Mayor Jorge Elorza, Sin Bakery proprietor Jennifer Luxmoore, Department of Innovation Director Emmanuel Echevarria, as well as staff from Providence’s Licensing Office today introduced the City’s new Licensing Kiosk. The addition of the innovative tool and the Viewpoint digitized platform is part of Mayor Elorza’s efforts to streamline licensing processes and improve the experience of customers when applying for a license through the Board of Licenses.
“With the new Licensing Kiosk, our business owners can spend more time growing their businesses and less time waiting in line,” said Mayor Elorza. “Providence City Hall is becoming known nationally for our leadership in innovation and this is another step towards providing top-tier city services.”
Leading up to the announcement, the City’s Licensing Office partnered with the Department of Innovation to coordinate the facilitation of over forty focus groups of business owners and entrepreneurs for valuable feedback about improving licensing processes.
During the announcement, Mayor Elorza demonstrated the use of the kiosk and its digitized platform Viewpoint, which was acquired so that businesses owners can apply and pay for licenses online with the added convenience of using credit cards to apply for, renew, and pay for licenses from their home or business.
Currently, the Licensing Kiosk has the capability to process liquor licenses only. On January 1, 2017 Viewpoint will be fully launched for business owners and entrepreneurs. Until that point, the City will seek feedback from customers who utilize the kiosk.
Mayor Elorza also highlighted that:
• Customer wait times have decreased by 40-50% on average through the physical reorganization of licensing office space
• Staff members in the Licensing Office have been trained in customer service
• All Licensing Board members have been through Ethics and Diversity Training
• 40 different applications for licensing have been consolidated to 7 forms to increase customer access and expedite the processing of applications
An Open House for business community representatives is scheduled in the Licensing Office for 2:00pm today, Thursday, November 17, 2016.