The NJMVC is the first government agency in New Jersey to use pen tablet PCs
The Background:
The New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission (NJMVC) aims to be the model for excellence in motor vehicle services.
Long waits and slow service are never fun, but many customers have come to accept it as a fact of life when visiting their local motor vehicle departments around the country.
In 2003, the NJMVC began overhauling its operations and image in an effort to better serve customers. One critical tool it’s using to improve the customer experience is tablet PCs from Motion Computing. The point-of-entry service made possible by tablet PCs has made a major impact on the way the Commission serves customers.
The Challenge:
The NJMVC made the decision to deploy the tablets in three areas: driver license renewal, new driver licensing, and vehicle inspections.
For years, customers waited in line for hours, only to find out that they didn’t have the appropriate identification. Following the enactment of New Jersey’s Motor Vehicle Security and Customer Service Act in 2003, the newly created Motor Vehicle Commission began requiring new and renewing drivers to produce six points of identification in order to obtain a digital driver license. Rather than wasting customers’ time by making them wait in line, the NJMVC wanted to help people as soon as they walked through the door. They imagined an electronic, handheld device used to check identification and fill out preliminary forms that would save each driver time and improve the overall experience.
The NJMVC’s IT team first explored PDAs, but the functionality of these devices was limited. Laptops also were evaluated, but they lacked agility and didn’t have the handwriting recognition capabilities necessary to fill out forms. Tablet PCs emerged as the most appropriate solution. After reviewing various devices, Motion Computing’s ultra-mobile, pen-and-ink enabled tablet PCs emerged as the right fit for the NJMVC.
“Once we decided that tablets were the most beneficial solution, all signs pointed to Motion Computing as the tablet PC provider of choice,†says Woody Sisco, NJMVC’s management information systems coordinator.
The NJMVC began implementing Motion’s tablet PCs and soon realized that they would be useful in other areas of the organization - particularly with the mobile workforces of Inspection Services and Driver Testing examiners, who evaluate first-time drivers.
The Solution:
In early 2004, the commission designated greeters at each of its agencies and equipped them with Motion M1400 tablet PCs, 200 tablets in total. In the fall of 2006, they purchased approximately 300 LE1600 tablet PCs, and will eventually upgrade all of the M1400s currently in use. The tablet’s mobility enabled greeters to provide customer service beyond the counter, significantly expediting the customer’s Motor Vehicle Commission experience.
While drivers wait in line to be served at the counter, greeters review and verify identification documents. Customers can ask questions, find out what forms they need to fill out, and take care of preliminary issues, all while they wait. The NJMVC purchased extended batteries that enable greeters to go most of the day without having to swap out the batteries every few hours.
The Division of Inspection Services is responsible for evaluations at inspection stations, as well as mobile inspections of charter and school buses and taxi cab fleets. They use Formulizer software that is ink-enabled and uses Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to transfer handwriting to searchable text. The software creates a back-end database that is searchable and quite useful for statistical reporting. The inspectors can search all content entered in the form fields and save forms with “ink†intact and in text format.
Driver Testing examiners now score new drivers’ parallel parking and left-hand turning skills with the help of the tablets. The minute the test car is put into park, scores are entered directly into the system and the newly-minted driver just has to pick up his/her provisional license. There is no additional paperwork to fill out.
The Results:
The tablets have been fully deployed by greeters working in motor vehicle agencies and are in the process of being implemented by the vehicle inspection personnel and Driver Testing examiners who will be moving to a paperless environment. According to Sisco, “the applicability for vehicle inspections and Driver Testing examiners was obvious. We knew the tablets would be an incredible tool for them and couldn’t wait to get them in their hands.â€
The Motion tablet’s View Anywhere® Display, which allows for easy viewing in any light, is especially useful to the vehicle inspectors, who are often working outdoors to conduct inspections. The View Anywhere feature eliminates glare on the screens and allows for viewing at any angle. They’ve also recently begun using the pen-and-ink tool to conduct evaluations via customized online forms.
A mobile workforce, the Enhanced Inspections Group has incorporated CDMA wireless technology, which allows them to send and receive e-mails instantly while in the field. They also use the tablet to take pictures during site investigations, and take notes directly on top of the image.
Sisco says the purchase of the Motion tablets was “very easy to justify.â€
