Case Studies

Field Inspection

Building Inspection Division - City of Jacksonville, Florida
Benefits Claimed by the Vendor (Idea Integration):

• 99% reduction in clerical data entry overtime
• 17% increase in capacity to perform inspections during normal work hours, reducing inspector overtime, as well
• Increased morale in the clerical and inspector workgroups
• Reduction of days between inspections, which allows contractors to complete projects more quickly.

Background 
Idea Integration, the e-business solutions unit of Modis Inc., has developed and implemented an information system for the City of Jacksonville that enables its building inspectors to directly access and update building inspection information from the field via wireless handheld units.

In addition, information that is stored on the Building Inspection Division's mainframe computer can now be accessed via the Internet, enabling contractors to directly inquire into the status of building inspections or permits, or schedule inspections.

"We have been able to streamline the entire building inspection process, with information now available in real time to our people in the field, andto contractors through the Internet," said Tom Goldsbury, Chief of the Building Inspection Division. "The system is enabling us to minimize
inspection delays, overtime costs, and data entry errors."

In the past, building inspectors in the field had to radio for information residing on the department's mainframe, and request the desired information from the department office. If the information was unavailable, inspections were cancelled and inspectors continued on to other assignments.

After making inspections, building inspectors passed their notes to data entry operators for manual entry into the system the same day so results were accessible by contractors the following day. The old system resulted in overtime costs incurred by data entry operators and unintentional data entry
errors when inspectors' hand-written notes were misinterpreted. The new system enables inspectors to enter their own notes to update the records while on location.