Tr@ceR is a Document/Records Management System developed by Liverpool Plains Shire Council.
Electronic Document Management System Developed By Local Government for Local Government
The Liverpool Plains Shire Council based at Quirindi in Northern New South Wales has developed a National and State award winning electronic document management system specifically for Local Government.
Liverpool Plains Shire Council like any other organisation is endeavouring to achieve workplace efficiency gains, improved customer service and a reduction in the cost of document management. The result of addressing these issues has been nothing short of phenomenal with the in-house development of an Electronic Document Management System that goes beyond the realms of typical EDMS and is driven by a strong customer focus that integrates the interface between the customer, i.e. ratepayer or council department, and the solution provider.
The product aptly named “Tr@ceR” is a new way to think about document handling it’s an EDMS developed by Local Government for Local Government. The system will revolutionise the way an organisation deals with its correspondence and customers.
Some two years ago Liverpool Plains Shire Council determined the need to progress into Electronic Document Management and with this in mind, set about finding a solution that suited Council's requirements in an economic, environmental and user friendly way.
A working party consisting of the Director Corporate Services, IT Manager, IT and Records Officers visited numerous councils that had already implemented Electronic Document Management to gain an understanding of the solutions available as well as the advantages and pitfalls that may arise.
The working party established that organisational change, a lack of information systems knowledge, the available solutions and cost were the biggest underlying factors that determined the ability of an organisation to implement a new system effectively.
It also became apparent that all councils having implemented EDM Systems had to completely change the way in which general users operated on a daily basis and in some cases Council departments were opting out of using their newly implemented EDMS due to the inherent complexities of the “off the shelf” software packages.
The most prohibitive factor for Liverpool Plains Shire was the cost of purchasing "off the shelf" software, its installation and subsequent staff training. Evaluation of available software also suggested that there was no solution that met all departmental needs.
It was at this point Council decided to write its own software, one which would capture the work flow of document handling and customer action requests.
Council subsequently set about documenting its requirements for a best practice solution that would operate effectively and efficiently and be technologically smart. All departments were involved in the initial information gathering stage and this gave staff a strong sense of ownership of the project.
The software was developed in house with visual basic initially using a Microsoft SQL database.
The initial installation and testing took place with selected personnel from all departments, who provided valuable feedback which led to continued improvement particularly of the interface screens.
Vendor Comments
Please contact Mark Daly at ua.vog.wsn.cspl|ylad.kram#ua.vog.wsn.cspl|ylad.kram for more information about this software.
Local Government Sites
The list below is auto-generated. All pages with a "tracer" or "tr@cer" tag are included.
Brewarrina Shire Council
Gilgandra Shire Council
Gloucester Shire Council
Liverpool Plains Shire Council
Ravensthorpe Shire Council
Tenterfield Shire Council
Tumut Shire Council
Uralla Shire Council
Yass Valley Council