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IPMA News : September 2005
Edited By Christy Ridout and Shelagh Taylor
IPMA News : September 2005Edited By Christy Ridout and Shelagh Taylor |
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ContentsBehind the scenes – Department of Information Services gets ready to roll out Voice over IP Washington State Employment Security Department Imaging/OCR of Tax & Wage Data Mary Ellen Bradley and Phil Grigg named "Sustaining Leaders" by Governor |
"Sponsor's Corner"
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--by Bob DeShaye, Department of Information Services
The Department of Information Services (DIS), using new Voice over IP (VoIP) technology, offers new telephony products that operate over a converged IP network in a government business environment. In 2003, we started to research the necessary upgrades that would allow the State Governmental Network (SGN) to carry VoIP traffic and ultimately offer a high-quality production service.
Based on our research, we upgraded the SGN with Multi Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) to allow SGN customers to carry their voice and data traffic within a virtual network defined within the SGN. We also employed Quality of Service (QoS) controls, which allow the data transport of voice traffic to take priority over data traffic. This priority helps maintain voice quality during network traffic congestion.
In December 2004, we completed these upgrades, which are the essential requirements for us to provide production-level VoIP service using the SGN for transport.
Many state agencies connect their LAN to the SGN, and don't have circuits with sufficient bandwidth to handle voice traffic and data traffic. The converging voice and data traffic would cause significant congestion that could decrease voice quality. For a business class VoIP service to function properly in a converged network environment, we needed to provide Ethernet speeds supporting QoS.
Earlier this year, we implemented an Advanced Ethernet Service (AES) for these agencies. The new AES allows fast Ethernet connections to the SGN with connection speeds up to 1 GB per second. In addition to implementing AES at DIS, we are working with the Washington State Patrol, the Department of Revenue, and the Office of the Attorney General to establish Ethernet connections to the SGN.
IP-enabled PBX service
We are enabling the existing DIS-owned, larger PBXs
throughout the state to take advantage of the SGN ability to pass converged
voice and data traffic. We will be able to offer VoIP and traditional Time
Division Multiplex (TDM) service through these IP-enabled PBXs.
Attorney General first to sign up for MIPT service
The Office of the Attorney General (ATG) and DIS/Qwest are implementing the first MIPT service at ATG locations in the greater Olympia area. The new ATG building
in Tumwater will be MIPT-ready for all staff to use when it opens in late
November 2005. MIPT is scheduled to be fully implemented statewide for the ATG
by the end of June 2006.
Managed IP Telephony (MIPT) service
For agencies that want a pure VoIP
service, we have partnered with Qwest and Cisco to provide a Managed IP
Telephony Cisco-based VoIP service. The new Managed IP Telephony service uses
Cisco Call Managers and E911 Emergency Responders located within the DIS
network. The Call Managers are configured to support thousands of users
throughout the state, through agencies' SGN connections. The Call Managers are
replicated in DIS node sites in Olympia and Spokane. Replication provides full
fail-over capability in case a Call Manager malfunctions – allowing for
continuous call processing anywhere in the state.
Qwest and DIS staff monitor the MIPT service network performance 24 X 7 and can detect any network events affecting service performance. Qwest and DIS also take care of all MIPT management, maintenance, service upgrades and patching, which reduces the workload on agencies using the service.
Agencies that want to use the MIPT service will need to purchase their own Cisco handsets, but will not need to purchase the central call processing software and hardware.
To take advantage of the DIS MIPT service, agencies must perform a network readiness assessment with DIS/Qwest to ensure their existing network is properly updated to connect to the MIPT service. DIS/Qwest will provide guidance for typical agency upgrade requirements, such as Power Over Ethernet (POE) within the agency LAN or any needed router IOS upgrades. We will determine monthly rates for the service on a case by case basis, depending on specific service-level agreement requirements.
For more information about either DIS VoIP service, contact Bob DeShaye at 360-902-3336.
--by Susan Merchant, ImageSource
Employment Security Department implements an electronic tax/wage process reducing processing time by three to four weeks each quarter and realizing labor savings of approximately 10 full-time staff members.
"We have users state-wide retrieving documents from the
system. Because we wanted the data that goes to the mainframe to be as clean as
possible, we rely heavily on the workflow tools as we verify and make changes to
the records."
Cinda Sackrison - Unemployment Insurance Tax and Wage Technology Manager
Case Summary
The Washington State Employment Security Department turned to a document imaging
and workflow management solution for automated tax and wage form processing to
reduce processing time, increase data integrity and save labor costs.
The Challenge
The Employment Security Department (ESD) processes unemployment tax reports from
approximately 197,000 employers, who submit quarterly wage detail documents for
3.2 million employees. The Department’s primary responsibility is to process
unemployment benefits. Before automation efforts, ESD relied heavily on manual
data entry processes. It was a labor-intensive, costly effort to process and
verify each quarter’s tax and wage reports.
The ImageSource Solution
The Employment Security Department now creates digital images of all incoming
wage and tax documents. Documents are stored as digital images in a fully
integrated document archive and retrieval system. The solution was designed and
integrated by ImageSource, utilizing Stellent® Image and Business Process
Management for content storage, retrieval and workflow. Kofax Ascent® Capture
was recently implemented for image scanning, OCR and data validation. A content
addressable EMC® Centera enterprise storage platform was also recently
implemented to support long term content storage. Automated data collection from
incoming images can be collected for database use and for transaction
processing, reducing manual data entry. Tax and wage data is electronically
recognized utilizing OCR/ICR from the image files and is automatically entered
into a backend SQL database. The data is then scrubbed, verified and indexed
before upload to the IBM mainframe that manages ESD's tax accounting and benefit
systems.
Bottom Line
Having digital images readily available enables the Employment Security
Department staff to quickly validate information. Business rules set up within
Stellent® IBPM alert Department staff whenever there is questionable
information. The workflow rules automatically route those red flagged tax and
wage reports to exception queues for review and further analysis. Because the
scanned documents are indexed, staff throughout the state can quickly pull up
and review the original material submitted by employers. There are currently
over 300 staff that have access to the Stellent images.
Each quarter the Employment Security Department can now get all of the information into the system three or four weeks earlier with no overtime. By eliminating overtime and reducing manual data entry ESD has seen a significant labor costs savings and an increase in data integrity, which ultimately enables them to provide better service to Washington employers and unemployment insurance claimants.
Industry: Government
Applications/ Services: Application
Critical Needs: No one likes to make its customers wait while paperwork is being processed. But fast turnaround is impossible in a manual process.
Benefits: ESD is now able to create digital images of all incoming wage and tax documents. The solution provided the ability for the quick retrieval of unemployment insurance tax and wage documents. By reducing manual data entry ESD was able to realize labor saving of approximately 10 full-time staff performing that work.
Products: Kofax® Ascent Capture, Stellent® IBPM, and EMC® Centera
(Editors' Note: The following is excerpted from a September 6 news release from the Governor's Office. Mary Ellen Bradley and Phil Grigg are long-time IPMA Board members.)
Gov. Christine Gregoire today announced that nine state employees will be presented with the Governor’s Distinguished Manager Award for excellence in management this past year. Another six managers will receive the Governor’s Sustaining Leader Award for their continued leadership over a longer period of time.
“State managers such as these recipients work hard each day to serve the public efficiently and effectively,” said Gregoire. “Despite dwindling resources and increasing workloads, they rise to the challenge. It is important that we recognize their tremendous dedication and performance through these awards.”
The Governor’s Distinguished Management Award was created in 1985 to formally recognize state government managers who demonstrate excellent performance. In 1992, a new award category – Sustaining Leader – was created to recognize managers who achieve outstanding leadership over a period of years.
SUSTAINING LEADER AWARDS
Mary Ellen Bradley, Department of Ecology
Managing the Information Resources & Desktop Support Section, Bradley
developed consistent desktop computer standards, saving money in applications
and software purchasing. A public servant for 23 years, she also developed new
contracting agreements for print services, innovative computer purchasing, and
an enterprise agreement to track and manage software licensing.
Phil Grigg, Department of General Administration
As chief information officer, Grigg helped consolidate the server
environment and reduced the number of operating systems, databases and hardware
environments, making the sharing of information within the agency easier. He now
is part of an effort to integrate state computer systems and implement a
multi-agency e-mail system. In 2003, Grigg’s staff, when surveyed, gave him
perfect scores in five categories.
See the complete news release for information on the other honorees.
5 Years Ago -- September 2000 IPMA Newsletter
10 Years Ago -- September 1995 IPMA Newsletter
15 Years Ago -- September 1990 IPMA Newsletter (not available at this time)
20 Years Ago -- September 1985 Association of Data Processing Managers Newsletter (not available at this time)
25 Years Ago -- September 1980 Association of Data Processing Managers Newsletter (not available at this time)
30 Years Ago -- September 1975 Association of Data Processing Managers Newsletter (not available at this time)
Members Present: Mary Ellen Bradley, Thomas Bynum, Sheryl Hall, Dennis Jones, Dennis Laine, Christy Ridout, Allen Schmidt and Shelagh Taylor. Phil Coates, CFO, was also present.
Thomas Bynum, IPMA Chair, opened the August 2005 meeting of the IPMA Board of Directors at 7:43 a.m.
Approval of Minutes: The minutes from the July 2005 Board meeting were approved.
Secretary/Treasurer’s Report: The Board approved the July 2005 financial status and activities reports.
Committee Reports:
Forum 2006: Dennis Laine reported that activity in preparation for the 2006 Forum will start with a meeting of the committee in late October or early November. He noted that the major annual problem is coming up with a keynote speaker, so he asked the board to begin thinking of suggestions.
Communications: Christy Ridout reported that articles were ready for the current issue of the IPMA News. She also thanked Mary Ellen Bradley for her continued help with articles, even though she is now Secretary/Treasurer.
The article schedule for the remainder of 2005 is:
Professional Development: Sheryl Hall reported that the Neil Whitten seminar is a sell out with 250 registrations. She asked if someone on the board could help on the day of the event. Mary Ellen Bradley volunteered. The text books have been ordered. Dennis Laine reported that he has ordered the IPMA pens and note pads and volunteered to deliver the appropriate amount to Sheryl on the 23rd.
Planning for the October 19, 2005 seminar is moving forward. The title is Maximizing Your Software Investments Using Dashboards. It will presented by Microsoft, Netdesk and a panel.
Executive Seminar 2005: There was no Executive Seminar report.
IT Leadership Development Program: Dennis Jones reported that the “LeaderPath for IT Managers” program is moving forward fast. He and Kathy Rosmond are meeting with UW to coordinate the October opening session. They are also working on designing the orientation session to be held in September. Dennis indicated that they will need assistance from the board on developing the selection criteria, as well as identifying and defining the “Cap Stone” projects.
Dennis noted that the IPMA needs to keep its involvement in the program visible and suggested that notebooks or folders of some kind with the IPMA logo printed on it be distributed to all participants at each session. The board concurred with the suggestion and Dennis Laine volunteered to acquire such folders.Other Business:
September Board Meeting: There will be no September Board Meeting. If any business requires board attention, a special meeting will be called at the Ocean Shores Shilo during the Executive Seminar.
Next Meeting: October 13, 2005, at the Shipwreck Café
The meeting was adjourned at 8:29 a.m.
IPMA, P.O. Box 1943, Olympia, WA 98507-1943