Councils and authorities are now moving online, which is really exciting for us! It makes it easier for us tech-focused companies to put responses to requests straight into our
platform and provide a more seamless service for our mutual customers.
PSI uses APIs, robots and forms to speed up service delivery and continue developing and adding value to our customers. In return, councils, service providers and authorities
also benefit from organisations like PSI. We help create a central point of communication for their services which can lead to smoother and faster payment.
The basics of an API
API's are everywhere! Some you might be more familiar with are:
- the ability to login on various apps using your Facebook account
- booking a flight through an online travel website - they interact with the airline API to give you flight options
- sharing or uploading files from your Dropbox to various applications on the internet
Technically, API stands for Application Programming Interface — it basically describes one way to plug your website into another, which saves time, resources and increases traffic to both parties’ sites. API's make it possible for applications and websites to share data and take actions on one another’s behalf without requiring developers to share all of their software’s code. They limit outside program access to a specific set of features, such as requests for data of a specific type. This makes them extremely safe and secure to use as you can choose the specific information you wish to share.
For example, Standard Parcel Identifier has been key for PSI to get information through API with planning overlays and bushfire mapping. Standard Parcel Identifier is the unique reference that can be used to identify the same parcel of land in different computer systems. PSI packages all this information for the customer to make a streamlined, simple service for mutual customers between multiple parties, such as councils, authorities and ourselves.
Key benefits of API's
PSI already has some API's setup with authorities, but we want to take it a step further and integrate with all local councils - particularly the high volume councils in growth areas. Creating these connections allows for further efficiency and automation. With the continued expansion of Melbourne and regional growth areas occurring at such a rapid pace; it's a key time for authorities to utilise this technology. The resources in some growth areas are struggling to keep pace with the huge volumes of property information requests they are receiving.
By encouraging automation, machines can help with the workload that otherwise would require a lot of manual input. Essentially it helps both the information provider and PSI as to operate more smoothly with fewer steps involved. It's a simpler way for councils to receive applications and payments can be processed more smoothly. API allows for direct input of information, reducing the lag time between application and receipt or processing. Also ensuring information is up-to-date, accurate and makes it's way to the right place quicker.
You can even connect with PSI
Yep that's right! We've developed our API so customers can submit a job and request without even touching our website. This works well for companies that have a strong IT setup with developers to help integrate the two applications together. Not only can you push information out to us; we can then push back the property information via API into your internal job management application. It's certainly not necessary but it can cut out the extra manual handling and creates one job management environment.
If you're interested in setting up an API with us or want to learn a bit more, please contact us for a chat!