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Maryland State Police Increases Operational Efficiency with Maryland Inspection Station Online Renewal Service

Authorized Vehicle Safety Inspection stations in the state of Maryland must renew their station licenses annually by June 30th as part of the Vehicle Safety Inspection Program. In June 2014, the Inspection Station Licensing Renewal  service was implemented to streamline this annual process for the 1,600 stations statewide. The system allows existing inspection station customers to lookup one or more stations and remit payment for their annual renewal online, accepting credit cards (Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express) and electronic check payments.

The Maryland State Police's (MSP) business processes have improved significantly by reducing the paper intensive record keeping and administrative overhead and allow for more efficient use of man hours to regulate and enforce overall inspection program compliance.  Moving the renewal process online has eliminated the agency's administrative overhead by 60% and reduced error rate to 1%. The service also boasts an impressive adoption rate, with over 90% of inspection stations enrolled to use the system.

The Inspection Station Renewal service is just one piece of Maryland State Police Maryland Safety Inspection System (MSIS). Inspection stations can enroll to use the mobile inspections system and safety inspection mechanics can quickly schedule mechanic exams to further their education. 

"The Maryland Safety Inspection System has been a huge improvement in time and cost savings for the MSP.  This system has sped the process and accuracy of monitoring the state's registered inspection mechanics and inspection stations, eliminating the need for paper files, and has performed with little to no technical difficulties." said Maryland State Police Captain James Russell "The MSIS is an improvement for the citizens of Maryland, too.  The inspection information is transmitted electronically to the MVA, eliminating the need for the citizen to present inspection paperwork when registering a vehicle. The system also features a public lookup site to find if a vehicle has a current inspection on file and to find a state inspection station."



NIC National Spotlight: Take Advantage of Outdoor Resources for Your Next Adventure

Since 2008, Governors from across the country have joined the President in proclaiming June as Great Outdoors Month®.  Great Outdoors Month encourages everyone to get out, connect with and enjoy America's natural resources.  Services like AccessDNR, the Maryland Fishing Report Alexa Skill, Your Pass Now, and NJ Outdoors allow residents and visitors to plan ahead for their next outdoor adventure.

The official app from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources for the State's outdoor enthusiasts. Whether you want to visit a State Park, hunt or fish, explore waterways by boat or kayak, or simply watch wildlife, the AccessDNR app provides all the information and services you need on the go.


 
Listen to the Maryland Fishing Report from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources for the latest hotspots, catch of the week, fishing conditions and more. You can request specific information for the upper, middle or lower Chesapeake Bay, freshwater fishing or Atlantic Ocean and coastal bays. Simply say 'Alexa, open Maryland Fishing Report.' Be in the know before you go!

Using a personal device, visitors can purchase park entrance passes and land access permits.  Passes can be used immediately, stored on a personal device, or printed for future use.  Your Pass Now   offers purchase of official passes for some federal lands managed by the U.S. National Park Service and the U.S. Forest Service.  



The NJ Outdoors Online Reservations System
Provides flexible search capabilities for finding and reserving tent sites, cabins or shelters within the New Jersey State Park System, and it is part of a broader, ongoing effort to improve customer service and information services through online and mobile-device technologies. 



NIC is happy to partner with Outdoor Recreation Roundtable (ORR) in bringing Great Outdoors Month to life in Maryland. ORR's mission is to enhance citizens' outdoor recreation experience by advocating for solutions that will responsibly improve America's public lands, waters and infrastructure while conserving them for future generations. 

Whether you want to camp, fish, or just spend the day out in the sun, the Great Outdoors Month website is a great resource to start your planning. 
The 2018 Maryland Digital Government Summit had over 250 attendees and was well attended by Maryland state and local government partners. 

Nancy Schmid, Director of Operations for NIC Maryland, participated in The Citizen Experience panel and discussed how emerging technology, such as chatbots, voice control technology and the Gov2Go digital assistant are changing service delivery and provided strategies to implement these technologies that have given rise to an entirely new paradigm in customer service experience.   

Earlier this year, NIC Maryland partnered with the State Department of Assessments and Taxation to introduce the state's first chatbot on Maryland Business Express.  In May, Department of Information Technology partnered with NIC Maryland to launch the customer-centric chatbot technology to Maryland.gov, the states official website.

In another first for Maryland state government, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources introduced the "Maryland Fishing Report" and the Department of Information Technology debuted the "Maryland Government News Brief" Amazon Alexa skills. Both skills extended the communication platforms for these agencies while providing new communication channels for citizens to connect with Maryland government.  

So, when the question is asked if your agency can implement innovative technology to expedite and extend communication channels for constituents, the answer is a resounding yes! The truth is adopting this type of technology is more attainable than one may think, and sooner or later it will be expected. 


CELEBRATING MARYLAND'S AWARD
WINNING SERVICES
With entries received from across the US and around the world, the Communicator Awards is the largest and most competitive awards program honoring creative excellence for communications professionals. The award is administered and judged by the Academy of Interactive Visual Arts (AIVA).

 
   Department of Information Technology
   Maryland.gov - Official State Website
   2018 Digital Distinction Award - Government Website Category
 
    Maryland Department of Health 
   Controlled Dangerous Substance Registration Renewal Platform
   2018 Digital Distinction Award - Government Website Category

 

   


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NEWSLETTERS
NIC Maryland develops and supports digital government services without using taxpayer funds through a master contract with the State of Maryland. Maryland saves money with NIC's online applications that pay for themselves through a proven funding model. 
Janet Grard 
General Manager

Andrea Greer
DoIT Contract Administrator
[email protected]