Computer upgrades causing problems for DMV
Upgrades to the Kansas Division of Motor Vehicles computer system have caused some glitches for the Douglas County Treasurer’s Office, said Paula Gilchrist, treasurer.
“It’s been a really tough two weeks,” Gilchrist said.
The division is in the midst of a $40-million computer upgrade that will integrate driver’s license records with vehicle title and registration data.
The office was closed for a week in early May during the upgrade, and since re-opening, problems with the software have extended the time it takes to renew license plates for some residents, Gilchrist said.
They’ve been trying to work out the problems in daily conference calls with the Kansas Department of Revenue, but the upgrades “will take some patience,” Gilchrist said.
Gilchrist advises people to consider renewing their license plates online, which is an option for anyone with the same address and insurance company as last year. If you need to renew in person, Gilchrist said you can usually expect shorter waiting lines in the middle of the week.
The Kansas Division of Motor Vehicles was unable to process driver’s license applications or renewals Friday because of a hardware problem with the computer system, said Kansas Department of Revenue spokeswoman Jeannine Koranda.
The computer systems for all state motor vehicle offices were down at 7 a.m. but were fixed by the vendor by about 3:45 p.m.
Delbert Thomas, supervisor for the Douglas County service station in Lawrence, 1035 N. Third St., said people whose driver’s license expired today were still able to visit the office and receive an extension.
In April, the state system was down for two days after malfunctions with the computer server. The division is in the midst of a $40 million computer upgrade that will integrate driver’s license records with vehicle title and registration data. But Koranda said the current difficulties were not related to the upgrade and concerned a separate computer system.
Comments
Curtis Lange 1 year, 11 months ago
My license expires this coming Tuesday so I was there Friday morning at opening time. They didnt even get one person through before the computers went down. What an embarrassment for the state; proof that the lowest bidder is NOT the best. At least they were giving out 15 day extensions for us renewal folks.
CHEEZIT 1 year, 11 months ago
Wow! My son's wants to get his license. Should I just drop him off first thing in the morning and pick him up at dinner time?
xdcr 1 year, 11 months ago
I renewed mine in Feb. Still haven't received my new license.
Uhjh 1 year, 11 months ago
What a joke!
grammaddy 1 year, 11 months ago
I hope this "computer system overhaul" goes better for the State of Kansas than it did for the U.S. Dept. of Education.
riverdrifter 1 year, 11 months ago
I renewed my DL in late March. My new license arrived 5 weeks later. Poor service.
sciencegeek 1 year, 11 months ago
Ah, the panacea that is outsourcing! More to come, too, with the current philosophy under the dome.
Being down for a week for data conversion was bad enough, and now this? Hasn't that company heard of volume testing? Or training people less than a year before implementation? I bet the RFP for this disaster is a doozy!
Richard Heckler 1 year, 11 months ago
Very interesting..
Will this computer be involved with voting registration or any elections coming up? Can it be hacked? We know it can be manipulated.
Who sold this device to the state of Kansas? Time to get taxpayers money back?
Who cooked up deal?
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