Some two years after it adopted software that saves staff time and maps efficient routes for housing inspectors, the County’s Housing and Community Development department is still getting recognition for the smart use of technology.
The department recently received the 2011 “Pioneer in Housing” awards from Nan McKay and Associates, a well-regarded consultant for the affordable housing industry. San Diego County is one of only two housing authorities in the U.S. to receive the honor.
The accolade comes for the Housing department’s use of software called “TourSolver,” which replaces what was once a time-consuming slog through paperwork to schedule routes for seven housing inspectors.
These Housing and Community Development (HCD) inspectors must periodically visit each apartment or home in the County where rent is subsidized by federal Section 8 vouchers. That’s about 1,000 properties each month.
TourSolver has slashed the time it takes HCD staff to schedule the inspections from 25 hours a month to four. And the program automatically creates the most direct routes between appointments, so inspectors can visit more properties in a given day.
“Our goal is to make sure every unit is safe, sanitary and decent,” said HCD Director David Estrella. “With so many low income families being impacted in this economy, providing increased service at such a difficult time is paramount, and TourSolver helps us do that.”
In its award notice, Nan McKay notes that TourSolver, “has the potential to revolutionize how government inspections of all types (building, restaurant, etc.) are conducted in the future.”
The Nan McKay award is the latest recognition for HCD and TourSolver. Government Technology magazine featured the success story in its January 2011 issue. And the County’s prestigious, “IT Innovator of the Year” award went last year to Deborah Dyar, an HCD veteran who was instrumental in bringing TourSolver to the County.
In a recent interview, Dyar recalled the mammoth administrative task the software replaced,
“It was a completely manual paper shuffle,” she said.
In a given month, properties all over the region might need an inspection. Dyar said the department would print a rental form for each property; then a supervisor and clerical staff would disappear into an office and sort the 1,000 forms by city or community. After that, staff looked at the addresses and planned a month’s schedule of visits for each inspector.
Once inspectors got their schedules, they used Google Maps or a similar application to get driving directions. That took more time each day.
Dyar knew there had to be a better way, so she reached out to IT experts around the County and arranged demonstrations of several software applications. It turned out a commercial application called TourSolver worked perfectly.
The program automatically organizes a daily route and schedule for each inspector using the addresses from the rental forms.
And there’s no more “Google Mapping” and printing driving directions.
Instead, inspectors carry GPS units that download routes from TourSolver and issue audible turn-by-turn instructions.
Because the routes the software devises are as direct as possible, inspectors now drive about 10 percent less, the department estimates, saving gas and money.
The software and GPS units cost about $10,000, but TourSolver quickly paid for itself; the staff-hours and gas savings represent an cost reduction of about $30,000 per year compared to the old—and old-fashioned—method.
