DESPP Develops Web Portal to Automate Criminal Background Checks

DESPP is working with PilotFish to develop a public-facing web portal to electronically request and process requests for criminal history. Today – request data, including credit card information, is collected via an online form. Payments are electronically processed through a centralized payment service and the collected information is securely transmitted to a SQL Server database inside of the State’s highly secure criminal justice information systems environment.

The new effort was initiated in order to streamline the current process for state residents and to improve the user’s experience, eliminate errors, delays and backlogs.

In the former process – citizens had to download, print out, complete, and snail-mail a hard copy of a PDF form to request a criminal background check. Additionally, the sender had to remit payment along with the documentation. Once the paperwork arrived at DESPP, staff had to re-key this information into a database and manually process the payment. This workflow was error-prone and inefficient, and created significant delays in turnaround time, a backlog of “busywork”, and wasted human capital.

With the implementation of PilotFish software and the new automated process, data will be collected through the State’s online portal. Credit card payments will be immediately processed electronically. Requests will seamlessly appear in the agency’s database without human intervention. The end result is faster turnaround time, better data, all at a lower cost to the taxpayer.

The DESPP implementation of the PilotFish product suite is paving the way for future state projects that require the integration of a public-facing website or web service with an agency-hosted backend system. Any agency or department looking to web-enable paperwork can use this implementation as a model.

Key components of this implementation:

• Public-facing website
• Electronic forms
• Electronic payment processing / e-commerce
• Integration with PayPal
• Secure collection of personal information
• HTML / AJAX / Fillable PDF
• SQL Server Database

Want to learn more and see how PilotFish products can help your agency or department? Click this link to contact the state’s Pilotfish Coordinator at DAS/BEST.

Ready to get started now? Download a full license (for state employees) now.