RGD Launches Application Tracking System

The Registrar General’s Department (RGD) has launched an Application Tracking System (ATS), its newest customer service improvement initiative. Customers will no longer be required to complete physical application forms for birth, death and marriage certificates.
Implemented on February 1 at all offices of the RGD, including the seven regional offices across the island, the ATS has significantly reduced a number of steps in the application process.
Speaking at a JIS Think Tank session recently, Chief Executive Officer of the RGD, Dr. Patricia Holness explained that the new ATS was developed from a prototype that the RGD began using in 2003. This system enables customers to check the status of their applications online or with a customer service representative by telephone.
As of the first of February however, the capabilities of the system were expanded to involve customer service representatives interacting with customers to gather the information for the application; verification by signature by the customer, and payment. Each transaction lasts approximately three minutes.
With the system there is a greater level of customer participation and satisfaction as the customer is empowered to “query and track the status of an application from each point to the next, as it moves through the production process,” Dr. Holness explained.
She reported that the new system also enables customer service representatives in all regional offices to check on the status of any application, regardless of where the application was made and add comments based on the most recent contact made with the customer.
For example, Dr. Holness said “throughout the process, any RGD customer service representative in any RGD office island-wide can add a line such as, ‘customer emphasizes urgency – need to travel to funeral of relative overseas’ and any customer service representative who has been tagged to follow up on the application will see the note to act on that application.
Dr. Holness said customer feedback to the ATS has been positive. “Customers appreciate the reduction in the number of checkpoints in an application. They are seated in air-conditioned comfort in the foyer, not a tent, and they have access to 14 customer service representatives, each with their own state of the art equipment.”
Giving more details on the benefits to both the organization and customers, Dr. Holness said, “The system also allows for the collection of customer information, which creates a record of each customer’s interaction with the agency and this facilitates an application database. We are able to see the reasons for application of certificates. Such information is useful for national planning as it tracks trends based on social, civic and national activities.”
Additionally, RGD is now able to develop a number of customized management reports, as the capacity has been created to track peak time for applications, determine the types of applications in the system and generally conduct new levels of research.
The ATS now features a System Generated Application Number, which constitutes 12 digits and is considered an ‘intelligent number” because it embodies important information such as the date of application, the product type and the location, among other things. The ATS comes at a time when the RGD is experiencing a 40 per cent increase in demand for its services since January, especially as these relate to birth, death and marriage certificate applications. Daily, more than 2,000 applications are submitted to the RGD and approximately 3,000 telephone calls are received.As it relates to record updating documents such as Late Entry of Name, Correction of Error and Re-Registration forms remain necessary for statutory declaration, verification and evidence.