Jamaica Constabulary Force’s Online Certificate Application Management System | Case Study
Gravity Booking is an online appointment management tool that helps businesses manage their bookings and appointments efficiently. It offers a mobile-friendly interface and features to improve clients’ booking experience. This case study will explore how the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), the largest force across the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries, used Gravity Booking to manage their police certificate application system.
Jerome Jones, a detective sergeant of police, lead application technologist for corporate and special services, and webmaster for the JCF, was tasked with finding a plugin that could handle the JCF’s police certificate application system. The police certificate is required by individuals seeking jobs or relocation to another country, and it determines their criminal status.
Today, we’ve reached out to Mr. Jerome Jones with some questions highlighting his experience using Gravity Booking.
General Background
Please Describe Your Company and Your Position There.
Good day. I am Jerome Jones. I am a detective sergeant of police. I’m also the lead and application technologist for corporate and special services. I’m also the webmaster for Jamaica Constabulary Force, the largest force across the CARICOM countries.
Opportunity / Challenge
For What Services Did You Need Gravity Booking, and What Were Your Goals?
The service for which we were in need of Gravity Booking was called the police certificate. Now, from time-to-time people can get jobs locally or require to move to another country. A police certificate is required to know the status of that person, if the person is a criminal or not. And because of this, we wanted an application to detect this from within Jamaica. And also, abroad, Jamaicans were in another diaspora. So, because of this, Gravity Booking was needed.
What Challenges Were You Experiencing Before Purchasing Gravity Booking?
One of the challenges we experienced before purchasing Gravity Booking was that we were maxed out regarding email reminders and customer notifications. Knowing our limitations and the number of emails with another application system, we understood we needed a solution.
Another problem was our conflicts with other plugins while using the police certificate application management system. And because of that, we wanted a smooth plugin compatible with Gravity Forms.
Did You Explore Other Solutions Before Deciding on Gravity Booking?
Yes, we explored other solutions other than Gravity Booking. We tried a few simple applications of Gravity Forms, like gAppointment and Calendly for Gravity Forms.
But the truth is that though they worked, they were not efficient enough. Small companies may find these tools helpful, but we are talking about a force of 14,000 plus and a population of over 2.8 billion in Jamaica. Therefore, the calling of choice would have to be Gravity Booking.
Solution
How Did You Discover Gravity Booking, And What Were the Deciding Factors?
I chose Gravity Booking with proper research. Also, the Jamaicans Force’s technology for application uses Gravity Forms. The best Gravity Forms Calendar addon is Gravity Booking as of date based on the research, demonstrations, and meetings with other stakeholders. If you look at the latest feature in the newest version that was released, it has proven to be even better than the previous version, which had some limitations.
Gravity Booking has helped us change our entire infrastructure by starting from scratch. Even though we already had 13,000 applications, we decided to scrap what we were using and begin using Gravity Booking immediately.
How Is Gravity Booking Currently Used?
Gravity Booking is currently being used with Gravity Flow. And also, it is what causes the date for police records to be stored and to be linked. So, we’re using two major Gravity Booking applications: Gravity Form and Gravity Flow. As soon as one person applies, the delivery date will be set. All this process is automated with proper framework and infrastructure thanks to Gravity Booking.
Please Describe What Kind of Customization You Were Looking for From Gravity Booking
We’re looking for customization in the sense that we wanted people who apply to be able to reschedule instead of having the office do the rescheduling. Also, because of back-and-forth emails, it maxed at over 10,000 per day from four major locations within Jamaica where this application is being used. Because of this, we wanted customization that’ll allow people to apply and cancel their appointment with one click.
Once the application is made, I can send it to them. They can login because Gravity Booking has an infrastructure that works with Gravity User Registration that we currently use. This required customization was one of our major setbacks in the past, and this tool provided us with the solution.
How Long Did It Take to Get Up and Running?
Gravity Booking takes hardly 5 minutes to install and set up. Once the plugin is installed, the developers can instantly get to work. Currently, this plugin is the easiest to customize regarding calendar management tools.
Is There a Particular Aspect of Gravity Booking That You Rely on Most?
I rely on the calendar most, the date customers should come for their appointment. Also, the reporting infrastructure to know how many people came, how many applied, and how many didn’t come. Therefore, we rely on the calendar more than any other aspect of Gravity Booking.
Results & Feedback
Can You Share Any Gravity Booking Outcomes?
Since implementing Gravity Booking, the JCF has received over 64,000 applications submitted in five months without compromising their WordPress infrastructure’s speed. The Gravity Booking team was responsive and easy to work with, and they provided solutions to the JCF’s queries within 24 hours, despite the 13-hour time difference.
How Was Your Experience with Gravity Booking?
The Gravity Booking team, they are expert. We’ve stayed in touch with them many times. Even though there is a 13-hour difference in our time zone, I would stay up all night while it is daytime for them to get the solution to my query. The support team lives up to expectations. They tell you they’ll get back to you in 48 hours but provide a solution within 24 hours.
We had some challenges with the iPhone; they took two days to mark that up and were ready with the solution. They were also very helpful with errors we faced with other plugins after installing Gravity Booking. The team provided us with solutions that made our experience flawless.
What Did You Find Most Impressive About Gravity Booking?
The unique feature of Gravity Booking is its calendar and API capabilities to fuse with Gravity Forms. It is also compatible with many Gravity Forms extensions for reporting. I purchased the premium version of this plugin, which can be considered the most suitable and customizable plugin.
Do They Need to Improve or Change Anything?
There was an area of improvement in the previous version of Gravity Booking, where we could pull calendar fields into our workflow or form. However, once you have the calendar on your form, you can’t pull other fields like staff into the Gravity Workflow. So conditional logic is what we need here.
End Words
In conclusion, Gravity Booking has provided an efficient solution for the JCF’s police certificate application system, with easy customization, automation, and a user-friendly interface.