Family, friends, holiday and work gatherings require a lot of behind-the-scenes effort. With alcohol included in many gatherings, a critical, behind-the scenes effort is the regulation and licensing of the businesses that serve and sell alcoholic beverages.
Alcoholic beverage control departments protect public safety while facilitating key economic interests such as dining, entertainment and tourism. Despite the vital role ABC departments play, too often the tools and technology used to administer liquor licenses lag behind the times, leading to delays in issuing licenses, less than optimal workflows and a poor citizen experience.
With last week’s launch of the Accela Civic Application for Alcoholic Beverage Control, ABC departments have a new, powerful tool to aid in the regulation of alcoholic beverages. Let’s look at three key ways the Accela Civic Application transforms alcoholic beverage licensing:
Improved Enforcement
Site inspections are the cornerstone of a successful compliance program. But managing printed records, paper checklists and violation records can hamper the effectiveness of inspection efforts. Paper-based results take time to sort, process, and respond to and can be misplaced or lost.
The Accela Civic Application for Alcoholic Beverage Control moves site inspections into the modern era with mobile apps that simplify the inspection process, give the inspector on-site access to the full record history, and process post-inspection results instantaneously – in some cases emailing the licensee with the inspection results and corrective actions required within minutes of the conclusion of the inspection.
Automated Tasks
Like the caterer at a party, automated workflows handle important but routine activities, freeing you to focus on higher value tasks. Automated workflows handle tasks such as routing applications to the appropriate review queue, sending email and text notification or scheduling inspections. Workflows can be configured to match unique agency processes to ensure all necessary steps are completed during application review.
With many lower-level tasks reduced or eliminated, agency staff have more time available to focus on critical agency initiatives such as reporting and analysis, process improvement, or customer service goals.
Convenient Access
Citizens expect to be able to conduct business online, yet many liquor licensing departments still rely on an outdated system of paper applications and in-office visits. Accela Alcoholic Beverage Control moves liquor licensing online with fully online applications, renewals, payments and document upload. Citizens can complete the application process, pay required fees and submit supporting documentation from any convenient location – even from a mobile device. Logical checks verify the application is complete and required documentation is attached before the application is routed to the agency for review.
Online access makes it easier for citizens to apply for and receive licenses, but also makes it easier for ABC departments to track and monitor applications in progress. This increased transparency makes it possible to provide updates to licensees, monitor department productivity, and produce reports and analysis of department operations.
While the gatherings can be stressful, liquor licensing doesn’t have to be. Contact us to learn how the Accela Civic Application for Alcoholic Beverage Control can transform your liquor licensing operations.
