Operating out of a beautiful grade II Georgian listed register office, registrars in the city of York manage a wide array of tasks and see people through some of their most significant life events such as births, deaths, marriages and even citizenship.
With so many services offered by the registration service, many staff can become side-tracked from their daily tasks by answering routine questions either on the phone or in person, from walk-ins looking for a last minute appointment and dealing with the admin of existing appointments, including cancellations and no-shows.
To help streamline the management of back office tasks, York Council have purchased Stopford’s agenda for Registrars system, RAFTS for Registration and the recently released Ceremony Planner.
Stopford’s RAFTS for Registration will replace the original RSS system and provide register office staff complete management of RSS data, with users able to input new index and register data. Staff can scan and save registers within the system, crop these to isolate a specific entry and print onto certificate stock.
By also purchasing Stopford’s agenda diary system, the council can focus on shifting platforms of engagement with citizens online through integration with both agenda and RAFTS. Once live, members of the public can search for a certificate online, place their order and make a payment in the comfort of their own home without needing to visit or phone the register office. These requests will come through to the agenda system for approval by the registrar who will then print and post the certificate at a suitable time.
Purchasing both Stopford’s agenda and RAFTS for Registration systems will help York Registration Service speed up the certificate ordering process and reduce the number of fraudulent certificate requests.
The Stopford Ceremony Planner will also help reduce pressure on York registration service staff, by integrating with the agenda system to help manage upcoming ceremonies. Released in January this year, the planner allows celebrants to plan their wedding at their own pace, submitting ceremony choices for approval by the registrar. Using the online planner, couples can submit vows, readings, personal promises and music for approval working chronologically through a visual colour-coded list of ceremony choices.
The planner allows integrated payments, meaning celebrants can be prompted of and pay for wedding related fees online without the need for manual reminders. The planner also has the ability for registrars at York council to add on extra features to market to couples such as extra confetti.
Stopford will be working closely with the City of York Council to ensure a smooth integration, providing training to registrars who will be using the system and offering support where needed from point of implementation.