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Client launch checklist

The new Permitting Portal in SmartGov comes with new features that improve the permit application process for your citizens. Because of the changes to the user interface and permitting workflow, there are steps you should take to update the configuration of your Citizen Portal to help ensure a smooth launch for your citizens.

 

Portal related settings that may require attention will be identified throughout the back office by a green question mark for quick visibility as shown below.

 

 

The new Permitting Portal is being released into production by region and state to minimize questions from contractors who utilize the SmartGov portal in multiple jurisdictions, however some contractors in areas where beta clients have requested to launch early may experience a different user interface when utilizing portals from different jurisdictions until all phases of the release have been completed. All jurisdictions should be transitioned to the new Permitting Portal within a 5-week period. In order to provide a seamless experience to your citizens, please review the considerations below.

Training launch considerations

  • If you only requested a training refresh hold for beta testing the new user interface, contact Support and request to lift the refresh hold. *Note: We will not lift your training refresh hold without an explicit request from you.

  • Review the application process using one of your most complex permit types. Pay special attention to the messaging to ensure it is still appropriate.

  • Make any configuration changes to Permit Type level help text in production in preparation for your launch. The ability to configure help text on permit types is new and will not impact any of your current permit messaging on the Citizen Portal. Since your training environment will refresh weekly, doing this will ensure your updates are not overwritten.

  • Ensure that any updates you make (in training) to Jurisdiction level help text (found in the Portal Setup menu) have been saved outside of SmartGov for later retrieval. Unless you currently have your training refresh on hold, your training environment will refresh every Sunday night and will overwrite the text you configured in training. Because these same settings are used in your current production permitting portal and support a different user flow, they should not be updated in production until just prior to your production launch.

Production launch considerations

One day prior to your production launch, review the following portal setup values (found in the back office under Administration > Portal Setup > Configuration Values) and update as needed:

  • (Beta clients/early adopters only) If you wish to advise your portal users that they may see a different application interface in neighboring jurisdictions, navigate to the General group and add text to the General Introduction configuration value. *Note: This messaging may be a good idea for contractors who use multiple portals.

  • Navigate to the My Project Introduction configuration value (previously the Type Introduction) under the Permit Wizard/Not Submitted Instructions group

    • Move any references to 'Type' selection to the "Permit Wizard Select Type Page Title" configuration value if you feel it is still applicable. The remaining text should address any special instructions for entering project name and permit description. *Note: Some of this information may now be better suited for configuration at the permit type level.

  • If you collect Valuation information on the portal, navigate to the Permit Wizard/Not Submitted Instructions group and remove any reference to a ‘green button’ from the Valuations Introduction configuration value.

  • Optionally, navigate to the Permit Wizard/Not Submitted Instructions group and provide citizen facing messaging for your portal users in the Review Introduction configuration value, including guidance to your citizens on subscribing to the following new notifications:

    • Returned Applications: Notify when a permit application is returned.

    • Expired Permits: Notify when my permits state has changed to Expired.

    • Upcoming Permit Expirations: Notify me when a permit is about to expire.

  • If you wish to send expiration notifications, follow the guidelines on the Permitting Values page for more information.

    • The Standard Daily job will send notifications on upcoming permit expirations to subscribers.

    • The Bulk Expiration job will send notifications on expired permits to subscribers.

    • Portal users can subscribe to Upcoming Expiration and Expired notifications.

    • Back office users can subscribe to Upcoming Expiration notifications and Expired notifications.

    • Back office staff can configure the number of days prior to expiration that a portal user should be notified by email.

 

       Bright Idea: 

You are now ready to deliver the best citizen experience on SmartGov’s new Permitting Portal. Please reach out to support@smartgovcommunity.com with any questions you may have as you verify your permitting application process with the new features.