Appraisal hearings give property owners the opportunity to present evidence to challenge an official assessment. At the start of the pandemic, many counties made provisions to enable remote appraisal hearings, which is now the preferred method of conduct. Remote hearings offer convenience, efficiency, and accessibility.

In many states, county tax assessment processes are complex and the transition from traditional to remote hearings was challenging. Compunetix offers an easy and efficient means of conducting remote property tax hearings for counties across the country. To replicate brick and mortar hearing rooms, our customized solution enables property owners, property agents, and others to easily join and hold hearings remotely. Moreover, Compunetix can customize and tailor solutions to meet the unique requirements of different organizations, which is what we did for the Travis Central Appraisal District (TCAD) in Texas.

Texas is one of seven states in the U.S. to have no state income tax; therefore, funding for public services (schools, libraries, hospitals, road maintenance, etc.) is generated by property taxes. In Travis County property taxes support 127 local government agencies. The Travis Central Appraisal District has approximately 450,000 properties that must be assessed annually according to the Texas Property Tax Code and the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practices (USPAP).

To meet TCAD’s unique requirements, Compunetix tailored the cloud-based, ConferenceManager (CM) solution, a feature-rich audio and web conferencing platform designed with flexibility to adapt to specific business and industry workflows. Utilizing the Operator Console application, CM auto-answers all incoming phone calls, and prompts callers to enter their property ID number, then automatically creates the virtual hearing and places the property owner in their respective conference. This new method manages 98% of TCAD’s phone calls and relieves office administrators from answering thousands of incoming calls daily, minimizing line back-ups and the frequency of human error.

“In regard to any phone solution we’ve put in place, this was the easiest implementation. The Compunetix team was great; they really didn’t need much info from us. We provided the basics of what we needed, and they took care of it, which is not the norm when it comes to our experience.” – Leana Mann, Director of Operations, Travis Central Appraisal District

Key elements that made our solution easily adoptable:

• Cloud deployment option minimizes budget constraints and maximizes deployment speed
• Recording and automatic recording archival is available, saving an incredible amount of time and energy
• Recordings are automatically labeled by individual tax ID numbers, rather than random conference IDs
• Browser-based GUI enables seamless oversight and support of all active and scheduled hearings by designated staff
• Compunetix ConferenceManager solution is easily customized to meet various workflow needs and requirements

The ConferenceManager (CM) has been a trusted staple in enterprise and federal spaces for over a decade. Known for its ease-of-use, flexibility, and dynamic functionality, CM continues to build on its maturity and reputation of reliability, quality, and functionality. While many collaboration solutions take a “one size fits all” approach, ConferenceManager’s most distinguishing feature is its ability to meet the unique needs of almost any workflow, which is what made Compunetix the first choice for TCAD.

Like to know more? Please contact us to schedule a brief demonstration!