Erie County Government: Division of Information and Support Services

Division of Information and Support Services

Have you ever called Erie County for information?
Has a police officer in Erie County ever run a check on your license plate?
Has Erie County government ever written you a check?
Do you get an Erie County property tax bill?
Did you ever wonder where the prosecutors find old records to use in court?
And by the way, why does this department have such a long name?

All these services are performed with assistance from the Division of Information and Support Services. Information and Support Services' function is to provide efficient, cost effective delivery of services to all departments. It's administrative unit coordinates the activity of the entire department and manages major contracts for consolidated countywide services. The division also includes automotive services, a print and copy unit, and mail services. County purchasing is also part of Information and Support Services.

When you call Erie County, the call is received by the County's internal telephone network. This network allows departments from Alden to downtown Buffalo in more than a dozen buildings to share equipment and services, saving the County tens of thousands of dollars annually. This system is maintained by the Telecommunications unit.

License plate checks and other public safety services are delivered by Erie County Central Police Services. When you are stopped by the police in Erie County, the officer can enter your vehicle license number or drivers license information on a mobile data terminal. A digital request is sent over the air, then via wide area network to a mainframe computer. The request is processed by Central Police Services either locally or through New York State police and motor vehicles databases. The mainframe computer is supported by the Technical Support unit and the wide area network is supported by the Telecommunications unit.

Checks are issued by the Comptroller for payments of all types. To ensure that the purchase was authorized, the merchandise was received, and the correct price charged requires multiple people to sign off before a bill can be paid. What once involved moving papers from office to office now is done on-line with computer software. The Applications System Support unit of the Division of information and Support Services is responsible for the maintenance of the software, the physical check printing process, as well as the training of County personnel in the proper use of the software.

While no one relishes receiving a tax bill, the County has attempted to make the process less painful by providing each taxpayer with as much information as possible. The bill that you see begins as a blank piece of paper and is produced into a tax bill with all of your personal information. The Department of Budget, Management and Finance produces these individual tax bills using high production laser printers. This equipment and its software is maintained by the Interconnect Operations staff.

The District Attorney, along with Social Services, Health, County Clerk and many other departments have records that are required to be maintained indefinitely. Others must be kept for long durations before they can be disposed of properly.

The Records Management unit is responsible for storing these records. Even more importantly, they must be able to retrieve a single record out of the millions of records when someone needs it. They do this by maintaining a database of all records and their location at the record center. The record center is a warehouse with over 21,000 boxes filled with records. When the District Attorney needs a record for court, the database is searched, the location determined, and the record retrieved by the records management staff. The same process holds true for all Erie County departments.

The Division of Information and Support Services has such a long name because its areas of responsibility are so varied. Besides the information systems and services already mentioned, the division includes Mail Services, Automotive Services, Print, Copy and Graphics Services, Administration and Purchasing.

Overview

The Division of Information and Support Services provides centralized support services for county departments. The Division was formed in 1989 as part of a continuing process of department consolidations. The division now encompasses the responsibilities of the former Divisions of Central Services, Purchase, Data Processing and Auto Service Center.

Providing these services through one division to all departments permits the county to benefit from both economies of scale and the elimination of duplicated activities. It allows public service departments to focus on their primary mission while Information and Support Services provides needed support systems and services. It is structured to enable the county to generate reimbursements and revenue through the interdepartmental billing of costs to departments that then claim state or federal reimbursement.

Interconnect Operations

The interconnect operations unit is a large-scale, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days-a-year production environment. It's operations support the County's data center. This is the home to the computers and communications needed to deliver a vast array of services. It includes the county's wide area network, e-mail, high capacity laser printing, network monitoring, firewalls, security management systems and a number of local area networks.

It's mainframe systems serve the Departments of Central Police Services and Social Services. Unix servers host the county financial systems used extensively by the Comptroller, Budget and Personnel departments. The wide area network of the Health Department returns to its respective server in the data center.

Telecommunication Services

Telecommunications manages the County's voice and data communications, including Internet access and the County Home Page. Voice services include voice mail and automated attendant services for the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library, the County Auto Bureau, the County Correctional Facility and Holding Center, and the County's Child Protective Services. Data services include frame relay service connecting most law enforcement and public safety agencies in the County, a wide area network linking community libraries and a fiber optic network connecting downtown County office buildings.

All local and long distance telephone company services and billing are provided through this unit thereby relieving departments of considerable paperwork and maximizing the efficiency of purchased services. It controls future expenses by maximizing the utilization of the Erie County Network, ensuring new services are designed and implemented in the most cost efficient configuration. Furthermore, it permits the county to address new technologies with a unified approach.

Application Support

The application support unit provides help desk support, maintenance and changes to the county's integrated purchase, payroll, accounting and budgeting systems. It produces and maintains programs for position control, human resources, health benefits control, and court ordered civil process notices, among others. Staff expertise runs from Cobol to Oracle.

Technical Support

The technical support unit concentrates on maintaining computer and network operating systems, systems reliability and security. It is responsible for maintenance of the mainframe operating system software for the 2200/400 mainframe, the Unix operating system environment and the network TCP/IP and virtual local area network operating systems. It also supports the county's growing E-Mail and emerging Internet utilization.

Records Management

The records management unit assists County departments in managing records according to the official state and federal retention requirements. The Director of Information and Support Services is designated by the Erie County Legislature as the county's records management officer.

The records program includes a secure and climate controlled records center used extensively by the District Attorney, courts, County Clerk, Social Services and Health Departments. The county records center, located on the grounds of the Erie County Medical Center, contains costs by removing records from expensive rented space and eliminating unnecessary duplication when possible. The records management unit disposes of outdated records, preserves archival records and converts inactive records to micrographic media. It also provides public access to documents, as required by law, and secures legally protected documents.

Mail Services

The mail room and messenger services unit provides interdepartmental mail delivery, U.S. mail services, facsimile service, county identification badges and messenger services.

Automotive Services

Automotive services manages the motor pool and provides automotive repair service and referrals. It provides centralized management of the repair and maintenance of the county's automotive fleet. Additionally, it acts as the referral unit for automotive repair work that must be sent to outside vendors.

Print, Copy and Graphics

The graphics office, the print shop and copy center comprise another unit in the department. The graphics office prepares design and production services for county publications in addition to preparing a complete range of customized presentation materials. The print produces a variety of materials for county departments including forms, stationary, business cards, reports, books and brochures. The copy center provides high speed, large volume copying for county departments.

Administration

An administrative services unit provides overall planning, fiscal and administrative support and coordination of departmental units. It manages contracts, bids, requests for proposals, and vendor services. It acts as a liaison to user departments and maintains all interdepartmental and interfund billing and accounting processes. Departments are billed for services provided by the Division of Information and Support Services. Interdepartmental billings, which appear as a negative appropriation, recover the full cost of the services provided to general fund departments. If departments claim indirect costs for state or federal reimbursement, such costs are also claimed. Interfund revenues are received for support services provided to organizational units or programs not support by the general fund.

Purchasing

The Purchasing unit acts as the central purchasing agent for county government (except as specifically excluded by law). It is accountable for the purchase of supplies, materials, equipment, insurance and contracts for service. It is also responsible for securing those purchases from reliable vendors on the basis of definitive specifications, quality of product, service, advantageous prices and delivery.

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