The City of Mesa
Government Case Study
- Industry: Government
- Company Size: 4,000 employees
- Cost Savings Choosing BlueInk over Competitors: 42%
Play Video
The City of Mesa, located in Arizona, is the 35th largest city in America with a population of more than 500,000. Since the launch of “Smart City Master Plan”, Mesa has become a city nationally known for advancements using technology to better serve constituents. In 2019, the City of Mesa was among two other cities who won the “Government Experience Award”. This award recognizes the achievements and best practices of cities who are leveraging innovative technology that is radically improving the experience of Government and pushing the boundaries of how citizen services are delivered.
Problem: Requiring an in-person application process for assistance puts undue strain on those in need, especially in light of the pandemic. Time is of the utmost importance for program participants, and by requiring wet signatures or in person visits, many are not able to utilize these important programs.
Solution: Through Smart Document Links, Housing program applications are now made available online directly to the public, allowing participants and applicants to immediately find, complete, and electronically sign all required documents. This increases accessibility to the public, expedites the application and review process that helps those in need much more quickly, and reduces the operational inefficiency with auditing forms, waiting for supporting documentation, and collecting information that was missed by the participant.
Problem: Most contracts require multiple layers of review and approval before any new service or goods can be purchased. Even with immediate needs for both, the process of delivering any given form or contract would require a full time employee to ensure it was completed accurately. Solutions to problems faced by the community would be delayed weeks, if not months, by collecting all of the required adjustments and appropriate signatures, creating unnecessary delays.
Solution: By using automated document workflows, any contract created can now be delivered to the multiple levels of review and approval electronically. Eliminating the need to hand deliver, or email a copy that requires to be printed, signed, scanned, and then emailed back. This expedites the approval process for essential purchases. Dashboard Management tools allow for ease of tracking the progress of each contract by providing detailed information about each signer’s progress, thereby eliminating waste of payroll hours and administrative costs.
Problem: The need to reassign an employee, either temporarily or permanently, for a new position is common, especially in light of the pandemic. Employees would arrive to their new department or meet with their new supervisor, though the paperwork hadn’t been processed timely as it required multiple layers of approval and signature. This would delay the reassignment or create confusion and possible liability if the individual began working in their new role without the appropriate documentation complete.
Solution: With use of the reusable templates for onboarding new full-time, part-time, and contracted labor, all paperwork required to be completed is now done so electronically, in advance of the individuals first day of employment. Existing employee documents, including tax and internal operational documents, are executed without error and done so in a matter of moments versus weeks. From promotions and pay increases, to changes in employee status, most workflows are completed in a paperless, error free, and lighting fast process that eliminates inefficiencies.
Problem: The workload for the department is overwhelming without having to worry about documentation, wasting valuable energy and resources managing the mundane task of capturing signatures, or filing paperwork, creates an incredible amount of waste of time and tax payers money.
Solution: Transitioning the most commonly used documents to a fully electronic document management platform, using tools that allow for management and storage of each document electronically, adds the highest level of operational efficiency. Globalizing the practice of electronic signature capture for new recruits, purchasing, and internal affairs helped eliminate errors that was commonplace with manual workflows.
The City of Mesa initially approached an eSignature company to provide a solution for their eSignature needs and complex workflows. The city was presented with a proposal that showed a minimum cost to implement which was prohibitive to the city and their departments.
Along with the cost, the city would have had limited workflows and only a fraction of the employees would have had access to eSignatures.
Since the city was unable to afford this alternative, it caused a delayed rollout of technology to multiple departments for 12 months, costing the city administrative and payroll expenses.
After evaluating BlueInk and their cost-effective pricing, the city decided to deploy eSignatures to all departments along with customized workflows, creating a unified global adoption of eSignatures and paperless workflows. The City of Mesa has experienced substantial savings, increase in efficiencies and satisfied employees / citizens.
From demo to deploy, BlueInk had the cities departments up and running within 3 days. There was an urgent need to get eSignature implemented because of COVID-19 and the remote work requirements. BlueInk assigned a dedicated customer care team to the city to ensure quick implementation, platform training, and a successful launch.
By incorporating eSignatures and automated workflows, the City of Mesa has drastically improved employee and constituent morale. The employees within departments of the city are able to be more organized, efficient, and productive with day-to-day operational needs and at the same time created a more efficient and productive path to accommodate constituents through convenience and accessibility.
