The application development team provides custom software development for county staff. The team specializes in delivering line of business application over the Internet and intranet. The team provides solutions for single department applications and applications serving the enterprise.

Department projects involve helping staff manage data. The data may be lists of items like case assignments, client lists, or hearing dates. The department may need the data moved from a list to a form like an aircraft flight log or a client visit letter. Examples of department projects include managing flight log data for STAR Flight and case data for the Juvenile Public Defender.

Enterprise projects span departments and provide integrated solutions. The Jury Management system is an example of an enterprise application. Citizens access the Internet site to answer Jury notices. The jury office schedules and manages citizen assignments to trials. Each court tracks juror attendance and submits this information to the district clerk to process payments.

The application development team was created with three staff members in 2003. The initial project was to provide a web-based program to capture employee’s benefits selections during annual open enrollment.

Overview

Case management applications are custom, web-based systems that allow county staff to track and manage a case load. The first applications were written to replace tracking systems built within the department using Access or Excel. Once the application requirements moved beyond Access or Excel, ITS replaced the system.

Current applications are built using responsive web design, pages and images adjust to the screen available making them useful across different devices.

DRO (Domestic Relations Office) Visitation

The Domestic Relations Office (DRO) manages a visitation services case load that monitors and assists parents with visitation issues through services and education classes. Communication and services provided to parents and class attendance are tracked.

Specifications

Technology: Originally written in Visual Basic and T-SQL 2005, Visitation has been updated to use the current standards: HTML5, JavaScript, C#/MVC and T-SQL 2012.

Status: The revised version is code-complete and, upon final user acceptance testing, ready to move into production.

Results: The application went into production 9/15/2008 and has tracked over 1511 cases.

DRO GAL (Guardian-Ad-Litem)

The Domestic Relations Office (DRO) provides a guardian-ad-litem to cases. The guardians manage a case load tracking hearings, required duties mandated by the court, and outcomes. The application also generates required documents.

Specifications

Technology: Originally written in Visual Basic and T-SQL 2008, GAL has been updated to use the current standards: HTML5, JavaScript, C#/MVC, T-SQL 2012 and SQL Server Reporting Services.

Status: The revised version is code-complete and, pending creation of reports by the app support team, ready to move into production.

Results: The application went into production 8/18/2009 and has tracked over 5600 cases.

OPR (Office of Parental Representations)

The OPR (Office of Parental Representation) is a legal office that represents parents appointed to their office. The application tracks all the activities and interactions the staff has with clients including hearings, site visits to placements and schools, and case outcomes.

Specifications

Technology: Originally written in Visual Basic and T-SQL 2008, OPR will be updated to use the current standards: HTML5, JavaScript, C#/MVC, T-SQL 2012 and SQL Server Reporting Services with possible OnBase integration.

Status: The revised database is under construction.

Results: The application went into production 6/1/2009 and has tracked over 1432 cases.

JPD Juvenile Public Defender

The JPD (Juvenile Public Defender) is a legal office that represents juveniles appointed to their office. The application tracks all the activities and interactions the staff has with clients including hearings, site visits to placements and schools, and case outcomes.

Specifications

Technology: JPD was written in Visual Basic .NET and SQL 2008.

Status: JPD will be updated to C#/MVC.

Results: The application went into operation 3/22/2010 and has managed over 11,541 cases.

DA (District Attorney) Juvenile

DA Juvenile (District Attorney Juvenile Unit) is a legal office that prosecutes juvenile cases. The application tracks all the activities and interactions the staff has with clients including hearings, site visits to placements and schools, and case outcomes.

Specifications

Technology: JPD was written in Visual Basic .NET and SQL Server 2008

Status: DAJ will be updated to C#/MVC.

Results: The application went into operation 6/17/2011 and has managed over 8,702 cases.

PTS (Petition Tracking System)

PTS (Petition Tracking System) was written to replace an Access database that could not support the number of users or the data complexity. PTS allow courts staff to give the Judge information about a case both during and outside the court room. The Judges use the application to monitor legal deadlines for a case and effectiveness of outcomes.

Specifications

Technology: PTS was written in Visual Basic .NET and SQL.

Status: End of life.

Results: The application went into operation 8/27/2007 and has managed over 7,403 cases.

DRO CSMS (Community Supervision Management System)

Overview –CSMS (Community Supervision Management System) is a unit within the Domestic Relations Office that monitors child support reporting and payment under a grant with the Office of the Attorney General. The application allows casework officers to manager caseloads of over 400, tracking reporting and payment compliance and producing monthly reports to the AG’s office.

Specifications

Technology: CSMS was written in Visual Basic .NET and SQL 2008.

Status: CSMS will be updated to C#/MVC.

Results: The application went into operation 6/17/2011 and has managed over 8,702 cases.

TCIO (Travis County Inside Out)

TCIO (Travis County Inside Out) manages social work case management for clients transitioning from jail. Application tracks and monitors staff interactions, services provided and recommended, and outcomes.

Specifications

Technology: TCIO was written in Visual Basic .NET and SQL 2012

Status: Merged with the CTC program (see the following).

Results: The application went into operation 8/6/2012 and has managed over 1,205 clients.

CTC (Commit to Change)

CTC (Commitment to Change) provides social work case management for clients in jail entering the commitment to change program. The application tracks client progress in the CTC program and follow up services when client is released.

Specifications

Technology: CTC was written in Visual Basic .NET and was updated to C#/MVC in the 4^thquarter FY16, when it was merged with the TCIO program.

Status: Code complete, undergoing final user acceptance testing

Results: The application went into operation 1/1/2015 and has managed over 315 clients.

Workforce Development

WD (Workforce Development) manages activities and clients providing employment services to clients and prospective employees to employers.

Specifications

Technology: WD was written in Visual Basic .NET and is currently being updated to C#/MVC in the 4^th quarter FY16.

Status: Nearing code completion.

Results: The application went into operation 1/1/2015 and has managed over 375 clients.

TRAC (Sex Offender Registration and Compliance Tracking)

Sex Offender registration and compliance tracking allows TCSO staff to register and report compliance to the state for registered sex offenders within Travis County, not covered by the City of Austin.

Specifications

Technology: TRAC was written in Visual Basic .NET.

Status: To be replaced with a State-provided application.

Results: The application went into operation 8/1/2011 and has tracked over 1100 persons.

Overview

Some county departments are required to maintain records of employee training, certifications, participation in certain activities to prove compliance with statutory requirements or regulations from a state or federal agency. The application development team assists in this record-keeping task with custom applications.

Star Flight

STAR Flight (Shock Trauma Air Rescue) is required by the FAA to track flight data. Tracking was initially a manual process. A STAR Flight staff member created a database application to automate some of the process. The management staff quickly adopted automation and came to ITS to move the homegrown application into a supported web-based system.

The development team met with STAR Flight staff and designed an application to provide the flight logs and FAA reports. The data from the old application was converted from a file share to SQL server.

Once the initial phase of the application was in production, the team added modules to automate other aspects of STAR Flight’s operation. For example, the team wrote a module to track and notify staff and management of required medical checks and training for pilots. FAA required rest times were built into the application so pilots can see their hours and be warned if they are approaching mandatory rest time. Modules for performance monitoring and reporting were added for the medical staff.

The ITS development team offered a quick initial turn around on an application the current staff could no longer support or enhance. After the initial delivery, the team reengaged with STAR Flight staff to provide additional functionally.

Specifications

Technology: STAR Flight was written in Visual Basic .NET and T-SQL

Status: will be updated to C#/MVC.

Results: The application went into operation 10/1/2009 and has recorded over 13,228 flights.

Sheriff Drills

Application allows TCSO staff to track and report on drills and activities needed to comply with jail standards.

Specifications

Technology: Drills was written in Visual Basic .NET

Status: Currently being replaced with C#/MVC in the 4^th quarter FY16.

Results: The application went into production 3/10/2010 and has tracked over 278,000 activities.

E-Registration

Legacy registration system used county employees to register for classes, replaced for some department training by SAP. E-Registration is still being used by some departments as they prepare to transition to SAP.

Overview

Many offices in Travis County interact with the public and have expressed a need for an automated way to check in clients/citizens and measure staff performance. The ITS development team wrote a core set of check-in routines that were placed in a common library for reuse in each application. Each application is then tailored to the required work flow and performance measures needed. In all the applications automated email can be setup to alert staff that clients have checked in or that a client has been waiting longer than a set time. Customizations include measures showing time intervals between many interactions a citizen may have within an office.

HHS (Health and Human Services)

A kiosk allows citizens to check in and indicate the purpose of their visit. On-screen indicators alert staff when a client has been waiting for an extended amount of time. Case workers can monitor the system from their desks to see that their client has arrived. Management can view client demand by examining check-in reports sorted by time of day, by site, by wait time and by purpose of visit. High demand for a service or at a site may allow management to shift resources to efficiently meet needs.

Specifications

Technology: C#/Webforms

Status: In production

Results: The application went into production 12/9/2013 and has checked in over 83,600 people.

Veteran Services

Veteran Services staff checks in each client and collects basic information about the visit. If the request can be resolved at the check in desk, the details are captured for later reporting. Visits that require case work services are routed to staff. Performance measures are available to management showing peak times, requested services and length of visits by service.

Specifications

Technology: C#/MVC, SQL 2012, SignalR

Status: In production

Results: The application went into production 10/14/2015. The application has check in over 1180 people.

Pretrial

Serving fifteen units and over one hundred staff members, the Pretrial check-in system provides email and on-screen alerting for staff, on-demand shifting to alternative staff, and full robust performance reporting.

Specification

Technology: C#/MVC, SQL 2012, SignalR

Status: In production

Results: The application went into production 5/14/2014. The system has checked in over 128,000 people.

CES (Counseling and Education Services)

CES check-in system provides email and on-screen alerting for staff, skillset matching to assign clients to staff and on-demand shifting to alternative staff.

Specifications

Technology: C#/MVC, SQL 2012, SignalR

Status: In production

Results: The application went into production 8/8/2016.

Tax Substations

Tax substation check-in will provide functionality similar to that of CES.

Specifications

Technology: C#/MVC, SQL 2012, SignalR

Status: scheduled for initial development Q1FY17

Results: The application went into production 8/8/2016.

Open Enrollment FY03-13

Allows HRMD staff to review benefits selection made before SAP.

E-Historical Civil

Allows staff to view legacy data on historical civil cases.

E-Historical Criminal

Allows staff to view legacy data on historical criminal cases.

Hot Checks Legacy

Allows staff to view legacy data on historical hot check cases.

Jury Office - Summons Module

The Jury office uses the application to establish trial needs and fill and manage the jurors assigned. The system predicts the number of jurors required and communicates the summons information to a vendor for printing and mailing.

Juror Impaneling Module

The public-facing portion of the application allows citizens to respond to jury summons and impanel online. The application lets jurors enter known conflict dates for the service range and the system will fit the juror to a trial or postpone their service. Juror addresses are verified with Google real-time by the application to ensure they fall within the assigned trial jurisdiction.

Courts Module

The Jury office uses the application to notify the Courts of the jurors assigned to appear. The courts then select the needed jurors from the pool of jurors reporting and track attendance and donated juror pay.

Treasurer/Auditor Module

The system drops a file in a designated location for upload into SAP and to print checks. Report are generated automatically to facilitate the transfer of juror-donated pay to the appropriate agencies and to obtain reimbursement

Specifications

Technology: The application went into production in 2002 using Classic ASP, CASE generated AS/400 data, and Groupwise. Since then, it has been upgraded to C#/Webforms and SQL, and portions have been upgraded to C#/MVC, SQL 2012, Google MAPs API.

Status: Continuous improvement

Results: Over 1.5 million jurors have been served. This application has received national recognition and several awards.

I-Request

This application tracks requests for interpreters for Health and Human Services, Deaf Services. Requester receives emails as the requests are accepted, reviewed and scheduled.

Parks Incident

TNR Parks use this application to record incidents in the county parks, allow staff to create reports and manage resources.

Constable Incident

Constable Precinct 3 tracks incidents and activities for reporting and management. The base modules were reused from the parks incident program resulting in rapid turnaround on the request. This base code is available to the other constable’s offices.

Facilities Work Order

This application allow all county staff to submit request to the facilities department for building and grounds maintenance. The application also allows facilities staff to assign jobs and track progress.

Parking Management

Parking Management allows county staff to record their license plate numbers for parking access. Employees can request transfers to different parking lots. The application will maintain a waiting list for new employees and those waiting for transfers.

• WOW (Warrants on the Web)
• SIPS (Inmate Information)
• TICTOC (Travis County Time in Custody)
• TNR Permits (Transportaion Natural Resources)
• DC (District Clerk) Online Case Information
• AARO (Attorney Access to Records Online)
  • Allows registered attorneys to access court records and documents online.
• HHS Sear (Service Eligibility and Request)
  • Allows the public to apply for assistance from Health and Human Services online.

HHS Data Links

Extension to vendor purchased case management application used to produce documents pulling data from the vendor product.

Night Court

Application presents needed data to courts that operate during times the primary application may be unavailable.

Mental Health Network

Application provides a search engine that queries many county databases combining results on mental health information.

Keefe Service

Service posts financial from the Keefe servers to Tiburon servers. The service allows inmates to access funds managed in Tiburon, funds used by Keefe for commissary orders. Public can access Keefe servers and deposit funds which are posted to Tiburon.

Securus Service

The service provides an interface from Tiburon to Securus providing inmate information used for video visitation.

E-Citation

The service provides an interface between Brazos/Tyler and Tiburon that downloads ticket information captured on handheld devices.

Travis County e-mail is a feature-rich email and calendaring system based on Microsoft Exchange and is available to all Travis County employees. Email accounts are effectively protected from spam and malware. Mailing lists are also available for sending email to larger groups.

Lync Instant Messaging is available for instant messaging services. Lync Instant Messaging is a secure, locally hosted instant messaging (IM) application available to all Travis County employees.

Provides installation and support of telephone and voicemail services.

Telephone services include a suite of technology for Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) services, including Telephones, voice mail, voice mail Automated Attendants, conference calling, and Automatic Call Distribution (ACD), and Call / Contact Center Application systems.

Administers the Microsoft SharePoint environment, and provides assistance with site setup and support.

SharePoint is a part of the Travis County Intranet tier. It is a web-based user tool that offers team collaboration sites, document sharing libraries with versioning, and tasks or content lists. A SharePoint Site may contain a combination of pages, lists, libraries, content types, and sub-sites. The Application Support team maintains the SharePoint environment, and can help conceptualize, set up, and configure access authority for a department or team collaboration site.

All Database Servers: Including SQL servers, Informix, Tiburon SQL servers, and others.

Service Description

Database Services ensures that customer databases are protected and monitored by establishing backup and recovery procedures, providing a secure database environment, and monitoring database performance.

The mobile data program focuses all Travis County computers that are mobile, tablets, and smartphones. Typically the law enforcement and public safety agencies are considered part of the program but we also support county supplied devices including:

• Systems with wireless connectivity
• Smart Phones
• Tablets

The ITS mobile data program team serves as members or resources to the Vehicle Users Committee, Wireless Communications Committee, Justice System Technology Committee, and Integrated Justice Systems Steering Committee.

• Ruggedized laptops with mobile broadband and WiFi connections to communication with the Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system
• Travis County Uses the Brazos Technology eCitation software for the Electronic Citation program
• Travis County uses ruggedized camera systems in public safety cars to record events, and is researching the use of body cameras for future use.

Systems with wireless connectivity

• Laptops
  • Standard County laptops with WiFi or mobile broadband connectivity
• Smartphones
  • Any phone with voice and data capabilities
• Tablets
  • Any tablet device with WiFi or mobile broadband connectivity

Domain Name Services (DNS) & IP Management

Domain names are available to Travis County offices and departments and provide easier ways to access to Travis County hosted websites and Static IPs are available for servers, printers, and other equipment that are not able to use dynamic DHCP assignment.

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)

The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) is a network protocol used to assign IP addresses and provide configuration information to devices such as servers, desktops, or mobile devices, so they can communicate on a network using the Internet Protocol (IP).

Virtual Private Network (VPN) Services

Virtual Private Networking, or VPN, is a networking tool that allows off-campus users to have a private and secure connection to the Travis County network via the Internet from a single host. Travis County's VPN service allows users to connect to the internal network from any available network connection almost anywhere including from home.

Cabling and wireless network access to all Travis County building. Internet connections for all Travis County Offices and Departmental buildings. Voice, Data and Video are transmitted on the same network.

Local Area Network (LAN) and Wide Area Network (WAN) design, implementation, support, daily administration and management.

Through Travis County joint partnership with the Greater Austin Area Telecommunication Network (GAATN) over 80% of Travis County facilities have access to high speed connectivity. In addition, ITS provides the Travis County Network infrastructure. This includes cabling, switches, routers, wireless access points to all Travis County buildings.

Performance Management includes monitoring and notification of the network to ensure continuous IT service.

Service includes:

• Automated monitoring of network thresholds
• Automated reporting of network anomalies
• Automated Helpdesk notification

Travis County initiates technology projects through several processes (Budget initiatives, Department O&M expenditures, mandated changes, and Grant submissions). Each project request requires a certain amount of documentation and governance to be prioritized for the limited resources available. Below are descriptions of the PMO services.

Benefits include:

• Improved schedule tracking
• Improved project definition according to business objectives
• Transparency into project progress, challenges and risks
• Improved project change and scope tracking
• Improved communications with leadership, across projects teams and between departments

The ITS PMO embraces Project Management Institute (PMI) methodology and standards which provides a foundation for project management knowledge and represents the four areas of the profession: project, program, portfolio and the organizational approach to project management.

The PMO's project management methodology is a hybrid of industry standard framework and tools, utilized together with practical experience, to manage a wide variety of projects, ranging in size and complexity, from concept to completion.

The PMO will assist departments that manage their own IT projects in obtaining the necessary ITS resources if requested. The departments and ITS must clearly define roles and responsibilities for these projects.

The PMO can assists with requirements gathering, preparing business needs statements, and other project initiation and coordination requests.

The PMO is divided into three program groups based on ITS departmental responsibilities: public safety, justice, and general government. These program groups will allow the assigned ITS staff to better focus on specific types of projects. We understand that many projects will cross between these program groups and the PMO will adjust to those projects as needed.

Server Recovery Management includes offsite media management including system administration associated with backup storage software and associated devices.

Global backup and recovery process development, implementation and administration based on IT policies and baselines.

Services include:

• Management of all server restoration hardware and software
• Server image and/or file system(s) restoration

Performance Management includes monitoring and notification of servers to ensure continuous IT service.

Services include:

• Automated monitoring of server thresholds
• Automated reporting of server anomalies
• Automated Helpdesk notification

Manage relationship with vendor(s) for server products and related issues. Serves as point of contact for company/vendor.

Virtualized Server Management

Virtual Machines service allows ITS to manage the day-to-day activities related to operating system, hardware, and infrastructure needs of departments, thereby freeing up staff to focus on their specialties. Virtual Machines are configured to user specifications, with optional storage and database components. 

Hosting services provide an alternative to high-dollar purchases and/or time-consuming maintenance. There are four hosting services: Hosting: Virtual Machines Service. Virtual Machines service allows ITS to manage the day-to-day activities related to operating system, hardware, and infrastructure needs of departments, thereby freeing up staff to focus on their specialties. Virtual Machines are configured to user specifications, with optional storage and database components Hosting: Co-location of Physical Servers Service ITS provides computer room capacity to ensure reliable operations for departmental physical servers. Complete with network connectivity, humidity control, power supply, backup generator, facility security, and available with shared or dedicated rack configurations. Hosting: Storage and Backups for Data Service Storage and/or backups of data are available at competitive rates. Options include shared file space on a central ITS managed server, restores of files from seven days, and backups retained for up to 90 days. Hosting: Database Management Service ITS manages departmental data via SQL Server databases, with an optional hosted virtual machine, and including nightly backups, monitoring, and software patches configured to departmental needs. Additional schema and table restores available upon request.

ITS provides secure, adequate, backed up disk space for file shares and applications as needed by the Offices and Departments of Travis County

Travis County ITS has detailed technical specifications for infrastructure.

• Architectural, Mechanical & Electrical Construction Standards - Communications Standards (Updated 04/20/21)
• External Facing Application Development Architecture - Public Facing Architecture Standards (Updated 03/04/16)

The webteam helps departments develop web sites that enable citizens and employees to easily find the resources they need to accomplish their goals. Providing these resources and information online increases efficiency for the client and the service provider.

User oriented design focuses on what the user needs to know when coming to a site. What features, functions and content will users need to accomplish their goals? What is the easiest route for a user to accomplish said goals.

Please contact us (in-network only) if you need to set up a new project, work on existing pages, or make a simple update.

Please take a look at our style guides.

• Internal Sites
• External Sites

If you have a design question, please contact the webteam.

Provides installation and support of approved and licensed software or standard images for laptop and desktop Windows-based clients.

ITS is responsible for configuring each PC with standard software so that County employees have basic computing programs available to them for performing their duties. The personal computers shall also be configured so that Desktop Services can access the individual machines for delivering software, including updates and patches, for repairs and scanning for compliance with established policies.

Hardware Installation and support

Services include:

• Inventory management of all workstations
• Initial hardware setup
• Operating system installation
• Workstation build / image install
• Standard software installation
• Environmental equipment installation
• Security and compliance review
• Workstation component configuration

ITS is responsible for configuring each network multifunctional printer. Those service include printing, faxing, copying, and scanning capablities. Stand alone print services are available.

Active Directory Service

The Active Directory (AD) service provides a single, consistent point of management for users, applications, and devices. It is used for managing permissions and user access to network resources. Simplified management and use of file and print services make network resources easier to find, configure and use. All data is hierarchical, replicated, and extensible. Typical examples of data stored in the directory include printer queue data, user contact data, and network/computer configuration data.

Serves as the single point of contact for customers requesting IT services, incident management, and other support activities. There are two support levels, tier 1 and tier 2. Tier 1 provides a basic level of technical support for services provided. Tier 2 provides a higher level of technical support. This support is focused on difficult to solve issues in specific technical service areas.

HHS Sear (Service Eligibility and Request)

Allows the public to apply for assistance from Health and Human Services online.