities’ platform in an automated and deeply integrated fashion.

In one example, the DeLand team indicated that collecting details from new businesses and non-profits like churches was challenging prior to using G-WIZ. After adding G-WIZ, they can collect business tax details but using zoning data to surface only specifics fields from churches and issue fire safety permits immediately versus a different process for businesses. The inclusion of a roadmap at the end of the wizard helps applicants easily see the next steps they needed to take and which applications are necessary if needed. Examples like this, showcase the incremental small changes being made as the city discovers how G-WIZ can decrease complaints and confusion.

City employees are thrilled with how G-WIZ works as expected. “DeLand staff literally outright just said, hey, G-WIZ is great. This is so much easier than before. – Nelson Mendez Droney – Community Development, City of DeLand, Florida” In addition, G-WIZ back office is very user-friendly for the City IT staff to enable future configuration changes. The City plans on adding additional services to G-WIZ that will continue to provide streamlined efficiencies so users can complete processes without confusion or repetitive entry of data.