Municipal Departments
Building
Challenge 1:
The building department needs to enforce the building code while ensuring compliance with applicable laws and bylaws when issuing building permits.
Direct IT’s Solution:
Software: Land Manager is tailored to Ontario Municipalities and was originally developed to serve Building departments in Ontario. It has been designed to comply with Bill 124 and the Ontario Building code and has an Ontario-specific workflow.
Consulting: Our team has been working with Ontario Municipalities for 20+ years, so we are well-versed with the Ontario Building code and other provincial laws and regulations.
Challenge 2:
Building department staff members complete many processes manually, which takes a long time & leads to redundancies.
Direct IT’s Solution:
Software: Land Manager has the capability to manage all tasks related to building permits, and is a user-friendly solution, meaning that staff can reduce the amount of time it takes to manually complete tasks and process building permits more efficiently.
Challenge 3:
The building department has expertise in building subject matters, but doesn’t want to create their own software or have to handle the maintenance of software.
Direct IT’s Solution:
Software/Support: We understand that the building department may not have the resources to develop or maintain land management software, so we offer our pre-configured solution; Land Manager. Furthermore, since Land Manager is now a Cloud solution, our team will take care of the hosting and maintenance of the software.
Training: Our team will provide adequate training and assistance to the Building department to ensure that there is a smooth transition into using Land Manager for their development tasks.
Challenge 4:
Staff members within the department need access to historical inspections when determining whether to issue new inspections.
Direct IT’s Solution:
Software: Land Manager has been created with a user-friendly interface and design, and users will have access to a personal dashboard where they can access all information related to a building permit, including historical inspections, notes, comments, results, etc.
Challenge 5:
Inspectors need connectivity and access to data (notes, comments, property details) in the field and the ability to sync back to the office from the field to send inspection results.
Direct IT’s Solution:
Software: Inspection Manager is the mobile application that gives inspectors access to Land Manager in the field, which enables them to have necessary information related to the inspection in the field, The app syncs data with Land Manager.
Challenge 6:
Staff members need to efficiently schedule and assign inspections to inspectors to ensure that they are completed in time while making the best use of their resources.
Direct IT’s Solution:
Software: Land Manager’s personal dashboard view will give staff access to their inspectors’ schedules, allowing them to efficiently schedule and assign inspections.
Opportunity 1:
The building department wants to facilitate automatic coordination with the other departments involved in the land development process (ie inspectors, planning department, etc).
Direct IT’s Solution:
Software: Land Manager comprises multiple integrated modules for different departments in a municipality. Additionally, the workflow within the software takes into account each step of the building permit application process, from submission to review and issuance, followed by inspections and then closing of the permit upon completion. Building staff users can coordinate their use of the software with other department users as well.
Opportunity 2:
The building department can digitize their building permit application process with a Software-as-a-Service solution, which will provide remote access from anywhere to both staff members and citizens.
Direct IT’s Solution:
Software: Many municipalities are now headed towards implementing technology and Cloud software so that they can digitize their services and have access to them from any location. Since Land Manager is available as a SaaS solution, building departments can access Land Manager from anywhere at any time, and citizens can start the building permit application process themselves by submitting documents online. This will improve efficiency and time management within the department.
Opportunity 3:
The building department may be experiencing rapid development growth, which means their citizens will require faster and more efficient services to submit permit applications.
Direct IT’s Solution:
Software: Land Manager has strong configuration capabilities, so as a municipality grows and requires additional functionality, the software can provide that.
Consulting: Our team will consult with municipalities to provide the solution that meets their unique needs, but we also understand that municipalities will grow and their needs will change. So we are committed to assisting all of our customers in the long run as well.
Support: We are always updating and improving Land Manager, and over the years it has gone through many upgrades. It is now available as a SaaS because that is the direction that technology is headed and we want our software to grow with its users.
Opportunity 4:
The department can implement a software solution that will allow them to digitize all data related to inspections while being able to complete all inspection tasks (scheduling, assigning) online through the software.
Direct IT’s Solution:
Software: Land Manager is available as a Software-as-a-Service, meaning that staff users can complete all inspection tasks online.
Planning Department
Challenge 1:
The planning department needs to further develop their communities & process planning act applications for development proposals that don’t meet the current official plan policies or the zoning bylaw regulations. Furthermore, they need to adhere to the necessary laws and regulations.
Direct IT’s Solution:
Software: Land Manager has been designed to be compliant with Ontario policies and the different types of Planning Act Applications.
Software: Our software is designed with a pre-built workflow (steps, tasks, and actions) that will enable planning staff to take the planning application from the beginning stages to the end.
Software: Our software is designed to integrate with other departments. The planning module within Land Manager will integrate with inspections, bylaws, etc, which will allow for much better coordination among different departments.
Consulting: Our team is well-versed in Ontario legislation, so we will work with your team to ensure that the business processes practiced within your organization are maintained through our products and services.
Challenge 2:
The planning department wants to develop or maintain the software themselves.
Direct IT’s Solution:
Software: Land Manager has been utilized in the Municipal marketplace for 20+ years and is already pre-configured so our clients can benefit from an out-of-the-box solution.
Support/Training/Implementation: Furthermore, since it is now available as a Software-as-a-Service, our team will take care of the support and maintenance of the software and we will provide the best implementation and training to ensure that your team feels confident in integrating Land Manager into your business practices.
Opportunity:
The planning department can implement a software solution that is pre-configured with a workflow that enables them to track and process planning act applications from start to finish.
Direct IT’s Solution:
Software: The planning module is available on the cloud, which means the planning staff won’t have to worry about deploying it onto their servers and will have remote accessibility from anywhere at any time.
ByLaw Department
Challenge:
The department needs to enforce the building code and municipal bylaws by carrying out inspections that are related to code enforcement or bylaw complaints.
Direct IT’s Solution:
Software: Our software is compliant with the Ontario building code and can be configured to take into account specific municipal bylaws.
Consulting: Our team is well versed in the building code and can ensure that our offering will align with necessary regulations.
Opportunity:
The bylaw department can implement software that will allow them to digitize and track these complaints once they are submitted, and then they can also schedule and complete necessary inspections.
Direct IT’s Solution:
Software: Land Manager can be used by the bylaw department to track complaints, and it is integrated with Inspection Manager, which will allow inspectors to complete inspections in the field.
Asset Management Office
Challenge:
A municipality has multi-billion dollars worth of assets (ie roads, water plants, sewage plants, parks, recreation facilities, etc) that need to be managed in order to save costs. This can be done effectively with the combination of an asset management plan, engineering, and an Asset Management software system.
Direct IT’s Solution:
Implementation/Training/Support: Direct IT has been implementing asset management systems for municipalities across Ontario for many years, and we facilitate successful implementations while providing your team with the necessary training and support.
Software: Direct IT is now introducing our Asset Management Solution, powered by IBM Maximo. This software will enable your team to track and manage municipal assets in a manner which will save costs.
Consulting/Engineering: Direct IT partners with GM Blue Plan, and together with Direct IT’s software and technology expertise and GM Blue Plan’s Engineering expertise, we can work with your team to cultivate the best solutions.