Page 29 - CAO 25th Ann Coffee Table Book

to run the Central Application Clearing House (CACH) for the 2018 entry. After numerous delays, the CAO was informed in October that it would have to complete a tender. By then, it was much too late to start training staff and developing software as the CAO would be setting itself up for failure. George van der Ross informed the Board that the CAO would not be submitting a tender. The 60-seater Call Centre, primarily developed for the CACH, now had to be advertised to other users in order to start amortising the huge outlay. To date, the CAO has run a number of campaigns and is slowly starting to recover the original expenditure.
In the meantime, the CAO continues to further enhance the IT and telephone systems. The CAO is now able to track whether outgoing emails and SMSs have been delivered to an applicant’s email service provider and cell phone service provider respectively. All email communications by the eCommunications Department entered between applicants and the CAO are also tracked. All calls now have reference numbers and the date, time and number from which the call was made and it is directly accessible from the information provided in the applicants’ events tracking audit. A new feature/facility is in place that ensures applications via the online portal no longer require applicants to download the declaration form, sign these and then submit to CAO by post. Online applicants can now select or acknowledge this online via a check box for the declaration and consent form. This also allows the applicant to read the terms and conditions, which complies with the POPI Act, and only once the applicant accepts these will they be able to continue with their online application. The Computer Specialist Project is on schedule and the system intended for the national central applications service is ready for testing.
The CAO is committed to continuing with the growth while improving on the value offered to stakeholders. It also continues its commitment to its employees.
2017 AGM at the Hilton Hotel in Durban
From left: Bongi Nkabinde, Ayanda Thabathi, Devi Sankaree Govender, Sinegugu Biyela and Cecilia Khoza
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