Bringing Technology to the Field in TPP Steve Weissman, RES, CFE, MBA Manager, Personal Property Appraisal Section Palm Beach County Property Appraiser’s Office

THE HISTORY OF FIELD DATA COLLECTION IN PALM BEACH COUNTY

THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX

There must be a better way…

THE STEPS Define your needs Define the selection criteria Create the “long list” Create the RFP Evaluate responses Create your short list Make your selection So, you’ve decided to get new software…

AVOIDING THE PIT FALLS

REQUIREMENTS: What’s actually “required?” Can you define the word “required?” Avoid “requirement creep.”

SOFTWARE OFF THE SHELF USER CUSTOMIZABLE CUSTOM SOFTWARE

and Palm Beach County chose

PPFIELD Developed by Jeremy Banner, CFE Systems Integrator/Developer

DETAILS: ASSET LIST

Upgrades complete. You are no longer required. Please log off, do not log on again, and continue paying your electric and Internet access bills.

WHAT’S NEXT?

Now that I’ve rebooted my computer, I feel much better!

Tangible Personal Property Field Data Collection System Technical Description Requirements Tablet PC running Windows 7 Microsoft.Net Framework 4.0 Oracle 10G or higher client ESRI ArcGIS Mobile Microsoft Report Viewer Redistributable

Tangible Personal Property Field Data Collection System Technical Description Structure Windows Forms Based application Written in C# Uses Oracle 10G client to communicate with the IAS World database for account data check-out and creation of transactions for account check-in. Data transfers are done over the network either wired or wireless. Lookup tables are updated during account download. Photos are pulled from the IAS World photos table during account download. Uses custom ArcGIS Mobile application to select accounts geographically. Also uses ArcGIS Mobile to show current location based on GPS and to copy current location data to expedite entering data for new accounts.

Tangible Personal Property Field Data Collection System Technical Description Structure Uses SQL Server Compact Edition to store data locally while out in the field. Microsoft Report Viewer is included to run simple canned reports on accounts in the local database. Telerik OpenAccess and Telerik WinForms Controls were used to expedite development. Aerial imagery is copied from an ArcGIS Server map cache and stored locally on the tablet for use in the built in mapping screen.

Tangible Personal Property Field Data Collection System Technical Description Key Features Accounts worked in the field are uploaded to IAS World through transactions that can be validated, abandoned, or committed through the IAS World interface. Photos taken in the field with the tablet camera are uploaded to the IAS World photos table with appropriate metadata (test mode). Photos are uploaded into Picture Manager, an application developed in- house (production). New accounts can be added in the field and the current location can be used to populate the address field without typing or writing. Tablet based validation help reduce errors while entering zip codes, tax districts, and other data. Handwritten inventory scratchpad can be used for notes associated with an account.

“IF YOU’RE NOT ABSOLUTELY THRILLED AND DELIGHTED WITH OUR SOFTWARE, CALL US AND WE’LL BE HAPPY TO HELP YOU ESTABLISH MORE REASONABLE EXPECTATIONS.”

WHERE’S MY DATA?

HARDWARE

Samsung Series 7 SLATE

Intel CORE i5 processor

GPS USB DONGLE

BESTEK MRI711C 75 Watt Power Inverter

OBSOLETE: Any piece of software or hardware that you bought last week for mega bucks.