QAlert Insider Magazine - Issue 3

SUMMER 2019
ISSUE 2

SPOTLIGHT ON: APIS

Roanoke, VA, and Revere, MA, take advantage of the QAlert API to
monitor specific citizen service requests.

ALSO

We have the answers to your API questions AND

A new QScend and Cityworks partnership blooms in Collier County, FL.

Citizen Request Management System

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[email protected]
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3

T here was a term used rather extensively not too long ago by those of us in the
technology field - RSS. That acronym stand for really simple syndication, and while
the concept of being able to easily feed information to different sources, was, and still
is, a good one, the functionality was lost on the general public.

These days, there is another three-letter acronym that those of us in the technology
field need people to understand much more than RSS. It’s API, which means application
programming interface. With RSS, we wanted you to understand that through your
website, the public could subscribe to RSS feeds and automatically be advised of any
information you published. A cool idea, but so much work to raise the level of public
understanding in order for people to take advantage of the tool. But with API, it’s different.

In this issue of QAlert Insider, we’ll not only explain what an API is - functionality that
allows two pieces of software to work together by exchanging information - but we’ll
also show you some simple examples of what it can do for you.

When the developer of a software program offers an API, that developer is saying
we’ll help you get more out of our system by sharing the data our system collects with
some other vendor’s software, and vice versa. We’ll help you use the data we collect in
programs you’ve built to do your work better.

In Roanoke, VA, and Revere, MA, technology staffs built bridges so that information in
QAlert can help different departments monitor particular categories of service requests
so they can do their jobs better. These simple integrations are one way, and the
information from QAlert displays on dashboards.

But the interaction can be much more complex, as in the case of Collier County, FL,
where information flows two ways and different things happen in each product based
on the data exchanged.

To provide a simple, easy-to-understand explanation of API, we reached out to the QScend
development team to craft a short Q & A about APIs, who uses them and how and why,
and what benefits they provide. if you’re buying software, you need to know about APIs.

We think this is a valuable issue, and we hope you do, too. As always, feel free to email me
([email protected]) with your thoughts, comments, and questions. I’d love to see them.

Ed Dzitko
[email protected]

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We’d like to thank the following people for their help in creating this issue
or QAlert Insider: Steve Greenway (City of Roanoke), Reuben Kanor (City
of Revere, MA), Dustin DeBres (Collier County, FL), LaToya Harris (City of
Tuscaloosa, AL) and Pete Lewis (QScend Technologies). Their time and
patience in answering all of our questions and responding to our requests
is truly appreciated.

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Form6718

ROANOKE, VA:
PROACTIVENESS IN
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT

API 101:
ALL ABOUT THE APPLICATION
PROFRAMMING INTERFACE

REVERE, MA:
AN API-POWERED
COMMAND CENTER

QALERT & CITYWORKS:
A NEW INTEGRATION in
COLLIER COUNTY, FL

TUSCALOOSA, AL:
WHEN YOU KNOW YOU
MAKE A DIFFERENCE

MEET OUR
NEWEST QALERT
CONNECTIONS

v
WHAT’S ONLINE

Visit our blog to check out our videocasts, featuring
Salinas, CA, and and Atoka, TN. — qalertinsider.com/videocasts

CONTRIBUTING STAFF: A PUBLICATION OF:

Ed Dzitko | Karen Kirk | Caleb Brand | Kristee Trelli | Alyssa Clark | Ryan Apruzzese QScend Technologies, Inc.
231 Bank Street, 2nd Floor
ABOUT QALERT INSIDER, THE MAGAZINE Waterbury, CT 06798
203-757-6000
The magazine is published two times a year and features stories that were first [email protected]
published to the QAlert Insider blog as well as original, supplemented cnontent.

6

SPOTLIGHT
ON APIs

Roanoke, VA, Takes Action to
Limit Storm Damage By Karen Kirk

7

Y ou’ve probably heard of the five P’s of planning: Proper Planning Prevents
Poor Performance. You might say that emergency preparedness includes a
sixth P: Proactiveness.

With the building of its storm management dashboard using the QAlert citizen request management
system’s API (read What Exactly is an API, p. 10), the city can be proactive by anticipating and
addressing potential problems before major weather events occur. The dashboard gives maintenance
crews a chance to clear clogged storm drains in flood-prone areas before a storm hits. That reduces the
risks and costs that may be associated with the bad weather.
“If a storm drain hasn’t been cleared prior to a large rain event, there is potential for flood waters to
enter someone’s home and cause damage,” said Steve Greenway, IT application services administrator.
“By being aware of drains that are blocked in flood-prone areas where residents are unable to clear
themselves, we can dispatch help more efficiently.”
It’s common for drains to get clogged with fallen leaves, mulch, grass clippings, trash, and other debris.
When a storm drain gets clogged, that means flooding, and that could cause substantial harm to the
surrounding area the drain is meant to protect. Flooding is the most common natural disaster, according
to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and may result from rain, snow, coastal storms, and
overflows of dams, and other water systems. It often causes outages, disrupts transportation, damages
buildings, and creates landslides.
Understanding how such problems could be exacerbated with every inch of rain, and weary of repair costs
and possible insurance claims and related expenses in tight budget times, city leaders have found that
proactiveness is important, too.

Getting Ready

Last year, as Hurricane Florence grew in prominence – and one of the paths had the storm tracking right
through Roanoke – government administrators asked for a tool that would enable emergency managers
to plan accordingly and better mitigate the storm’s impact. The department of technology built a system

8

leveraging the city’s geographic information system (GIS) A Near Miss
data and the application programming interface (API)
of QAlert to display situational response maps on the Luckily, Roanoke didn’t bear the brunt of the
dashboard. hurricane as was originally forecast, but a
significant amount of rain caused localized storm
“The QAlert API helps us identify which drains we need to clear water and water runoff issues, downed trees,
out ahead of time and not have to react to an emergency and other emergency requests. The Emergency
situation because a storm drain was blocked,” said Greenway. Operations Center used the system to identify
where the crews needed to mark a street closing
It also helps plan action during and after an event. to prioritize to-do lists in the areas most hard-hit.

By being aware of drains
that are blocked in flood-
prone areas where residents
are unable to clear
themselves, we can dispatch
help more efficiently.

“Our flood-prone area layers in GIS help
us prioritize our resources in those areas,”
Greenway added. “For example, when a citizen
living in a floodplain contacts us that a storm
drain is blocked and he or she can’t clear it, we
immediately send our crews out to that location.
Issues located at the top of a hill [and less critical]
are handled later.”

By recognizing the value of its new dashboard, the
city can also acknowledge a return on investment
on its purchase of QAlert and its GIS system.

“The preliminary work and improved response
times can clearly lessen the financial burden of the
city after serious weather events,” Greenway added.

As for the application, Greenway’s team is always
making tweaks and tailoring it to be able to
scale and conform to multiple situations so that
the city can dynamically respond to events with
minimal configuration time.

9

EMPLOYEE
SPOTLIGHT

WHO: Pete Lewis

WHAT: Senior Software Developer,
Web Development Team Manager

WHERE: QScend Technologies

MAIN FOCUS: Assisting in the
designing and building of QAlert

TENURE: 13 years at QScend; 22
years as a software developer

The goal of software
is to make life easier.
I strive to create software
that not only achieves that
goal, but is enjoyable to use,
too. When software is overly
complex, hard to use, or
difficult to understand, that
software has failed. When I can
automate a manual process,
simplify an abstract concept, or
create a lightning-fast feature, that’s
exciting. And it’s wonderful knowing
I’ve helped make the day a little
better for the thousands
of people using QAlert.

10

By Ryan Apruzzese
If you’re considering a major software purchase for your municipality,
odds are you’ve come across the term “API” while shopping around.
API might sound like something overly technical and intimidating, but
an API could be one of the most valuable features included in your
software purchase. Understanding what an API is — and what it can
do for you — is crucial to making an informed purchasing decision.

11

API stands for application programming interface. An API Is an API something I should look for when
allows applications to interact with other applications. It considering a software purchase?
has no visual representation on your screen — instead it
operates in the background. While you tell your software Definitely. If you’re purchasing software to help run your
to do something by clicking buttons or typing in a box, city, you will almost certainly find opportunities to integrate
the two pieces of software ask one another to do things. your new software with various other systems you use —
One application makes an API call by sending a message ensuring information gets wherever it needs to go, avoiding
to another application, following this general form: human error, and saving time through automation.

The application that received the API call then sends a How do I know if I can connect two software products?
message back, following one of these two general forms:
Both products will need to have an API that you are allowed
to access. You may need to obtain permission from each
Who uses an API, and what does it do? product’s developers before you can use the APIs.
We all use APIs everyday, although you may not realize
it. Most of the applications you use on your computer, Are there extra fees involved for developers to
smartphone, or tablet, for example, make or receive API access a product’s API?
calls as you are using them.
What does API mean in the context of shopping for It really depends on the product. Calling a web-based
software? API places additional demand on the servers hosting
A product that offers a “full API” means that most or all that software. For this reason, some companies charge
of the software’s functions can be invoked through API for use of their API. This could be a flat fee, but is more
calls. This means you can easily integrate the software often based on the number of API calls made in a given
with anything else that also has an API — opening up period (e.g. monthly).
tons of possibilities for extending the functionality of the
software, or transforming manual procedures into fully On the other hand, many developers will let you use
automated workflows. their API for free. Companies that don’t bill for their
product’s API may want to know how you’ll be using
it before giving you access to ensure that what you’re
doing will not overwhelm their servers.

Who builds out the integration between my software
products?

The developers of either product may be able to help
you with your integration, but the level of support they
provide is usually limited.

For complex integrations or custom solutions, you’ll
likely need your own developer. You may have someone
in your IT department, familiar with web-based APIs and
coding, who can handle the integration for you. If you
don’t have someone on staff, you can hire an outside
consultant to take on the project. Companies normally
provide extensive documentation to make using an API
relatively straightforward for most developers.

If I need a consultant, what should I look for?

Consultants or free-lancers for this type of work
are relatively abundant and easy to find. Look for
someone who has experience working with web-based
APIs, understands what you’d like to achieve, and
communicates well.

12

By Karen Kirk call takers, for now, create a work order to alert DPW of
those requests.
N or’easters are damaging storms with winds from the
northeast off the Atlantic Ocean, heavy snow, and “We want to make sure that when online requests come
coastal flooding. It’s during these blizzards, for example, in, someone is eyeballing them to make sure that they
when the City of Revere needs on-the-spot information are entered as a DPW work order,” continued Kantor. “A
for its 53,000 constituents who may be facing downed second API tracks whatever requests need follow-up so
trees and power outages. nothing falls through the cracks, or if we want to know,
for example, why a request is still open.
During the 2018 storms, as the staff of Revere 311
fielded a number of calls from citizens concerned about “There’s a lot of information out there helping us drive
the National Grid outage and the power restoration constituent services,” added Kantor. “We’re always looking
timeline, a feature installed in the office earlier in the for ways to continually get better and innovate Revere.”
year proved to be particularly helpful.

The city’s Innovation and Data Management and IT
departments developed a mini command center so
staff can see real-time data at any time, not just during
emergencies, such as incoming service requests
(displayed using QAlert’s API), outage maps, and weather
forecasts, on a large computer monitor.

“Used as a communications tool, the ‘big board’ allows
us to all look at the same information, recognize trends,
and track multiple calls reported from the same area,”
said Reuben Kantor, Revere’s director of Innovation and
Data Management. “We can then discuss an appropriate,
effective response and relay that to our citizens.”

Revere 311 call takers can review and discuss incoming
service requests. Revere 311 staff also uses the board
to take other action. While the long-term goal is to
use the QAlert API to integrate with the Public
Works work order system, staff is assisting
DPW with data entry by monitoring
the board (and listening for its
notification “ding”) for requests
that come in via the QAlert
webform or the city’s Revere
311 smartphone app. The

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14

The POWER of
INTEGRATION in

Collier County, FL

By Ed Dzitko

As Collier County, FL, planned its 311 senior programmer analyst and Cityworks administrator.
citizen service initiative to create a “All of our asset management is in Cityworks. All the
single point of contact for county services, assets are managed, maintained through service
there was one requirement that was requests, inspections, and work orders.”
crucial. The new software that was going
to power the service request aspect had Choosing a 311 System
to integrate with other software systems
already in place. Collier County chose QAlert for its ease of use, numerous
intake channels, public interface and notification features,
Most importantly, the software had to integrate with reporting tools, scalability, and API.
Cityworks, one of the leading GIS-centric public asset
management platforms on the market. The county uses “The main goal for us with 311 was to provide a number
Cityworks to manage its public infrastructure and its of avenues for people to contact us without having to
associated work activities and costs, and to manage its call someone or get a call rerouted,” said DeBres. “We
materials and assemblies. wanted people to be able to put in
a request and to be able to
Collier spent two years gathering requirements and track it.”
implementing Cityworks, and it has been using it
extensively since its launch in 2016. With the citizen
service software it was about to purchase, it wanted a
feature that would eliminate some of the manual data
entry necessary to generate a service request, dispatch a
team, and service its customers.

“Our Cityworks implementation spans across all Public
Utilities and Public Services, which includes Water,
Wastewater, Facilities Management, and Parks and
Recreation,” Dustin DeBres, Collier County’s

15

Everyone wants to come on best-of-breed software applications,” said Keith LeBeau,
board to generate work requests, president of QScend Technologies, the developer of
manage the expectations of their QAlert.
customers, and have everything
in one central system on a GIS DeBres said it was a smooth process to complete the
map. That’s really where this all integration. “Working with the QScend tech team was
becomes a winning solution for us. great,” he said. “They got everything solved. We told
them what we wanted and if that didn’t work, they
Whether citizens create an account through the county’s came back to us with other options and solutions. They
311 portal or whether they use the citizen app, they can never said ‘we can’t do that.’ They told us they’d figure
submit requests, track progress, and interact with staff it out, and together, we got it done. I’m very happy with
via computer or mobile device. what QScend has done.

“Everyone has a mobile device now - sometimes people How the QAlert/Cityworks Integration Works
even have two - so it was a no-brainer to give them an
application in which they could directly connect to the “Calls go through the 311 public portal, and through
county,” DeBres added. the integration in the background, the two systems
talk together,” said DeBres. “The information then
DeBres worked with the QAlert technical team to build an pops into the Cityworks dashboards dedicated to the
interface that allows Collier’s 311 portal to relay information 311 requests, utilizing Cityworks Saved Searches and
to Collier’s Cityworks server using its native API. QAlert then Inboxes, where we have a team of staff that monitors
polls Cityworks for any information updates and keeps the and maintains that panel.”
data between the two systems in sync.
The utility then dispatches the request to someone
The Cityworks/Collier County in the field and records that action. The field tech
integration was the first determines if a work order needs to be created. When
completed by QScend one is generated, Cityworks notifies QAlert, which sets
since it became a certified the status of the request to “in progress” and notifies
Cityworks partner earlier the submitter of the change. When the work order is
this year.’ completed, QAlert receives that information, closes
the service request, and notifies the customer who
“QScend is a proud submitted the request that it has been resolved.
partner of both Collier
County and Cityworks, and “Everyone’s really happy with what’s going on with the
we’re happy to be able water side, and I’ve gotten emails from directors in
to assist Collier County other divisions that are in Cityworks,” said DeBres. “They
with connecting two want to know how they can leverage 311, too. Everyone
wants to come on board to generating work requests,
manage the expectations of their customers while having
everything in one central system on a GIS map. That’s
really where this all becomes a winning solution for us.”

16

17

I n April of 2011, disaster struck in Tuscaloosa, AL. Actually, it was a
perfect storm.

As 62 tornadoes worked their way through the state, the one that became known as the
Tuscaloosa-Birmingham tornado destroyed 12.5 percent of the city April 27 while wiping out entire
neighborhoods. In Tuscaloosa County, 51 people died.
“2011 changed a lot of people’s minds about our job description [in the 311 call center]. It was
amazing what we experienced, with all the heartache and pain,” said LaToya Harris, senior customer
service representative. “We realized then just how much compassion we needed to have when
dealing with the public.”
It was during this time of crisis that Tuscaloosa 311 came of age.
“Shortly after switching to our new software, we had a tornado, one in what they called a super
outbreak,” Harris continued. “We had no choice but to get familiar with [QAlert] quickly. It was either
sink or swim. We were open until 11 that night, and we worked longer days and weekends for a
while. That’s when 311, and QAlert, truly became a vital part of our city.”

18

Meeting Campaign Promises and other community events, and joined in university
activities (Tuscaloosa is the home of the University of
With the mayor driving the project to fulfill a promise Alabama). People would recognize us from those places
of easier access to city hall for the city’s residents, and say, “you’re the lady from 311,” said Harris.
Tuscaloosa procured the use of 311 and established a
10-digit number quickly. Coming of Age

The city found space, outfitted an office and hired In its first three years of existence, Tuscaloosa 311
staff, which began gathering information about what experienced the growing pains that a lot of early call
all the departments were responsible for and clarifying centers did.
work processes. There were software problems and deficiencies in the
office, there were hardware and infrastructure issues
It was either sink or swim. We (staff around the city needed computers and email
were open until 11 that night, addresses), department silos had to continually be
and we worked longer days and broken down, and skepticism as to the benefits of the
weekends for a while. That’s when office had to be overcome.
311, and QAlert, truly became a But then came the tipping point, and the payoff of all the
vital part of our city. time and effort put in. April 27, 2011.
“You have to have a passion for the public, and we do,”
“A lot of departments didn’t know what to expect,” said said Harris. “Sometimes, like during the storm, it’s hard.
Harris. “When you’re going from paper works orders to a But our citizens came to realize that they have a voice,
computer, and you’ve never used a computer… that we’re going to hear them, and they know that we’ll
take care of them as best we can.”
“People thought that they were going to lose their jobs
or that 311 would be telling the mayor about what they
weren’t doing,” Harris added. “It was slow. We worked
hard and we worked long.”

And not just in the office. As staff members compiled
and sorted through information, they also were acting as
cheerleaders for the initiative, talking up how 311 would
make a difference in each department’s daily workload.

At the same time, they became the public faces of 311
through their community outreach efforts. They visited
the city’s schools and churches, participated in health fairs