Good news alert: ‘big’ government is getting smaller – and it’s all thanks to unified collaboration. 

How so? 

Just a year ago, government inspectors were spending thousands of hours a month travelling tens of thousands of miles across the US ensuring restaurants were compliant with state food hygiene regulations. 

Ditto for scores of other government agencies that regulate myriad processes, individuals, and businesses every day up and down the country. 

That’s a lot of time and a lot of unnecessary cost, hassle and associated air pollution. 

But (as has so often been the case this past year) the pandemic is driving positive change. 

For a rapidly-growing number of those government agencies, enforced social distancing restrictions have meant many, previously face-to-face regulatory interactions with business owners and citizens have had to take place virtually, via video. 

However, the niche nature of data produced by those interactions calls for more bespoke functionality than that provided by global collaboration giants such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams or any of the other popular players in the market. 

And THAT is presenting huge opportunity for the sector’s most innovative. 

One of those, Toronto-based video conferencing platform provider iotum, is quietly helping its customer HealthSpace power a digital revolution in the way the US government serves its people. 

HealthSpace – a leading provider of SaaS applications for government and the largest provider of Environmental Health Data Management Solutions in North America – has white-labelled iotum’s cloud-based ‘Callbridge’ meeting system to provide ‘GovCall’: the next generation of teleconferencing services tailored specifically for the government market. 

It’s a partnership set to redefine the future of regulatory process.  

“We think of it as a digital replacement for a government office,” says HealthSpace CEO, Silas Garrison. 

“The pandemic has meant folks from state and local agencies have not been able to interact with businesses and citizens in person as they have always had to. 

“Doing so via phone calls or other video conferencing platforms was an imperfect quick fix to begin with but, due to the nature of some of those interactions and the sensitive data involved, external non-bespoke platforms are not appropriate. 

“GovCall is a one-stop shop for governmental functions and processes which not only provides users with a secure video collaboration platform but also stores, tracks and synchronises with all of the relevant government data management platforms. 

“These are complex processes and the technology is of course hugely sophisticated. But the end result is brilliantly clear and simple: government agencies are more efficient and those with whom they interact are better served.” 

The users of GovCall will range range from citizens conducting telehealth appointments with government-run medical clinics to state representatives carrying out virtual inspections via video of regulated industries. 

It will ease every aspect of government workflow, from licensing and permitting, to inspections, to invoicing and accounting, and even disease surveillance. 

It will also make information digitally accessible and will incorporate a payment platform that will modernise government revenue streaming; effectively revolutionizing every aspect of government regulatory work. 

Advanced security and data protection means the platform out-performs many of its competitors. 

“The big questions for our customers are: Will the solution deliver? Does the platform have the functionality and flexibility needed? And is security and reliability there?” says Garrison.  

“Thanks to iotum’s innovation, expertise and technological support, we are able to provide all the right answers.”

Neat stuff; but roads to better places are often pretty bumpy.  

“Change always presents organisational challenge and government agencies often feel that more acutely than private business,” says Garrison. 

“Historically, personal technology like mobile phones and personal computing has been more advanced and user-friendly than corporate and government technology. 

“However, the pandemic has hastened progress in those areas and, in the long term, this can only be beneficial to everyone; the government AND those it serves.” 

It’s a paradigm shift that will only be achieved in partnership with iotum.  

“Our team has hundreds of years combined experience delivering solutions for government,” says Garrison.  

“Our partnership with iotum ensures we have the expertise and know-how for delivering the most cutting-edge teleconferencing features on the market. 

“This is critical in a post-pandemic world. We are embarking on a new era where services provided by the government will change fundamentally. This requires the technology to evolve and we believe GovCall can support that”

“The care and attention we get from iotum is helping to make that happen and it’s what characterises our relationship.” 

 



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