As with many other communities across the country, Bayside was feeling the squeeze of increasing service demands with limited resources. As well as a high number of retiring employees, leading to the loss of institutional knowledge and complicating efforts to maintain service levels. The team was spread thin as they worked to meet the growing expectations of their community.

In addition, the Village’s existing systems for handling resident requests and services were manual and cumbersome. Most notably, building permit applications relied on a mix of paper forms and an existing platform, creating inefficiencies and slowing down service delivery. Payments for permits and other services were also manually processed, leading to unnecessary complexity for both residents and staff as well as a delay in realizing revenue from this permit process.

Bayside partnered with Polimorphic to implement several resident services solutions that included key functions such as AI search, digital workflows, and an integrated payment system. 

The Village began its digital transformation by implementing Polimorphic’s AI Search, designed to help both Bayside staff and residents find relevant information more efficiently, regardless of the nature of their inquiry. This was particularly beneficial to new staff members who could now rely on AI, helping them get up to speed faster and provide immediate answers to complex questions while on phone calls with constituents.

“AI Search provides a user-friendly experience to navigate the website's content and knowledge, used internally by staff and externally by residents,” said Pederson. “With the institutional knowledge lost with retiring employees, AI has been a way to fill in the gaps. ”

In addition, Pederson and the team saw a notable drop in emails and phone calls thanks to residents and team members finding answers to their questions using AI Search. 

Next, the Village tackled building permit applications. Polimorphic allowed contractors and residents to submit requests and make payments online 24/7. In addition, this automated the routing of tasks, ensuring faster processing while reducing manual effort. After building permits, the Village rolled out unenclosed receptacle permits and is currently testing  ​​architectural review commission and impervious surface permits.

A phased approach to implementation made the process go incredibly smoothly for Bayside. With the alignment of key milestones across Bayside stakeholders and their dedicated Polimorphic resources, it was easy to notice and address inefficiencies along the way. Plus, it avoided overwhelming Bayside staff.

“Implementation is what sets Polimorphic apart,” says Pederson. “The Polimorphic team sat down with subject matter experts on our end to understand friction points with current manual processes and then rolled out streamlined digital workflows. This cut down on mistakes and bottlenecks that kept staff from being as efficient as they wanted to be. It’s truly what makes this implementation unique.”

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Results

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Almost immediately, Bayside saw improvements both for team members and residents.

Reduced Walk-ins: Previously, around 75% of applicants came into Village Hall to pay for permits which were processed manually by Bayside staff. Now, almost all applications are submitted online, almost completely eliminating walk-ins.

“We haven’t gotten anything other than an online payment in a long time,” said Pederson. “The application and payment in one system makes our jobs so much easier.”

Increased Efficiency: When applicants visited Village Hall to apply and pay for permits, it took an average of 10 minutes to process them and an indeterminate amount of calendar time in delays while residents had to come to the offices in person. Now, payments are automatically calculated and processed online. With an average of 700 various payments processed annually, this change saves the team 116 hours annually—or almost three work weeks.

AI Search also led to improved efficiency for staff. It became a valuable internal tool, helping Village staff quickly find the information they needed. This was especially important given the amount of retirement, as it reduced the reliance on institutional knowledge that had been lost with long-term employees.

Improved Access and Transparency: Contractors and residents can access the system at any time, allowing them to submit permit requests and make payments outside of traditional business hours. The system’s transparency also provided users with real-time updates on their applications, reducing the amount of phone calls regarding simple status updates.

Greater Compliance: With almost all permits and payments processed online, there’s an automatic digital paper trail. These accessible records make it easy to review data and maintain compliance. 

“Service demands are not getting any less, and saving time is saving money,” said Pederson. “Polimorphic helps us get ahead of the process. We’re not losing paper or getting things shuffled around.”

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What’s Next?

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In partnership with Polimorphic, Bayside was able to modernize its processes, improve efficiency, and better serve its community, all while maintaining the high levels of service expected from its residents. And the fun is just beginning!

Pederson and the team continue to bring new workflows into Polimorphic. Up next are temp/permanent sign and occupancy permits.“We’ve only touched the tip of the iceberg of where we can take this,” said Pederson. “There’s going to be a lot more savings we can realize over the long term.”