Branson to contract with e-ticketing software firm

The Branson Board of Aldermen last night approved a contract agreement with Tyler Technologies Inc. for electronic ticketing software.

The Brazos eCitation software makes communications paperless between police officers, city administration and court clerks, and it is projected to cut ticket-writing time in half, according to the approved bill. The estimated cost of the contract this year is $35,500, and Branson aldermen capped the deal at roughly $45,000.

The project includes installation on police car mobile computers and modifying the municipal court’s core software, Incode, to interface with the Brazos eCitation software.

“The police officer will have the ability to swipe a driver’s license to import the driver’s information into the software, select from predefined violations and print citations from the vehicle,” the bill reads.

Annual maintenance fees with Plano, Texas-based Tyler Technologies are roughly $9,500. The bill indicated initial funding is appropriated in the fiscal 2014 budget.

Tyler Technologies is partnered with Lubbock, Texas-based Brazos Technology Corp. to produce the software, according to the companies’ websites.

The Springfield Police Department became an early adopter of similar technology in early 2011. According to a news release by Canadian software provider Niche Technology, SPD was the first U.S. municipal force to implement its police records management system. At the time, some 75,000 officers in Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia were using the Niche RMS.

Jeff Coiner, the city of Springfield's information technology director, said the more robust Niche platform SPD purchased includes e-ticketing, and today the system is shared with the Greene County Sheriff’s Office and the Republic Police Department.

“They’re able to work a little more closely on crimes that cross the city boundaries,” Coiner said, noting additional cost-sharing benefits.[[In-content Ad]]