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Two new apps and a new website portal will give Elgin residents greater access to city and police information and the flexibility to track Elgin 311 requests, pay water bills, and more.
portal.cityofelgin.org, a one-stop shop where residents can interact directly with the city, will be soft-launched in the fall of 2022 and is now ready for widespread use, said Aaron Cosentino, the city’s chief technology officer. says Mr.
Built by Seven Hills Technology, it integrates multiple platforms and provides a personalized way to electronically connect with the city.
Residents can use it to submit service requests, view maps of the city, access event information, receive notifications, search the city’s knowledge base, and pay utility bills, Cosentino said.
An accompanying app is also available, Cosentino announced Wednesday at Elgin City Council.
“People should download the new City of Elgin app,” he said. It’s available on Google Play or the Apple app store.
This replaces the Elgin 311 Center app launched in 2014. The new option will allow residents to track requests across devices and platforms, upload photos more efficiently, receive timely city news and view past invoices. He said Cosentino. He said it’s available in English and Spanish.
Both portals and apps will change the way residents interact with cities, he said. Cosentino says he welcomes user feedback as he continues to improve his experience.
“We know the app is not perfect. We are ready to make improvements and enhancements,” he said. “It evolves.”
The city plans to hire a web developer in 2023 to help fine-tune the portal. His one-year contract with Seven Hills Technology provides support and continued development of the site.
The Elgin Police Department also has a new app that residents can use to access the Transparency Hub, said Deputy Chief Adam Schuessler.
Created in 2021, this hub provides information and maps on police cases, crime data, gunshot counts, homicides, details of unsolved cases, and other data.
Police received feedback about the hub from residents and began looking for ways to create an app that would allow them to access the same information using their mobile devices, Schuessler said.
In addition to being able to view dashboard data, the new app will have an interactive map where people can check incidents in their neighborhood and a ticker to make announcements, he said.
Alderman Carol Rauschenberger said modern access to city information is an exciting technological development.
“A lot of people now live with just their mobile phones and don’t even have computers. We understand how important it is in our lives today,” she said. .
Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
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