Blog posts about Feature focus

A few weeks ago we blogged about how we are now using the OS Maps API for mapping tiles across all instances of FixMyStreet and FixMyStreet Pro, following the retirement of Microsoft’s Bing Maps API.

We mentioned the only difference users might notice is that the Bing Maps API provided an aerial view option which was sometimes used by our council cobrands. We suggested some potential solutions in the form of providing access to a GIS mapping server that can supply map tiles and aerial imagery, or providing OS imagery data for us to serve.

We’re pleased to report that this has been successful for Northumberland County Council, which is now able to serve aerial imagery from its GIS mapping server on its FixMyStreet Pro service.

Users can toggle between the ‘Aerial map’ and ‘Road map’ by clicking the satellite icon on the right side of the screen. 

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If you are a FixMyStreet Pro client and you would like to replicate this on your instance of the service, please open a ticket on our helpdesk service.

If you are not yet a FixMyStreet Pro client and you have questions about how the service works, please drop us a message and we’ll get back to you.

On most of our FixMyStreet Pro instances, we use Ordnance Survey’s Maps API to supply the map tiles for our maps. Councils have free access to the API under the Public Sector Geospatial Agreement (PSGA), so we can display mapping up to a very high zoom level.

Microsoft is now retiring its Bing Maps API, which we have used on fixmystreet.com and some other instances for many years, and so we have now switched these to also use the OS Maps API – in instances where we do not have PSGA access, we use OS OpenData served from our own tile server for more zoomed in levels.

For the OS Leisure map tiles, this should provide an increase in image quality, and should also be more up to date in general. In Northern Ireland, fixmystreet.com is now using OpenStreetMap, ongoing thanks to them for their services.

Functionally, the only difference users might notice is that the Bing Maps API provided an aerial view option which is not currently replicable. One way around this for FixMyStreet Pro council cobrands could be to utilise an internal GIS mapping server that can supply map tiles and aerial imagery, or to provide us with OS imagery data for us to serve. If you’re a Pro client and you think this may apply to you, please open a ticket on the helpdesk system.

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For more information about the FixMyStreet platform, please get in touch.

Although often associated with the reporting of potholes and fly-tipping, did you know that FixMyStreet Pro can also improve the way authorities handle reports of problems found on public rights of way?

With over 14,000 miles of public rights of way in England and Wales, managed by a combined network of local councils, highways authorities and private landowners, it would be unreasonable to expect members of the public to always know who can respond to the problem they have found, be it a broken stile, overgrown hedgerow or wonky signpost.

As the only reporting solution capable of automatically triaging reports between different authorities (not to mention triaging between different internal departments within those authorities), FixMyStreet Pro makes it easy to successfully report and respond to problems on public rights of way.

Categories

Authorities using FixMyStreet Pro can set up as many or as few categories as required, comprising different service areas. As an example, if you’re a FixMyStreet Pro client and you originally set up the service for the reporting highways issues, but you would also like to incorporate public rights of way, you can do so!

Categories can be set to reflect whatever issues you can deal with, while subcategories help report-makers to narrow down the problem they want to report.

Reports within different categories and subcategories can be triaged either to different email addresses or sent directly into CRM systems through API integration.

Asset layers

API integration can also be established between FixMyStreet Pro and asset management systems. This enables authorities to display asset layers on the reporting map to visually show to report-makers which public rights of way are their responsibility.

For users making reports when they are not currently at the location of the problem, asset layers can be particularly useful in improving the accuracy of the map pin’s positioning.

If available from the integrated system, individual assets, such as bridges, can be displayed on the map to help report-makers accurately select where the problem is.

Where a user attempts to report a problem that is the responsibility of another authority (e.g. National Highways or a neighbouring council), asset layers can be used to automatically divert reports. This is really useful in urban areas where public rights of way commonly overlap with roads and cross boundaries managed by other authorities.

If no such layer is available, FixMyStreet Pro can triage the report to the correct authority via the national FixMyStreet site.

Where the problem is on private land, or is managed by another public body, it’s possible to display a message to alert the report-maker of this and to signpost to the correct place if known.

Extra questions

Additional questions can be added to FixMyStreet Pro’s reporting form to enable report-makers to self-serve all necessary information and prompt an appropriate and efficient response from the recipient authority.

Questions can be displayed at different points within the reporting workflow, according to the category and/or subcategory selected.

Offline reporting

Because FixMyStreet Pro is a progressive web app, it permits offline capability to authorities’ individual Pro sites.

This means members of the public can start reports on-the-go without internet connection, and finish them later when back online.

With many public rights of way traversing more rural areas where connectivity is poor, this functionality is essential in helping keep reports accurate and accessible to all.

Preventing duplication

With all reports displayed publicly on the map, FixMyStreet Pro helps users to see which problems have already been reported, and if any updates have been left on the report.

If a user attempts to report a problem in the same location and category of an existing report, FixMyStreet Pro will suggest that report to the user and, if it is the same problem, ask them to subscribe to the existing report instead of reporting again.

This saves time for the report-maker and helps authorities save money by reducing the costs associated with duplication of effort and manual intervention.

The radius within which duplicate reports are suggested to users can be modified per category. This is particularly useful for some public rights of way issues, such as overgrown vegetation, for which you may want to set a wider radius to compensate for the possibility of map pins being placed at multiple different points for the same issue.

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For more information about including public rights of way categories on FixMyStreet Pro, or to discuss any other functionality, get in touch.

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Parish and town councils wanting to keep track of reports made via FixMyStreet within their ward boundary can make use of FixMyStreet’s new parish-level email alerts and RSS feed. 

The FixMyStreet email alerts and RSS feed functionality enables users to subscribe to alerts for reports made within a certain area or that go to a certain destination, the latter of which only included upper tier authorities until recently. 

The new parish level alerts give local people and councillors the ability to stay informed of what’s happening in the community, subscribing to be notified of issues reported within their parish.

To set up an email or RSS alert feed, users can go to the ‘Local alerts’ page from the main menu, or click ‘Get updates of problems in this council’ from any ‘All reports’ page.

Angela Dixon, Managing Director at SocietyWorks, said: “Creating a snapshot of communities is among the things FixMyStreet does best, and I am delighted that we are able to offer parishes better access to data on what’s happening within their boundary. 

“The new email alerts and RSS feed for parishes is only the start of a drive to make more of FixMyStreet’s functionality available to all levels of local authority.”

There are more developments underway to further extend the functionality of FixMyStreet to parish councils, building upon the existing functionality created for our unitary FixMyStreet Pro users to provide better shared reporting for devolved services. 

For more information about FixMyStreet or FixMyStreet Pro, please get in touch. 

Part of our promise to our public sector customers is that we will integrate our solutions with any combination of back office systems. 

This commitment to facilitating interoperability extends to single sign-on (SSO) identity providers, such as Google Workspace or Microsoft Entra ID (formerly known as Azure Active Directory).

SSO integrations into our solutions enable councils and other public sector organisations to make it easier for authorised staff to log in using existing SSO credentials. 

Existing SSO accounts for residents can also be incorporated into the integration, meaning they only ever need to have one set of log-in details to access digital council services.

Integration with SSO also reduces the administration associated with setting up staff user accounts for larger teams. Existing account roles associated with an authority staff member’s SSO identity can be mapped to corresponding roles on, say, FixMyStreet Pro or WasteWorks, to automate the account creation and permission-setting process.

To connect with an SSO identity provider, we use an OpenID Connect-compliant endpoint.

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For customers wanting to discuss setting up an SSO integration into your installation of a SocietyWorks solution, please speak to your account manager. 

If you’re not yet a customer of SocietyWorks but you would like to find out more, you can request a demo with our team.

We recently added a new feature to FixMyStreet Pro enabling authorities in London using the solution to export data on reports made within their boundary of abandoned hire bikes and e-scooters, even though the reports themselves are sent directly to the responsible operators.

This new feature comes at the request of several of our London-based clients, who wanted to know how many reports are being made within this category to help them identify trends, keep track of service levels and monitor usage.

CSV files containing this data are now available to export on a daily basis. Exports can be accessed by staff with the appropriate permissions through the FixMyStreet Pro administration dashboard, or programmatic access can be established via the API for automatic importation into a business intelligence platform. 

Reporting abandoned hire bikes and e-scooters via FixMyStreet

The ‘Abandoned bikes/scooters’ category has been available to users in London on FixMyStreet and FixMyStreet Pro since 2023. 

Reports submitted under this category, whether made on the national FixMyStreet site or via an authority’s own branded FixMyStreet Pro service, are sent directly to the operator responsible for the abandoned bike or e-scooter, including Lime, HumanForest and Voi. 

Abandoned Santander Cycles can also be reported under this category and will be triaged directly to Transport for London.

As part of the reporting workflow, report-makers are asked to select which operator is responsible for the bike or e-scooter they need to report. 

Reports are then sent to the corresponding operator, containing all of the other useful information included as standard in a FixMyStreet report, such as the report-maker’s details, easting and northing, latitude and longitude and the nearest postcode to the pin placed on the map.

Angela Dixon, Managing Director at SocietyWorks, said: “There is no doubt that the provision of hire bike and e-scooter schemes is an effective way for councils to reduce emissions and promote more active lifestyles, but when instances of abandonment occur they create nuisance and obstruct others from using roads safely.

“We hope the ability to easily access data on abandoned bikes and e-scooters reported via the FixMyStreet network enables councils in the capital to have better oversight of such schemes and can inform strategies to make them work well for everyone.”

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While the reporting of abandoned hire bikes and e-scooters is currently only available in London, we would love to be able to open up reporting of such issues to members of the public in other locations where hire schemes are in place. 

We are keen to hear from authorities and operators outside of London who share our appetite to make this happen. If that’s you, please send us a message and let’s see what we can do. 

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Image: Ben Wicks on Unsplash

FixMyStreet Pro has several features that are designed to help authorities prevent avoidable contact and report duplication.

Let’s look at some of them below.

Communicate your maintenance schedules

FixMyStreet Pro enables you to inform report-makers of your maintenance schedules to help manage their expectations at the point of making a report.

For example, Gloucestershire County Council has configured its FixMyStreet Pro workflow so that when a user selects a certain category, such as grass cutting, a message is displayed to explain more about when grass cutting happens, along with a signpost to further information.

By doing this, members of the public can feel confident in not needing to report something that is already on your radar.

Show exactly which issues you’re aware of…

As a map-based reporting solution, FixMyStreet Pro displays existing reports on the map publicly so that anyone can see what has already been reported.

Potential duplicates are actively suggested to users at the point of making a report, and interested members of the public can subscribe to existing reports to receive updates on their progress. 

Different map pins can be used to represent different types of issues. If we use Gloucestershire again as our example, as well as displaying problems reported by residents, the highways team uses blue map pins to represent specific issues raised internally by staff or contractors.

The data to generate these special map pins is shared directly from the council’s integrated system via an API.

Using map pins in this way helps to demonstrate commitment from the council to find and resolve problems, and further supports the avoidance of duplication. 

…and even those you’re not responsible for!

Cleverly, thanks to FixMyStreet Pro’s connection to the national FixMyStreet service, you can also display issues that have been reported in your area but are the responsibility of another authority.

For example, Lincolnshire County Council displays on its FixMyStreet Pro service grey map pins to represent issues that have been diverted to Lincoln City Council.

Members of the public do not always know who’s responsible for fixing different problems, and in places where more than one level of authority covers the same area, this is a great way to increase transparency and, of course, reduce unnecessary and incorrect contact.

Display site messaging

Messaging can be displayed in various places across an installation of FixMyStreet Pro, such as on the homepage or as part of the reporting workflow.

This functionality can be used to share information about significant upcoming works, or to advise of specific actions due to be taken.

For example, you can provide notice of upcoming roadworks on a particular road when a user starts a report in that location and selects a category associated with road maintenance. Here’s an example of how Bromley Council does this:

Or you can display messaging on the homepage to explain any changes to scheduled maintenance during particular seasons, such as to advise on grass cutting schedules during spring and summer, or gritting during the winter months.

These messages can be managed by staff with the associated permissions from the administration dashboard.

Tailored response templates

Another good way to prevent unnecessary contact via FixMyStreet Pro is within responses to reports where it is appropriate to do so.

An example of this in practice can be found on Buckinghamshire Council’s FixMyStreet Pro in response to reports of overflowing bins, advising of the schedule on which bins are emptied and changing the status of the report to ‘action scheduled’. 

As well as being published on the map, responses are sent directly to report-makers and to anyone else who has subscribed to the report.

This enables members of the public to see what’s being done and educate for future reference.

Response templates can be managed either from the FixMyStreet Pro administration dashboard, or they can be shared directly from an integrated CRM or asset management system via API integration.

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For more information about FixMyStreet Pro and how it works, get in touch with our team. 

All categories, or all subcategories within a parent category can now be viewed via a toggle on FixMyStreet Pro, making it easier and quicker to navigate to the reports in which you are interested.

Categories on FixMyStreet Pro

From potholes to grass cutting to stile maintenance and beyond, public authorities can accept reports about a vast range of problems via FixMyStreet Pro. Essentially, if it’s a place-based problem that can be plotted on a map and for which you would be responsible for fixing, it can be incorporated into your FixMyStreet Pro service. 

This is good news for everyone, because it means there’s only one user experience no matter what you want to report. Naturally though, the more categories you have to choose from, the harder it might be to find the one you need.

Keeping things simple

To mitigate the risk of category-related overwhelm for report-makers and staff users, we introduced the ability to search for categories via a search bar. We also have parent categories under which authorities can assign related subcategories to make it easier for report-makers to select the most appropriate one for their report. 

Earlier this year we updated the way categories are filtered from the administration area to give staff users with the associated permissions the option to select groups of reports via parent categories or even select multiple categories at once for export.

Following this, we have introduced the ability to toggle categories when viewing them from within the reporting workflow, from the ‘All reports’ page and from the heatmap. 

Category toggling

Let’s say, for example, you want to view on the map all reports relating to parks maintenance issues, such as full litter bins, fly-tipping and path cleaning. Instead of having to manually select the relevant categories, you can instead select the parent category ‘Parks maintenance’ and all associated categories will be toggled. Once you’re done, click the parent category again to deselect all associated categories. 

Equally, if you want to view reports from all available categories, you can click ‘Everything’ at the top of the list to select all categories, and click again to deselect them all.

Watch a very short demonstration video below:

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Categories on FixMyStreet and FixMyStreet Pro are dictated by the authority using the service to reflect the issues they can deal with. Where an integration into a backend system is in place, categories on FixMyStreet Pro correspond to those within the integrated system.

For more information about how the service works, please get in touch. 

An update has been made to FixMyStreet Pro’s duplicate report suggestion feature to enable staff users to customise the radius within which potential duplicate reports are suggested to users on a per category basis.

Councils and other public sector organisations using FixMyStreet Pro benefit from the ability to suggest potential duplicate reports to users. 

If the problem that’s about to be reported is indeed a duplicate, FixMyStreet Pro encourages the user to subscribe to the existing report instead of creating a new one, saving time for the would-be report-maker and creating no extra work for the authority.

The duplicate suggestion tool uses the location and category of the in-progress report to scan for existing reports of a similar nature within a certain radius. By default the tool scans for open reports, but authorities can customise this to also include internal, closed, fixed or even related sub-category reports.

Last year we announced an update which enabled the different councils and authorities using FixMyStreet Pro to customise the radius within which reports are suggested for their individual version of the service.

Now, a second update means the radius can also be customised per category. 

This allows even more flexibility for authorities, who can incorporate many different service areas into their FixMyStreet Pro service, the categories for which may benefit from a larger or smaller radius.

For example, a larger radius can be useful for reports about issues that are likely to cover a large area, where users may drop a pin in a number of places to report the same issue. 

Meanwhile, a smaller radius can be more helpful for categories of problems in areas where there may be lots of reports of similar, but not identical problems.

For more information about this feature, or about FixMyStreet Pro in general, please get in touch.

Following the recent implementation of WasteWorks in the London boroughs of Kingston and Sutton, both councils’ versions of the service can now be used by residents to book bulky waste collections online.

WasteWorks was chosen by Kingston and Sutton in 2022 as part of a programme of ongoing improvements to residential waste services for both boroughs. The service is already used by residents to easily and conveniently access information about their bin days, report problems with collections, request new containers and subscribe to green waste collections.

The addition of the bulky waste collection functionality incorporates another aspect of the councils’ waste service into WasteWorks’ user-friendly interface, which was designed in collaboration with Bromley Council to simplify access to residential waste online and reduce avoidable customer contact.

For Kingston and Sutton, WasteWorks is integrated with the Selected Interventions Echo in-cab system, which is used by Veolia, the waste contractor for both councils. This integration enables a seamless two-way flow of data between residents and Veolia, sharing up-to-date information about waste collections, such as when a bin will next be collected, or why a collection was missed, and enabling residents to reserve available collection slots for bulky waste.

To allow residents to pay for their collections within the same workflow, WasteWorks is also integrated with the Capita Pay 360 payment system for Kingston, and the Barclaycard system for Sutton. 

Residents can also use WasteWorks to report a missed bulky collection and submit cancellation requests.

Angela Dixon, Managing Director at SocietyWorks, said: “The delivery of WasteWorks for Kingston and Sutton has been a significant collaborative effort between SocietyWorks, Kingston and Sutton, Selected Interventions and Veolia. All parties share a dedication to improving waste services for residents, and we are thrilled to be able to support them with this with scalable, citizen-centred technology.” 

Find out more about WasteWorks here.