In this post, we look at the benefits of automated public records requests and explore why manual, paper-based processes are holding government organizations back.
Government organizations around the world – at federal, state, and local agency level – are constantly under pressure to deliver the best service possible to the public. With budgets tightening, government organizations are expected to do more with less. But there’s only so much room for cuts before critical services that people rely on start to break down.
Many government organizations are still using outdated procedures, often paper-based, that unnecessarily prolong processes and impact the quality of service they can provide. Process automation is a reliable, easy, and yet often overlooked practice capable of greatly process efficiency omprovement. Crucially, automation can speed up the time it takes for government employees to complete tasks, freeing them up for work of a higher value.
Automated public records requests are one area that automation can be applied. Let’s look at how government organizations can implement process efficiency improvement using the Nintex platform, in particular by making use of Process Mapping, Advanced Workflows, and Nintex Forms.
Automated public records requests
Public records are government records which are not considered confidential – examples include records of court proceedings, marriage records, voting, and electoral polls. Citizens can request copies of these documents, which governments must provide within a pre-determined and legally authorized timeframe.
But public records requests are problematic for both the government and for the public when they’re paper-based and carried out manually:
- For the public, the process of requesting records is tedious and time-consuming.
- For the government, the process of responding to the request is slow, repetitive, and uses up time that could be spent on higher-value tasks.
The following are areas of process management and automation that can aid the requesting of public records.
Process Mapping
The first step when thinking about process automation should be to fully understand the processes that are involved.
With Nintex Promapp®, you can gain greater visibility, accountability, and control over these processes to begin planning how and where improvements can be made. With public records requests, this will mean seeing how quick and easy it is for the public to make a request, how many government employees are involved in responding to requests, where the information is stored, how easy it is to retrieve records, etc.
Once you know what is working and what isn’t, you can begin automating the areas where the biggest impact can be made.
Modern Forms
When citizens need to make a public records request, the last thing they want is a difficult, time-consuming, and paper-based process that could even involve them visiting a government building in person.
Filling out complicated paper forms can be a real headache for citizens, and often leads to errors. In the 21st century, this process should really be digital. What’s more, with Nintex Forms it can also be fast, intuitive, and trigger automated processes within workflows so that the information captured is sent directly to the right people and the right place.
Nintex Forms are easy to design, automate, and manage. For the public, this can create a quick and pain-free experience that they can have on any device.
Advanced Workflows
With Advanced Workflows, you can automate crucial processes to revolutionize how government employees deal with public records requests.
Key to this is Nintex’s ability to integrate with Office 365, SharePoint, Microsoft Dynamics, Salesforce, and other popular systems that organizations use to store data. Automated processes for data capture ensure data is always stored in the right place, ensuring better regulatory compliance and faster records discovery. What’s more, it removes the risk of human error and provides greater citizen satisfaction, as people no longer have an eternity to wait for responses to a request.
Quickfire benefits of automated public records requests
- Hassle-free – Get rid of your reliance on paper-based or manual processes for handling public records requests.
- Reduce time – Speed up the process and get results with a few clicks. Free up time for other work that can provide more value for citizens.
- Improve accuracy – Automated processes make sure that the right information and the right documents are sent to the right people at the right time.
Process Efficiency Improvement with Nintex
Nintex empowers government organizations to do more with less by mapping, automating, and optimizing their processes. With automated public records requests, agencies can improve the experience for the public and for government employees, by speeding up the time it takes to request records and respond to requests.
With governments under pressure to be more productive and efficient, Nintex gives you a set of no-code tools to streamline a wide range of processes that help you deliver a better service to the public.
To find out more about how automated public records requests and Nintex can help your government organization improve the service it delivers to citizens, get in contact with the Nintex team today.
