Town of Stephens City

Business Case

Stephens City, Virginia continues to be a local government trailblazer. In 2007, they launched a new website. By incorporating a cutting-edge design, rotating town photos and offering citizens the option to pay bills online, this website was warmly received by the Town Council and citizens.

In keeping with the times, in 2011 Stephens City decided it was time to enhance their website even more by updating the overall design. Improving navigation and structure in order to streamline the user experience was crucial, as it reduces confusion when searching for content.

Encouraging citizens to use online services as well as to become involved in social media was vital.

Solution

Stephens City successfully launched its redesigned and service-enhanced website as a part of the Town’s Capital Improvement Plan which focused in part to establishing a modern online identity.

The Town now offers GIS interactive mapping which was developed in partnership with Frederick County. GIS data is available to current town citizens and businesses, and helps lure new businesses, companies or residential communities, looking to expand their business to Stephens City.

The website increased exposure to the Town’s Facebook page which has over 100 “likes.” The Town posts real-time news, promotes community events, offers surveys and encourages feedback and questions from citizens.

Tools

Online payments:

Perl 5.61
Informix 7.25.UC7
PCI DSS Compliant
Uses 128 bit Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) Certificate
Uses PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) FTP (File Transfer Protocol) for the exchange of transaction data for ACH batches
Meets National Automated Clearing House Association (NACHA) Standards
Compliant with Sarbanes Oxley, SAS 70 and CyberTrust Audits

Results

The website is now averaging over 3,500 user sessions per month with an average length of over six minutes per session
Since 2007, over 1,100 online payments have been processed, totaling over $10,000.00