Just because you have an “online option” doesn’t mean it’s working for you—or your citizens.
In today’s world, having an online portal for birth, death, or marriage certificate applications feels like table stakes. But if your current system was built more than a few years ago—or if it’s run by a third-party vendor that doesn’t actually reflect your agency—you may be offering less convenience and more confusion than you realize.
At Permitium, we hear this objection often:
“We already have an online system.”
But after a short conversation, what often surfaces is a system that’s rigid, confusing, and no longer meeting modern expectations. Here’s why your existing system may be holding you back- and how VitalDirector solves the problems that legacy vendors leave unsolved.
1. Confusing Payment Processes Lead to Frustrated Citizens—Ours Don’t
Many legacy or third-party online vendors use split-payment systems: they charge applicants one fee up front, and then require a second, separate payment to your agency. That creates unnecessary confusion, increases the likelihood of declined transactions, and often leads to frustrated citizens calling your office to ask why they were charged twice—or why their request was denied.
VitalDirector eliminates all of that.
Applicants pay once, clearly and securely, with all fees bundled into a single transaction. It’s transparent, straightforward, and trusted by both applicants and staff.
This also solves the everyday payment headaches that come with in-person traffic. More and more citizens don’t carry cash, and accepting personal checks can be risky—bounced payments and returned fees only add to your office’s workload. With VitalDirector’s credit card–friendly approach, applicants can pay online at home, at your front desk using kiosk mode, or even by scanning a QR code on a flyer—no cash or checks required.
🎥 Want to see this in action?
Watch how Union County, NC improved payment security and citizen satisfaction with VitalDirector.
Whether online or in person, VitalDirector makes paying for vital records fast, safe, and simple—and gives your staff one less thing to worry about.
2. If It Doesn’t Look Like You, It’s Not Representing You
When citizens land on a generic, unbranded website that doesn’t match your agency’s look and feel, it can create distrust—or worse, open the door to fraud. These off-brand experiences don’t just confuse the public—they reflect poorly on your office, even if you had nothing to do with the design.
That’s exactly what happened in the City of Lubbock, Texas.
Jennifer Clements, the city’s Vital Statistics Manager, shared a powerful story that became her turning point:
“The tipping point for me came during an hour-long phone call with a single mother. She was just trying to get her child’s birth certificate and had inadvertently paid a ridiculous amount to an online company. Because she didn’t include our city’s required fee, we had to contact her and ask for additional payment. She was a victim of a fraudulent website, and there was nothing anyone could do to get her money back.”
When websites aren’t clearly tied to your agency’s official identity, situations like this are all too common—and your staff ends up absorbing the fallout.
VitalDirector solves this by putting your agency front and center. Our sites are fully branded to reflect your official design, use secure URLs, and link directly from your agency website. This gives citizens the confidence they’re in the right place—and helps you avoid the reputational and operational headaches that come from being misrepresented online.
3. Site Changes Shouldn’t Take Weeks
Need to update your office hours? Add a new requirement? Troubleshoot a workflow glitch? With many online vendors, even small changes can take days or weeks to resolve—if you can get someone to respond at all. That leaves your staff stuck, frustrated, and scrambling to serve the public with outdated information or broken processes.
At Permitium, we believe your team deserves better.
Our support team is fast, proactive, and consistently praised for treating your challenges like their own. Whether it’s a same-day configuration update or a last-minute issue that needs attention, we respond quickly—because we know how critical these tasks are to your daily operations.
One of our California customers recently sent us this message:
“I want to share a round of applause for the Support Team—especially Carly Suggs, who I often work with. She always gets back to me quickly and solves any issue we have. In this day of AI, Permitium stands out as a best-in-class Support Team. Being in an industry that is customer service-oriented, I highly value how helpful your team is—you match the values of our organization.”
You don’t just get software. You get a partner who picks up the phone, responds to emails, and genuinely wants to help your team succeed.
4. No More Paper Applications for Walk-Ins- or Anyone Else!
If your current system doesn’t handle in-office or walk-in requests effectively, your staff likely ends up distributing paper forms, manually entering data, and managing disjointed records. It’s inefficient, error-prone, and frustrating for everyone involved.
VitalDirector changes that.
With our in-office kiosk mode, walk-in applicants can submit their requests digitally from within your building—no paper forms, no duplicate data entry. Every request, whether submitted from home or the front counter, goes into the same streamlined system.
But we go even further.
We also provide custom-designed QR code flyers in both English and Spanish that your team can distribute to hospitals and schools. These flyers let citizens scan a code on their phone and apply for vital records from anywhere—no office visit required. It’s an easy, modern way to expand access while reducing foot traffic in your building.
Whether it’s helping a new parent apply for a birth certificate from the hospital or ensuring school staff can guide families through the process during enrollment, VitalDirector brings your services to where people need them most—without adding work for your team.
5. Reporting Should Work for You, Not Against You
If your current system requires your staff to download clunky reports just to check the status of an order—or makes it difficult to search for a single application—it’s costing you time and increasing the chances for errors and delays.
VitalDirector was designed with your staff in mind.
Our intuitive, role-based dashboards make it easy to:
- Search, filter, and manage applications quickly
- Export data for reporting and auditing
- View order status updates at a glance
- Track application volume, turnaround times, and trends in real time
And it’s not just your team that benefits.
VitalDirector also gives citizens access to real-time tracking of their own orders—minimizing “Where’s my record?” phone calls and giving applicants peace of mind that their request is moving forward.
As Mark Bernacki, City of New Britain, CT Town & City Clerk and Registrar of Vital Statistics, put it:
“VitalDirector has enabled us to modernize and streamline our vital records ordering process, which has led to increased staff efficiency and performance. The technology allows us to better serve our citizens in an efficient and cost-effective manner. Our customers and staff also appreciate the tracking process to inform the requestor of their order status.”
In short: you gain powerful visibility and control—without the complexity that slows so many legacy systems down.
Final Thought: Online ≠ Effective
Just because your office uses an online application platform doesn’t mean it’s the right one.
If your system causes confusion, lacks flexibility, or limits your control, then you—and your citizens—deserve better.
With VitalDirector, you get a fully branded, agency-first solution that removes barriers, not creates them.
Ready to See the Difference?
Let us show you how simple it is to make the switch—and how fast your office can start benefiting from a modern system designed for today’s public servants and today’s citizens.
