April 07, 2020
BOISE, Idaho
Access Idaho Sucker Punched During Our 20th Anniversary Celebration:
Yet, We are Still Here to Serve.
2020 marks Access Idaho’s 20th anniversary, however, recent events have felt like a sucker gut punch, not a time to celebrate the success of the state’s portal initiative. Yet, I feel it is important for you to know the portal has not only survived but thrived through difficult times such as the dot com bubble of 2000, the 2008 great recession and this current unprecedented health & economic event.
In those difficult times, Access Idaho worked with cities, counties and state agencies to build new and innovative services, helping government leaders move forward in a fiscally restricted time. Even now Access Idaho remains secure, up and operational with its full staff dedicated to serving you, your staff and the citizens of Idaho. If you or your staff need help or have ideas for moving critical forms or business processes online to help improve operations in this unprecedented time, please reach out to brainstorm quick hit/wins for the citizens you serve.
Twenty years ago, we started with a handful of people that helped take the State’s idea of creating a better online citizen user experience and made it a reality. Two decades later, my Boise-based team is thriving and creating new award-winning ways to make it easier for Idaho citizens and businesses to interact with Idaho government more efficiently through online custom services, forms, emailed/texted payment links and much more.
Skim the articles below for ideas you can use in taking on recent operational challenges. Because, every day I get up and think about how I can serve you and how my team can help your team continue to move forward and innovate new ways of serving citizens.
Need a Quick Start Solution?
App Engine, A PCI Compliant Online Form Builder
Rapidly bring up a new automated business process and reduce paper forms arriving by mail, fax and walk-in traffic. Access Idaho is helping agencies improve productivity with App Engine. It allows your office to replace any paper form (PDF, Word doc, coffee-stained paper on your desk, etc.) and convert it to an online/electronic process at no cost to your agency.
- Bean Commission: Quarterly Bean Tax Return
- Transportation Department: Annual Road and Street Financial Report
- STEM: i-STEM Professional Development Institutes – Public Educator
- State Liquor Division: Event, 2020 Spirits Trade Show Vendor Registration & Awards Banquet
Think Different and Act Quickly
Prompt Pay, a Case Study of Rapid Success
If your agency needs to manually process a form, then request payment look at how Access Idaho’s Prompt Pay solved the problem for Missoula County DMV. Missoula County Clerk and Treasurer Tyler Gernant manages many county departments, including motor vehicles, taxes, real estate and vital statistics, he increased efficiencies by launching several innovative solutions using Prompt Pay; which was developed by Access Idaho and allows citizens and businesses to receive bills via email or text message, pay for services online or via a mobile device.
“I can literally create an invoice in 30 seconds, which means we can do it while on the phone with a customer,” said Gernant, adding that he is redesigning the office workflow to find other uses for Prompt Pay. Non-technical county employees can bill citizens through the Prompt Pay service at no cost to Gernant’s department.
In December 2019, Missoula County became the first county in Montana to offer an online motor vehicle titling service. Citizens fill out a form online (like App Engine) and after receiving an invoice via email or text message through Prompt Pay, citizens pay via credit or debit card, electronic check or PayPal, reducing the workload of county clerks. In the first three months, clerks received more than 670 forms and sent approximately 530 bills to citizens, processing nearly $200,000.
This same workflow is being rolled out across MT this month due to DMV closures to help keep business operations running during this health crisis.
To find out how you can improve your office’s productivity, security and payment processing capabilities with Prompt Pay like Gernant did, contact Access Idaho at 208-332-0102 or webmaster@accessidaho.org.
Big or Small We are Here to Help
City of Homedale
The City of Homedale has been using Access Idaho’s PayPort service since 2013 to process in-person and over-the-phone credit/debit card payments for their utility bills, dog licenses, building permits, airport leases and other services.
“It has been very helpful for many in our community,” said Alex Pegram, City of Homedale Clerk. “Quite a few of our customer say that they do not buy checks anymore, so being able to pay by card is essential for them.”
Pegram added, “On days that we shut off water service for nonpayment, we often take in more money on cards than in cash, because people who have forgotten to pay their bill can quickly and easily take care of it by phone.”
Homedale is one of the 80+ cities in Idaho that leverages Access Idaho to offer cutting-edge, highly secure services with no fiscal impact to their municipality.
“The system works well alongside Caselle, our main utility software. We are happy to be able to offer this service to our customers,” said Pegram.
Open for Business and Taking Calls
In following Governor Little’s guidelines, the Access Idaho staff is working remotely until further notice. However, thanks to technology, we remain fully functional to continue supporting citizens inquiries, customer services issues (billing, refund requests, password resets, etc.) along with you and your staff.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me or my staff. 208-332-0102 or webmaster@accessidaho.org
Thank You for 20 Great Years
I know we would not be here without our fantastic statewide partners like you. I am grateful for trusting us to help you with payment processing, websites, form creation, and customized applications among other services. We are dedicated to making Idaho’s digital government easier and more accessible, and we look forward to another 20 years!
Please enjoy the video look back below at how we evolved the portal these two decades. Together we will get through this dynamic time and be stronger when we emerge on the other side of this event, to better serve the citizens of Idaho.
We Create Solutions
Questions about any of the solutions we listed above or want to start working with us? Please contact us.