Open Portal Solutions (OPS) was mentioned in a nice article in Georgia’s Henry Daily Herald last week. 

The article highlighted Georgia’s Henry County Police Department using OPS’s NE Citation, an electronic system for issuing and processing traffic citations.  

NE Citation will help streamline the ticket writing process and is expected to increase efficiency and officer safety.  An officer scans the driver’s license bar code and driver information automatically populates the NE Citation application.  It will cut down the officer time needed from 10 minutes to write a carbon ticket to 30 seconds to input information into a computer, getting the officer back out on patrol more quickly.  It is also expected to greatly increase accuracy and eliminate errors associated with handwriting interpretation.

Information from the citation will be transmitted from the Police Department directly to the State Court, automatically eliminating a step in the process.  The new system will also mean substantial savings for the County with the new tickets costing approximately 25 cents to produce, compared with the current cost of $2.50 for each carbon ticket.

The Henry County Police Department will begin using NE Citation in November. 

Read more about NE Citation on the Henry County Police Department website…and watch for updates about the program right here at www.NoExcusesBlog.com.

OPS is happy to announce a new contract with the State of Nebraska!

Nebraska motorists will soon have access to www.BuyCrash.com to purchase collision reports investigated by any law enforcement agency in the State of Nebraska.  To obtain a copy of a collision report, individuals can access www.BuyCrash.com, enter a few simple pieces of information and locate a report.  Accessing www.BuyCrash.com eliminates the need for individuals to make a trip to the investigating agency where the collision occurred.  Individuals can locate, view and purchase copies of vehicle collision reports from the comfort of their own homes or offices without the hassle of travelling to the law enforcement agency that wrote the report and waiting in line for a copy.  

In addition, personal injury attorneys will have the ability to view all State of Nebraska collision reports by using a secure username and password.  Instead of travelling to the NDOR to inspect printed reports, they will have access all collision reports anywhere with an internet connection.

OPS will modify the NE Crash application to run on a Mac OS.  This will allow Nebraska law enforcment agencies to electronically capture and submit collision reports to the Nebraska Department of Roads (NDOR) with an IPad device.

This news is great for OPS and the State of Nebraska!  This new contract is a direct result of our discussions at the International Forum on Traffic Records & Highway Safety Information System in New Orleans last month.

Any state that wants to provide cutting edge services that provide additional access options for the public while saving the state money is encouraged to contact us.  OPS would be happy to discuss our products and services!

Robert F. Dallas, Governor’s Office of Highway Safety (GOHS) Director, recently sent a letter to law enforcement agencies in Georgia regarding the benefits of the Georgia Electronic Accident Reporting System (GEARS).  GEARS is powered by Open Portal Solutions’ NE Crash.

The letter explained that law enforcement agencies that do not currently have an electronic crash reporting option can receive software, implementation, training and on-going technical support that will allow them to electronically capture and submit crash reports to the State–all at no charge.  The reporting application is configured to meet all of the State of Georgia requirements for data collection and data validation.

Law enforcement agencies that already have an electronic crash reporting system in place have the ability to transmit crash reports to the State electronically, reducing the time and resources currently involved in submitting the reports.

All law enforcement agencies have free access to the Georgia Department of Transportation’s online record management system through a web portal.  This will provide agencies with the ability to retrieve crash reports, run queries, map crashes and generate various reports tailored for specific needs.

GDOT anticipates that the benefits of utilizing GEARS will lead to all LEA’s submitting crash reports electronically. 

To learn more about GEARS, watch this video available on www.OpenPoralSolutions.com.  OPS has a fully staffed support team dedicated to GEARS.  E-mail support@openportalsolutions.com or call the support line at (866) 495-4206.  Complete the technical support request form to register your agency for GEARS.

The OPS Team that supports Kentucky’s Department of Employee Insurance (DEI) is gearing up for another employees’ health insurance open enrollment period.  The enrollment period is scheduled to start on Monday, October 11. 

Each year, the team is tasked with making changes to accommodate for Federal, State, and DEI requirements.  For example:  A new federal health care bill now allows dependents to be covered until Age 26.  Changes will need to be made to allow dependents to remain on the plan until the end of the month of their 26th birthday.  The team will be working with DEI to implement these changes along with many others for the upcoming enrollment period. 

The OPS team looks forward to helping DEI with another successful open enrollment!!

Over the past few weeks, OPS has had the opportunity to participate in the International Forum on Traffic Records & Highway Safety Information System and the Georgia Chiefs of Police Conference.  

We are now looking forward to several fall conferences.  The OPS team is attending the Governors Highway Safety Association’s annual meeting in Kansas City in September and the Indiana Association of Cities and Towns Conference in Fort Wayne in October.  We are participating in exhibitor shows at both of these events and have added several new display banners to our display collection. 

Be sure to stop by and say hello to your friends from OPS!

OPS welcomes one of our client partners to the social networking age!   The Indiana State Police recently launched Facebook and Twitter sites.

The Facebook page includes recent news releases, videos, pictures and other information about programs and services offered by the Indiana State Police. Facebook users can choose to become a “fan” of the Indiana State Police and receive updates as they’re posted.

The Twitter account offers followers up-to-the minute information about selected traffic events or criminal investigations effecting safety, including crime alerts, suspect descriptions, Amber and Silver alerts, dangerous weather conditions and traffic crashes.

Indiana State Police has been cutting edge in the traffic records management field.  We look forward to seeing how they use social networking technology to better connect with the Hoosiers they serve!

The OPS staff will be visiting the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office, Riverdale Police Department, Clayton County Police Department, DeKalb County Police Department and Glynn County Police Department this week for on-site Georgia Electronic Accident Reporting System (GEARS) training.

OPS is working with the Columbus Police Department to schedule training later this month as well.

GEARS offers law enforcement tools that allow officials to complete collision reports more efficiently.  High-quality consistent, accurate and timely collision information can be collected through a wizard-based application than incorporates bar code reading of driver’s licenses, unlimited narrative with spell check, integrated diagramming and point and click mapping.   GEARS is available to all Georgia law enforcement agencies at “zero cost.”

For a video introduction to GEARS and to see support tutorials, go to the media section of the Open Portal Solutions web site.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has issued a report regarding the best practices of electronic crash reporting by states.  The report compares E-Crash systems across the country.   Indiana was selected as one of the states highlighted in the report for best practices.  

Indiana utilizes Open Portal Solution’s (OPS) NE Crash application, referred to as the Automated Reporting Information Exchange System (ARIES) in Indiana.  With 99.7% of all traffic collision reports submitted electronically, Indiana leads all 50 states in the highest percentage of electronically transmitted collision reports.  Indiana moved from an electronic submission rate of 24% in 2006 to 99.7% in December of 2009.  In 2009, the State of Indiana submitted 190,000 collision reports through the ARIES application.  99.7%, all but 1,167, were submitted electronically. Indiana is the only state that has adopted bar coding for both license and registration.  Information on licenses and registrations auto populates with a bar scanner during data collection. The tools offered by ARIES allow law enforcement officials to complete reports more accurately and in a third less time than it takes to complete handwritten reports.  Indiana has the highest timeliness rating in the U.S., submitting 85% of collision reports within four days of the incident.  The partnership between OPS and Indiana saves the state more than one million dollars annually and involves a revenue sharing agreement for local municipalities. 

The crash records system in Indiana is mentioned numerous times throughout the report.  The primary reference to Indiana starts on page 14, with other references throughout.

NHTSA will have a booth at the International Forum on Traffic Records & Highway Safety Information Systems, which starts today in New Orleans.  (OPS is the Platinum Sponsor of this great event!)  The report will be distributed at the Forum to attendees and will be available on the DOT-TRCC Website. 

“We, as the Indiana TRCC, stakeholders,  as well as our law enforcement agencies should take pride in the fact that so much as been accomplished over the past four years,” wrote Nils King, in a memo to TRCC members.   King, is the Traffic Records Coordinator for the Traffic Safety Division of the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute. King is attending the International Forum on Traffic Records & Highway Safety Information Systems and will represent TRCC.

Jeff Holt, Dawn Holt, Bob Holtgrave, John Montalbino and Kevin Sifferlen are packing their bags—–it’s time for the International Forum on Traffic Records & Highway Safety Information Systems.  The team arrives in New Orleans on Saturday. 

If you are attending the conference, don’t forget to register to win a GARMIN GPS from Open Portal Solutions.  OPS will be at booths #1 and #2—at the front of the exhibit hall. 

Follow live reports from Dawn Holt, Director of Communications for OPS, on Twitter: @DawnHoltOPS.  Watch for additional updates on Facebook and here on our blog.  We encourage you to post your own comments and photos from the conference on our Facebook page—or post a comment right here on our blog!

OPS is the proud Platinum Sponsor of the 36th annual International Forum on Traffic Records & Highway Safety Information Systems!