When citizens of Saco bring items to the city’s transfer station, they are checked at the gate by an attendant who is responsible for insuring that the citizen has a current permit to use the facility and compare their yearly disposal against the allowance given to them by the city. The attendant must also charge for the disposal of certain other items.
Until recently, this data was kept in an Access database on the attendant’s laptop in the station’s office. The attendant had no way to check the user’s records on entry and data had to be manually transferred from the laptop to the main computer at the Department of Public Works.
Citizens frequently didn’t know they had incurred any cost in visiting the station until they exited, after their records could be checked.
Custom Communications worked with employees at the Department of Public Works to develop a web-based system with a responsive, tablet-ready interface that allows the attendant to check in arrivals at the station while standing next to their vehicle. Citizens know immediately if they will incur any costs before they enter the station and received a printed receipt upon exiting. The system is updated immediately online and citizens can check their Transfer Station balance on the city’s website.
The system allows the Department of Public works to view a citizen’s disposal history and create a number of overall reports on disposal totals in different categories necessary for compliance with the State of Maine.