Software Consulting Associates
Bridging the Interactions between the Public and Municipalities

“Municipalities are established for administrative convenience, and we help them administer with convenience,” begins Wil LaBossier, CEO of Software Consulting Associates (SCA). Established in 1983, SCA launched Municity, its customizable cloud-based municipal software, to help clients bring their services such as permitting, licensing, and registrations to the public efficiently with simple user interfaces. “We have developed an intuitive and easy-to-use software suite by leveraging the latest programming techniques to simplify interactions between municipalities and the public, which were once strenuous and time-consuming,” quotes LaBossier. With longstanding experience in working with several municipalities across the country, the firm gained functional knowledge about local governments. This, coupled with its expertise in software development, enabled the company to deliver result-driven solutions to its clients at an affordable cost.

Municity’s software suite includes Municity Mobile that provides municipalities a convenient way to interact with the firm’s database via a mobile device in real-time. Allowing municipalities to create complaints, inspections, appointments, and record assets, reschedule inspections, and edit inspection results on-site, it adds efficiency in their workflows. Also, Municity’s web-based solution serves the needs of municipalities of all sizes from metropolitan cities to rural locations and comes with pre-loaded standard features such as integrated GIS, dashboard analytics, and configurable workflows.

Having such a robust suite of solutions under its belt, SCA enables municipalities across the country to run more efficiently. In LaBossier’s words, “We see a two to three-hour improvement in efficiency per employee with our mobile solution. The speed at which municipalities respond to requests has also improved significantly.” By using the firm’s software solutions, municipalities can reduce their workload and even eliminate their need for more staff. Municity can also help public engagement by allowing them to avail the services of municipalities without visiting the office.

It also saves time for contractors by providing immediate feedback on their inspection results via a text or an email.

The solution is also highly customizable, built upon the reality that each municipality is unique in their workflows, organization of their departments, fee schedules, inspection, registration, and licensing requirements. Unlike its competitors who adopt a cookie-cutter approach by forcing municipalities to reorganize around the software, the Municity solution aligns well with their existing processes and workflows. To tailor its solutions to the clients’ needs, the firm adopts a comprehensive approach while engaging with them, which includes one-on-one meetings and on-site works to understand their processes, and collaboration with other stakeholders. The company’s expert team then works with the client to configure its solution according to the client’s expectations.

With its all-inclusive proprietary solution and customer-centric approach, SCA has clients across 12 states in the U.S., City of Schenectady, NY being one among them. The company’s success is a testament to its preparedness to transform itself to the tune of the market’s ever-emergent technological advancements. Identifying the growing significance of mobile devices among the public, the firm developed mobile applications, and SCA is one of the first companies to successfully migrate to mobile technology. “We had a mobile inspection tool when PalmPilot was the only mobile device available,” adds LaBossier. Furthermore, SCA was one of the first to migrate into the cloud; since 2012, the firm had been with Amazon Web Services.

Since its inception, Municity has a core focus on the clients from North-east region and envisioning the future, the firm is planning for a nationwide expansion. The company is planning to integrate with its sister company QScend for 311 work order management, Avolve Software, who does the online plan review for building permits, and Laserfiche for municipality documentation management. “We are also launching chip readers for in-office credit card payments, and online credit card and digital payments for permits and licenses,” concludes LaBossier.