Case studies · Government · 2009
Electronic tickets on handheld devices with online payment for a state government
A state government agency moved from paper tickets to a central and mobile platform, with handheld capture, signature, encrypted reading and writing of the license chip, GPS, and online payment.
- field tickets with online payment
- PDA
- driver’s license read and written with encryption
- Chip
- location captured in the field
- GPS
The challenge
A paper ticket looks simple, but it creates work and errors at every step. The officer writes the person's and the license's details by hand; someone else later types them into the central system; illegible handwriting, missing data, and duplicate numbers all end up as disputes. Meanwhile, the citizen has to go to an office to find out the amount and pay, and the agency has no up-to-date view of what is happening on the street.
Between 2007 and 2009, a state government agency decided to take this process digital. The requirements were demanding for the technology of the time:
Capture the ticket on the spot, on a handheld device, without relying on a computer.
Read and write the driver's license chip, with the data protected by encryption.
Record the signature and the location of each capture.
Bring everything together in a central platform and allow online payment.
The challenge wasn't only about software: the system had to work in the field, on mobile devices, and keep the information secure end to end.
The solution
AVILA® developed a central and mobile platform for electronic tickets. In the field, the officer uses a PDA running the capture app; at the office, the central platform brings together every ticket and its follow-up.
What was built:
Capture on PDA. The ticket is recorded on the handheld device, with structured data from the source and no retyping later.
Encrypted reading and writing of the license chip. The app reads the license data straight from the chip and writes to it, with the information protected.
Signature on the device. The signature is recorded together with the ticket.
GPS. Every capture includes the device's location.
Online payment. The ticket can be paid online, without a trip to a service window.
Pairing a field app with a central system built on its own business rules is the same pattern we apply today to inspections, inventories, or route sales, with phones and tablets instead of PDAs.
If your organization needs to take a process into the field, see our mobile apps and custom software.