LATEST RELEASE
Introducing
Accela’s
Spring 2022 Release
What’s New in the Spring 2022 Release of the Civic Platform and Civic Applications
As with all Accela’s releases, the Spring 2022 release was driven by feedback and input from our customers, and offers enhancements in usability, administration, and technology modernization across the full product line.
The Spring Release includes Version 22.1 of the Civic Platform and related products, and is focused on:
- Improving administration and usability with search enhancements that make it easier for customers to find information in their Accela systems
- Ensuring agencies can create intuitive and attractive forms, and build them faster
- Continuing to evolve the product to allow agencies to derive high quality insights and intelligence more easily from their process data
- Ensuring agencies can provide highly engaging and useful interfaces for citizens
- Continuing development of Accela’s set of pre-built Civic Applications
New Features in the Civic Platform
There are many new features in the Civic Platform V22.1. For our SaaS and Self-hosted customers, these include:
- Form Design Enhancements: New back-office forms, all built using the Angular framework, to enable staff to clearly view forms across multiple displays and formats.
- Enhanced Search Functionality: Allows users to filter on text and more quickly find the configuration parameters they are looking for.
- Usability Enhancements to Record Header: Accela has added an auto-refresh capability to record headers so users can quickly view the information and always know it is current and accurate.
New Features for SaaS-Only Customers
It is common for Accela to introduce certain features for deployment into our SaaS environments only. For the Spring 2022 Release, these include:
- Global Search: Accela has enhanced staff global search with a consolidated and convenient “Everything Card” display of all the searchable components available users.
- Enhanced Scripting Management: With V22.1, Accela provides customers with new ways to access scripting logs, to make it easier to validate scripts and manage scripting functions.
- Customer-Managed Backoffice Login Screens: This release provides a way to modify back-office screens for the specific environment a user is logging into, so they always know they are in the right place.
- Enhancements to Forte Integration: EMV terminals can now be used in a point-of-sale portlet environment, enabling customers to process multiple record payments in single credit card transaction from a chip reader terminal and combine payments that are directly associated with records with those that are not.
Accela GIS (SaaS and Self-hosted)
Vector Tile Base Maps: The Spring Release now allows users to choose a vector tile base map option when creating a map, allowing the combination of raster and vector base maps to create custom base map galleries, or combine custom base maps with Esri’s default base maps.
Accela Insights (SaaS-Only)
Accela Insights is the advanced data visualization and reporting tool available at no extra charge for Accela’s SaaS customers. For V22.1, Accela Insights will include a “My Dashboards” portlet, giving users a faster way to navigate to and find their specific dashboards for the solutions they are using.
Accela Citizen Access (ACA)
Multiple APO Functionality: Public users can now add multiple addresses, parcels, and owners on a single application, reducing dependencies on back-office staff to enter this information after the initial application has been submitted. This feature also improves search capabilities for citizens, who may need to identify a property to apply for a permit or other function.
Accela Mobile
Enhanced Checklists: This new feature enables various fieldworker roles and functions to more easily work from personalized checklists that better reflect their needs. There is also now more information available to field workers during an inspection such as history of past violation or inspections, attached photos or documents, or comments an inspector should pay attention to.
Civic Applications
Civic Applications are the pre-built solutions used by customers to shorten configuration and development time, provide domain expertise and best practices, and often reduce the costs for system implementation.
A Focus on Integrations: With the Spring 2022 Release, Accela has included a new CERS adapter for environmental health customers running CUPA programs in California, and pre-built CSG Forte Payment Systems and PayPal integrations packaged at no cost with Civic Applications.
Environmental Health Civic Application: With the Spring 2022 release, Accela has created effective tools and programs to better meet the needs Decade customers as they migrate from Envision Connect to the Accela Civic Application for Environmental Health.
Some of these enhancements include:
- Data conversion tools to speed the data migration process from Envision Connect to Civic Platform
- A system to convert Decade reports to the Civic Application using SSRS reporting
- A data archiving service for Envision Connect legacy data
- A purchase program which removes a duplicate license payment during implementation of the new system
Along with the Decade-focused components, the Civic Application for Environment Health includes 23 new packaged reports as part of the release.
For more information about Accela’s Spring 2022 Release, please contact your Account Executive or visit www.accela.com.
