City of Albany, GA

City of Albany, GA

How eScribe Drove Success:

  1. 8 hours saved weekly by streamlining agenda creation and approval processes.
  2. Simplified collaboration by eScribe’s integration with Microsoft Word.
  3. Departments have better control over their own agendas without the need for administrative assistance.
  4. The meeting management process is easier for both admins and other staff.

“I don’t get headaches anymore!’”

Triquenski Hicks, Legislative Assistant for the City of Albany

Background

The City of Albany, Georgia, handles many meetings each month–approximately 100, according to Triquenski Hicks, legislative assistant for the city. That sheer volume of meetings makes it necessary to have strong systems and tools in place to be able to keep all these meetings organized and running smoothly. And with a staff of just four in the City Clerk’s office, handling meetings across several departments, it’s critical for the City of Albany that processes around public meetings are as efficient as possible.

Before eScribe

Prior to implementing eScribe, the City of Albany used a different meeting management software but still faced significant challenges. “Before we got eScribe, it was always a struggle to get things approved on time. We were always trying to get the meeting prep  completed at the very last minute.” This put a lot of strain on the City Clerk’s office, whose staff was responsible for handling meeting preparation across several departments.

Another aspect of the challenges facing the City of Albany’s meeting management process prior to eScribe was the lack of prompt customer service from their old vendor. “Most of the time, it would take our old meeting management software vendor two or three days to fix our issues. So we were always on edge about whether or not we were going to get things ready on time. Even small things, like formatting issues, took a day or more to fix.”

When this particular vendor was bought up by a different company, the City had two choices: choose from the list of alternative products provided by the vendor or explore new options. Because all of the alternative options would have cost significantly more money, the City decided to evaluate other vendors.

After meeting an eScribe rep at a conference, Triquenski decided to reach out and get some more information. “He was great. He stopped what he was doing, went through everything [about eScribe, talked us through what we’d be getting step-by-step, and reviewed pricing compared to other vendors. And we learned we’d be getting a lot of things we didn’t even think we’d get, for no additional cost. So we said, ‘Yes!’”

Triquenski noted that what especially made eScribe stand out against the competition was its ability to easily edit meeting items, its ability to set user permissions and levels of permissions, and its ability to give each department/user their own creativity with their agendas without having to involve administrators too much.

After eScribe

The benefits of implementing eScribe were immediate, starting with time savings. Triquenski estimated that he and his colleagues saved 8 hours each week by using eScribe, which adds up to a significant impact for a small staff charged with accommodating a large number of meetings across several departments. This was, in part, thanks to how eScribe streamlined the agenda creation and management process. “Every day, I go into eScribe towards the end of the day, and if any agenda items have been approved I go ahead and add them in. So by the end of the week, all I have to do is compile it and send it out.”

Triquenski also noted that several departments within the city’s government all use eScribe. Because of this, it was crucial that the system be easy to use and facilitate seamless, easy collaboration. eScribe’s integration with Microsoft Word plays a big part in this, allowing staff to use a tool they’re already familiar with to make changes. This makes Triquenski’s job easier, as there are fewer instances where he needs to assist in getting changes incorporated into the agenda.

Asked about the City of Albany’s overall experience with eScribe, Triquenski gave “10s across the board.” He went on to say, “Everything I have expected has been exceeded by what you offer. I’m impressed by the people at eScribe] I’ve met, how willing they are to help me. eScribe has done an excellent job. Everything has been great.” After all of this, he went on to remark, “I’ve never met anyone at eScribe I don’t like!”

Overall, eScribe has become a key tool in the City of Albany’s government. Its ease of use has garnered appreciation from the many departments who use eScribe, and the benefits have made everyone’s lives much easier. “I don’t get headaches anymore,” Triquenski laughed.

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