Tag Archives: Online Permitting Software

  • citizenserve-data-center

Community Development Software Infrastructure

Learn more about Citizenserve's Community Development Software Infrastructure. The following questions were included in a formal Permitting and Land Management System Request for Information from a city of about 62,500 residents.  Read our responses below for more information about the infrastructure behind Citizenserve's e-government software solution.

2.2     Infrastructure (Citizenserve is only offered as a Software as a Service solution)

2.2.1. Describe the infrastructure architecture for the network, end user devices (PC / Laptops), server, storage, and operating systems that comprise the solution. Include architectural diagrams.

Citizenserve Response: Citizenserve is a multi-tenant cloud-based Software-as-a-Service solution.  No server hardware or software is required.  End users can use any device and any browser to access the software.

2.2.2. Describe the data centers supporting the solution for the City of Redmond. Include location and the redundancy and high availability architecture design.

Citizenserve Response: The main data center is Iron Mountain in Phoenix. Data and application servers are replicated to an Iron Mountain facility in Edison, New Jersey. Data and application servers are replicated locally in the primary data center, so we don’t have to move to the secondary facility if there is a hardware failure.

If a server fails, we have a backup server. If the facility fails, we have a geographically diverse backup data center.  If our data center provider fails, we have a standby facility capable of restoring operations in less than an hour.

2.2.3. Describe any WAN bandwidth requirements for connectivity between the City of Redmond’s network and the vendor.

Citizenserve Response: Any contemporary internet connection will work.

2.2.4. Describe any unique network requirements (LAN or WAN) for optimal operation of this solution.

Citizenserve Response: Citizenserve is a 100% browser-based software application and can be accessed from any desktop or mobile device.

2.2.5. Describe the network design requirements to ensure there are no latency issues.

Citizenserve Response: Citizenserve is a 100% browser-based software.  Any contemporary data plan is sufficient to use the software.  Performance is continually monitored regarding the software bandwidth and resource requirements to identify areas of improvement or bottlenecks.

2.2.6. Describe your solution’s backup protocol.

Citizenserve Response: Incremental backups or logs are made every 15 minutes and the logs are kept indefinitely so data can be restored to any point in time. Full backups are performed twice weekly and whenever a new version is released. Full backups are always test restored in read-only recovery mode to allow for logs to be restored if necessary to the backup copy. Database consistency checks are performed regularly with offline copies. At least one full copy is maintained per month for historical archiving.

The main data center is Iron Mountain in Phoenix. Data and application servers are replicated to an Iron Mountain facility in Edison, New Jersey. Data and application servers are replicated locally in the primary data center, so we don’t have to move to the secondary facility if there is a hardware failure.

If a server fails, we have a backup server. If the facility fails, we have a geographically diverse backup data center.  If our data center provider fails, we have a standby facility capable of restoring operations in less than an hour.

2.2.7. Describe the RTO/RPO’s for restores.

Citizenserve Response: System Recovery Time Objective (RTO) on production servers for minor failures such as a server failure is less than one hour. RTO on production servers for major failures such as a data center failure is four hours. System Recovery Point Objective (RPO) is 15 minutes on application servers and database servers.

2.2.8. Provide an application and web services diagram illustrating the different components and functions of the solution. Include details on firewall requirements, servers, security, database integration, and software.

Citizenserve Response: Citizenserve is a multi-tenant cloud-based Software-as-a-Service solution.  No server hardware or software is required.  End users can use any device and any browser to access the software.

2.2.9. Provide details on what browsers, browser versions are supported and what Windows operating systems are supported.

Citizenserve Response: Citizenserve is device and browser independent and can be used on any modern browser.

We offer integrated cloud-basedpermitting , licensing, development, code enforcement, and request tracking solutions. Your subscription also includes an online citizen portal. Keep exploring our site to find pricing information, to request your live demo, or to see how we can support your community development needs.

Visit Customer Profiles to see how our customers are putting our permitting software for governments to work for their communities.

Visit Yavapai County Community Development Innovates their Online Services to see how one Arizona County implemented citizenserve. And we hope you've learned more about Citizenserve's Community Development Software Infrastructure.

Community Development Software Reporting Q&A

Citizenserve's Community Development Software Reporting is a powerful tool to support your community. The following questions were included in a formal Permitting and Land Management System Request for Information from a city of about 62,500 residents.  Read our responses below for more information about some of the reporting features included in Citizenserve's e-government software solution. 1.13   Community Development Software Reporting 1.13.1. Describe the capability to provide standard reports for operational, managerial, and executive reporting. Citizenserve Response: Citizenserve includes a robust offering of standard reports; in addition, the development of an unlimited number of custom reports is included in the subscription. 1.13.2. Describe the solution’s capability to provide…

GIS Integration

Citizenserve offers GIS Integration and much more. The following questions were included in a formal Permitting and Land Management System Request for Information from a city of about 62,500 residents.  Read our responses below for more information about some of the features included in Citizenserve's e-government software solution. 1.7     Geographic Information Systems 1.7.1. Describe the solution’s integration capabilities with ESRI (Environmental Systems Research Institute)-based GIS systems and services. Citizenserve Response: Most Citizenserve customers have ESRI GIS with various layers and property information.  Two-way GIS integration using web services allows ESRI GIS information to be incorporated into Citizenserve. 1.7.2. Describe features offered, ESRI solutions and versions supported. Citizenserve…

Mobile Permitting Software Q&A

Citizenserve offers Mobile Permitting Software in it's community development software suite. The following questions were included in a formal Permitting and Land Management System Request for Information from a city of about 62,500 residents.  Read our responses below for more information about some of the Mobile Workforce features included in Citizenserve's e-government software solution.

1.12   Mobile Permitting Sofware

1.12.1. Describe how your mobile solution supports all mobile devices, operating systems and browsers.

Citizenserve Response: Citizenserve is device and browser independent and has full functionality from mobile devices.

1.12.2. Describe the capabilities of the mobile tools provided with your solution.

Citizenserve Response: Citizenserve is device independent and has full functionality from mobile devices. Citizenserve can leverage tools on the mobile device such as speech to text functionality for inspectors to enter inspection results.

1.12.3. Describe your mobile permitting software solution’s ability to support speech to text functionally, as well as any spell check capabilities.

Citizenserve Response: Citizenserve leverages the speech-to-text and spell check functionality of the device and browser.

1.12.4. Describe how the mobile solution will allow the linking of photos and other documents to permits using mobile devices. Provide information on where and how these attachments are stored.

Citizenserve Response: A user such as an inspector can take a photo from a mobile device such as a Surface or iPad, and can upload the photo to the open case file. The attachments are immediately stored to the application server and transferred to the database on a nightly process.

1.12.5. Describe the options for mobile permitting software connectivity and the related security environment.

Citizenserve Response: Citizenserve is a cloud-based system; mobile users have the same security protections as desktop users.