Accela Announces Spring 2020 Product Release to Accelerate Digital Transformation, Support Evolving Needs of State and Local Governments Amid COVID-19 Response

SAN RAMON, Calif., April 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Accela, the leading provider of cloud-based solutions for government, today announced its Spring 2020 Product Release, which includes the launch of Accela Civic Platform V20.1 and updates to its robust lineup of solutions designed to improve citizen engagement, usability, and deployment. These latest updates in Accela's cloud-based technology enhances user experience, system management, mobility and citizen engagement and will help agencies respond to the global novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak with solutions to navigate new modes of business operation during "shelter-in-place" mandates, and enable newly remote staff members to work effectively from home.

"COVID-19 has reset priorities and methods of operation for governments across the world. Now more than ever, agencies are looking for digital tools to adapt to unprecedented events and keep government services running smoothly now and with whatever comes next," said Troy Coggiola, Chief Product Officer at Accela. "Jurisdictions who had been evaluating projects supporting online citizen interaction, remote inspection, and cloud migration have expedited these programs to assist with business continuity needs. Accela wants to ensure that our customers—and any government agency in need—can continue to  serve and protect their communities during this unprecedented time with the expanded digital and online capabilities of our latest product release and related solution expansion."

The Accela Spring 2020 Product Release provides updates and improvements designed with input from customers and partners to enhance usability, system management and mobility to deliver the next level of citizen engagement. This includes the latest version of the flexible Accela Civic Platform (V20.1), a new Civic Application for Fire Prevention, and new versions of Accela Mobile, GIS, and Accela Citizen Access. The core components of the Spring 2020 Release include: 

• Significant improvements in back office and citizen usability and productivity, including support for capture of electronic signatures in Accela's Electronic Document Review (EDR), improved access to inspection information for citizens, and enhanced functionality with ESRI maps from mobile devices to empower field workers. These improvements also include a new record detail header feature, which surfaces most commonly accessed information for back office staff to increase efficiency of information-finding. The feature was created in response to customer input that received more than 1,200 up-votes within the Accela Success Community.
• New capabilities for administrators, including improved support for Google Chrome, advanced themes and templates customers can use to brand their citizen access site, enhancements for administrators to preview new branding prior to publishing, and simplified fee management.
• A New Civic Application for Fire Prevention to manage critical regulatory routines and modernize field inspections and permit processing for fire departments, and updated versions of the Civic Applications for Business Licensing, Alcoholic Beverage Control, Cannabis Regulation and Environmental Health.

Today's announcement builds on Accela's ongoing efforts to provide governments across the globe for the next wave of digital transformation. In March and April, Accela successfully migrated its first two batches of data center customers to its new Microsoft Azure cloud environment—a significant milestone that reinforces the industry shift toward SaaS technology to address the evolving needs of citizens and agency staff. More than 80 percent of Accela's new customers purchased solutions in the cloud, and 66 percent of all Accela customers are now in the cloud. The company also announced a strategic partnership with the DWS Group, one of the world's leading providers of project management services, to further expand operations and enhance customer support in Australia and New Zealand to facilitate the movement of governments worldwide to the cloud.

Most recently, Accela launched its cloud-based COVID-19 Response Solutions to help cities and states respond to the biggest challenges of the current pandemic. These cloud-based solutions were developed to enable agencies to provide online citizen services with nationwide "shelter-in-place" mandates, including scheduling healthcare workers and volunteers, conducting mobile and virtual inspections to help field workers continue critical, timely inspections or construction projects as scheduled, and more. They are designed to help make product evaluation and procurement processes easier and faster for governments and can be rapidly implemented in as little as 24-72 hours, depending on the solution, to empower agencies to adapt to the circumstances quickly. The Response Solutions build on Accela's existing suite of ten out-of-the-box Civic Applications, which include solutions to streamline Planning, Building, Environmental Health, Business and Occupational Licensing, and more.

To learn more about how Accela is helping governments address the impacts of COVID-19, read "How Accela Customers Are Protecting Their Communities in Response to COVID-19" and CEO Gary Kovacs's recent blog post here.

To learn more about Accela Civic Solutions, please visit https://www.accela.com/solutions/. 

About Accela
Accela provides market-leading cloud solutions that empower the most innovative state and local governments around the world to build thriving communities, grow businesses and protect citizens. More than 275 million citizens globally benefit from Accela's solutions, which are powered by Microsoft Azure, for permitting, licensing, code enforcement and service request management. Accela's fast-to-implement Civic Applications, built on its robust and extensible Civic Platform, help agencies address specific needs today, while ensuring they are prepared for any emerging or complex challenges in the future. Accela is headquartered in San Ramon, California, with additional offices around the world. For more information, visit www.accela.com. 

Contact: Kate Helete, (805) 458-5093, [email protected]

SOURCE Accela

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