County Expands Outreach With a Cloud-Based Solution

Muskegon County Clerk and Register of Deeds Offices, Michigan

Organization Profile

• Industry: County Government
• Location: Muskegon County, Michigan
• Number of Employees: 14
• Population: 176,565
• Tyler Client Since: 2013
• Tyler Products Used: Enterprise Records Management and Fraud Notify

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Challenges

For the staff members at the Muskegon County Clerk’s Office, having their records stored physically on-site was creating inefficiencies and security concerns.

Clerk Karen Buie recognized that moving their Enterprise Records Management solution to the cloud would create greater efficiencies in their office while also increasing security.

“I had concerns on the security side of things, and I knew if we moved to a cloud-based solution we would have 24/7 monitoring by Tyler,” said Buie. “If something happened in the middle of the night, it would be addressed right away by the Tyler team.”

Additionally, Buie and her colleague Mark Fairchild, Muskegon County’s register of deeds, were looking for ways to increase their public outreach efforts in their community.

Solution

For the Clerk’s Office, moving their Enterprise Records Management solution to the cloud strengthened their data security with:

• Multiple layers of protection including antivirus, DDOS protection, intrusion detection, and monitored firewalls
• Network activity monitored 24/7
• Security validations conducted to ensure no security flaws exist
• Data stored in secure data centers with nightly backups

Eliminating the management of on-premises servers from their IT staff freed up resources that could be redirected to meet other challenges. They are no longer responsible for managing servers, upgrades, and operating systems. Nor do they have to bear the burden of protecting that infrastructure against hackers or natural disasters. County records are backed up on a daily basis, meaning Buie and her staff don’t have to worry about the safety of their data.

When describing the implementation process, Buie had this to share, “It was seamless. Our IT team worked closely with the Tyler team to ensure it was not disruptive to our office. I believe we closed down for one day, and Tyler worked over the entire weekend to ensure that we were fully operational on that following Monday.”

Results

Now that their records are securely available in the cloud, Buie’s dream of expanding their community outreach work has become a reality. The county recently launched a monthly program to provide birth certificates to individuals at the Muskegon Rescue Center, a local homeless shelter.

“It was vitally important to us to work with the Muskegon Rescue Center to provide these services to their clients,” explained Buie. “We want to help enable them to get back on their feet.”

Providing this vital document on-site at the Center will help individuals get housing, social security benefits, and driver’s licenses. To date, the program has provided nearly 300 birth certificates, and the office has expanded this service to Muskegon Family Care, Goodwill Industries, and the EXIT (Empowering Ex-Offenders in Transition) Program.

The community outreach efforts were also expanded in the Register of Deeds Office when they added the Fraud Notify solution to their office. This solution automatically informs residents when new documents are recorded using their personal or property information. These alerts come via automated emails with links to the index and document for immediate access and review. The service is available for free to their constituents.

Additionally, when the Clerk’s Office recently moved, they enjoyed further benefits of operating in the cloud. “Once we got to our new location, our IT department worked with Tyler, and they were able to have us up and running quickly,” said Buie. “We had no issues with accessing our records online. We were able to seamlessly transition into our new facility.”

The county is looking forward to continuing to expand their community outreach efforts while securely operating in the cloud.