Cities sign on for transaction help

Cities in Florida, Utah and Oregon will be among the first to use HTE Inc.'s

new Web-based transaction application for public-sector organizations and

utilities, a company official said.

Murray, Utah, Kissimmee, Fla., and Bend, Ore., will be the first U.S.

cities to install HTE's Click2Gov software, according to Gil Santos, the

company's vice president of business development and strategy.

Click2Gov is a gateway from the Internet to an organization's automated

management and workflow packages. Click2Gov was designed for HTE's 1,600

worldwide clients that already use its back-end software.

"We are not trying to be a portal provider" that accepts information

but can't directly update existing databases, Santos said. "We need to control

the data. If we let a third party go in and introduce ambiguity" to HTE

systems, the company cannot guarantee the reliability of transactions.

The application has a direct interface with credit card networks, so

users do not have to pay convenience fees, he said.

Murray, located in Utah's Salt Lake Valley, will use Click2Gov to make

utility records and bills available to customers. Kissimmee purchased a

module that enables users to apply for building permits, schedule inspections

and check the status of applications online. Bend will use the customer

information and building permits products.

The applications are mobile-ready for organizations that want to make

their Web sites accessible by handheld computers. Santos hopes that by the

end of the year clients will be able to download Click2Gov modules directly

from the Web instead of waiting for the company to install them onsite.

He also said other Click2Gov modules are under development, including

one for parks and recreation departments that will be available in the spring.