Software Requirements Specification (SRS) Document Workflow Monitoring, Social Security SRS Document

Development Project: Version: Developed By: Developed For:

MIS Project 2.1 - Revised 4Front Management Services (Pty) LTD Department of Social Development Eastern Cape Government

Date Created:

08 March 2005

Signature Page

Approved By DGITO Department of Social Development Approved By Project Manager Department of Social Development Approved By User Group Leader Department of Social Development

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Approved By Project Manager 4Front Management Services (Pty) LTD Approved By Systems Analyst 4Front Management Services (Pty) LTD

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History

Revision History Name Date Reason For Changes Version

Approval History

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Table of Contents

Workflow Monitoring System...

1. Overall Description.. 1.1 1.2 1.3 Workflow Monitoring System in Perspective.. Workflow Monitoring System Functions.... Workflow Monitoring System User Classes and Characteristics

6 6 9 10

2. System Features.... Grant Application and Processing Management.. Enquiry Management... Reporting Management

11 11 14 15

3. Appendix... Issues List Data Flow Diagram (DFD).. Reference List.. Glossary

17 17 18 19 20

Table of contents

Workflow Monitoring System

Workflow Monitoring System

1. Overall Description

To fully understand the Department of Social Security Workflow Monitoring System requirements, we need to put the entire module into perspective. Section 2 gives a detailed description of the Workflow Monitoring System. The major Workflow Monitoring System functions have been examined, in the form of a top-level data flow diagram (DFD). These diagrams have been drawn such that any reader of the SRS document can easily understand all the information flows and functions.

1.1.Workflow Monitoring System in Perspective According to the Social Security Services document (2002: 1), the constitution of South Africa makes provision for the payment of Social Grants to all citizens who cannot provide for themselves who meet the relevant qualification criteria. Social Security is therefore one of the key poverty alleviation programmes of government.

The Social Security service throughout South Africa is in the process of restructuring and the national government has developed norms and standards for the implementation of policies relating to this service.

Social Security services policy provides for: Old age pension benefits to all aged citizens of this country (Females aged 60 and above, males aged 65 and above) Disability grant benefits to all medically qualified people above 18 years of age and above, but less than 60 years of age (if female) or less than 65 years of age (if male), as prescribed in Section 9 of Act 13 of 2004

Workflow Monitoring System

Care dependency grant benefits to all care givers of disabled children below 18 years of age qualifying for a Social Assistance Grant, in terms of Section 10 of Act 13 of 2004.

Foster care grant benefits to all children below 18 years of age who are in need of care by a foster parent as prescribed in Section 7 of Act 13 of 2004. Child support grant benefits to all children below 11 years of age to protect them in the event of poverty as prescribed in Section 6 of Act 13 of 2004. War veterans grant benefits to all veterans of war as prescribed in Section 8 of Act 13 of 2004. Social relief benefits to all affected people in the event of natural calamities as prescribed in Section 6 of Act 13 of 2004.

In processing pension and grant applications a fairly manual workflow process has been followed, resulting in the duplication or loss of information. This brought about the need for a management information system (MIS) to assist the Department with the organisation, monitoring, storage and retrieval of data accumulated over time. The

Workflow Monitoring System in conjunction with the File Registry system will become a complete document management system for pension and grant applications. The system developed for the Department of Social Security forms part of the larger Management Information System (MIS). The Department of Social Security have requested a system that will allow for the efficient capturing of information pertinent to the calculations of the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and reports as identified by the Department. For the purposes of this document the system will be referred to as the Workflow Monitoring System.

The Department of Social Development identified a number of key performance indicators (KPIs). These indicators are proposed as an interim solution to monitor the implementation of policies. These include:

i.

Utilisation of staff estimate: percentage of total time in an 8/8 working day (480 minutes) that has been utilised per social security staff member (excluding

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those who are in the administration and supervisory functions these categories need to be clearly defined before implementing this indicator). ii. Rate of absenteeism among staff: percentage of total 8/8 staff working days in a reporting period are departmental staff absent from work. iii. Application intake rate: there are two indicators: a. Number of applications received at service points per day b. Number of applications received per day per staff member iv. Data capturing rate: there are two indicators: a. Number of applications captured per day b. Number of applications captured per day per staff member v. Data verification rate: there are two indicators: a. Number of applications verified per day b. Number of applications verified per day per staff member vi. Backlog estimate: percentage of applications that have been estimated as pending/backlog and waiting to complete the process. vii. Average turnaround time Application to Approval: average number of days between the date of application and the date of approval. This is

considered as the average turn around time to finalise the process of an application. viii. Pension/Grant growth rate/Turnover rate: the net growth of pensions/grants in a financial year. ix. Old age pension beneficiaries coverage: percentage of target population, (female old age people >60 years, male old age people >65 years), who receive a pension benefit in the reporting period. x. Disability grant beneficiaries coverage: percentage of target population, (12% female: 19-59 years and male: 19-64 years), who receive a disability benefit in the reporting period. xi. Care dependency grant beneficiaries coverage: percentage of target population, (12% children: 0-18 years) who receive a care dependency benefit in the reporting period.

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xii.

Child support grant beneficiaries coverage: percentage of target population, (children: 0-7 years) who receive a child support benefit in the reporting period.

xiii.

Beneficiaries coverage per grant type, geographical area, gender, race

Critical to generating the above KPIs is the input of information into the MIS system. The information entered through the online system will then be stored in a centralised database, enabling coordinators to extract KPI reports, as mandated by the Department, at the end of every month.

To meet all project requirements 4Front aims to design a system that is both simple and user friendly.

1.2.Workflow Monitoring System Functions The major functions that the Workflow Monitoring System will perform include the following:

Capture of applicant details by attesting officers Verification of applicant details by verification officers Percentage checking of applicant details by Head of Social Security/District Manager Data capture of application details by data capturers Transport officers transport the files to the offices so that the appropriate function can be performed on the application Doctors scan the form into their possession Approval/Rejection by approval officers Allow for enquiries and drawing of files from registry by registry officers Capture telephonic, helpdesk or other enquiries Provide information necessary for the KPI calculations Generate reports as determined by the Social Security directorate

Workflow Monitoring System

This section provides a high level view of the major features and functions supported by the Workflow Monitoring System. These functions will be discussed in further detail in the following chapter. The data flow diagram illustrates the expected flow of data through the workflow monitoring system and other components. The workflow

monitoring system is the precursor to the File Registry System. All applications received by the Department will be monitored using the Workflow Monitoring System; they will subsequently be filed in the registry as an active file, or archived as an inactive file.

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Data from the following systems is required to enable validation: PERSAL Home Affairs

Acquiring the information from these systems is dependant on the approval of the owners of these systems. Information from Home Affairs will be used to verify ID numbers, names and determine whether a person is deceased.

1.3.Workflow Monitoring System User Classes and Characteristics A central concern of 4Front is the need to develop interactive products that are usable, that is, easy to learn, effective to use and provide an enjoyable user experience.

The users of the Workflow Monitoring System have been identified as follows: a. Attesting Officers b. Verification Officers c. Call Centre/Helpdesk Officers d. Head of Social Security e. District Manager f. Transport Officers g. Doctors h. Data Capturers i. Approval Officers j. Registry Officers k. Super-Users as identified by Department of Social Security

An overarching goal of interactive design is to develop systems that draw out positive responses from users. A user may be a novice, an expert, a casual, or a frequent user. This ultimately affects the way interaction is designed. A novice user, for example, will require step-by-step instructions and easily understood prompts and commands, such as a

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series of menus. 4Front carried out an analysis of two user classes and recognised that most users of the proposed system will not be highly computer literate.

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2. System Features

The following section identifies the features that will be available to users of the proposed system. It must be noted that the features of the system require the user to be logged into the system in order to operate the system. It must also be noted that certain features of the system will not be made available to all users of the system.

2.1.Grant Application and Processing Management Description This feature is concerned with the processing of all grant applications from submission to approval or rejection of said grant application. At each stage of the grant application process, details regarding who the Officer was that handled the application as well as the dates and times the application was in the possession of the concerned Officer is recorded. These details include the Form Number, Officer PERSAL number, date in, time in, date out, time out and a status which could be intake, verified, checked, approved, rejected and filed in the Registry or Archives. The date of each status is automatically recorded when that status is reached.

Functional Requirements A grant application is submitted to the Attesting Officer. The Attesting Officer captures pertinent information off the front cover of the application; this capture replaces the manual registry that was kept for each application submitted. o Applicant name o ID number o Date of application (cannot exceed current date)

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o Grant Type o Race o Pay Point Number o Service Point o District Office o Form Number

Attesting Officer ensures the application is in order, then opens and bar codes the application. Three (3) barcodes are printed out. The first barcode gets attached to the original form. The second gets attached to the carbon copy of the form, which is the receipt for the applicant. The final barcode gets attached to the folder containing the application; this folder will be stored in the registry.

The Attesting Officer must ensure that the applications he/she has captured are transferred to the Verification Officer. Once the barcode is attached to an application, the application can be scanned out and in when transfer of responsibility occurs. This is important, as the efficiency of the application

process turnaround will be monitored constantly. The amount of time each Officer spends on an application will be monitored.

Any problems experienced with the grant application will result in the Verification Officer returning the grant application to the Attesting Officer. The reason for returning the application must be recorded for the purposes of monitoring these problems.

If the application is in order, the Verification Officer verifies the application and the date of verification is recorded. The Verification Officer will then give the applicant their receipt with their barcode attached.

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After verification, a small percentage, at least 2%, of the applications are required to be checked by the Head of Social Security/District Manager. The application is marked as checked and the date the application was checked gets recorded automatically before going for data capture. The balance is sent directly from verification to data capture.

Data Capturers capture the verified grant applications. Data Capturers must check that the application is complete. If the application is incomplete, then the Data Capturer indicates this on the system and enters a reason the Application is incomplete. This information will be required for reporting purposes.

The transport officer claims the forms in their possession on the system. When the files are being transported and are in transit the turnaround time for the application to be processed will not be effected.

The doctor claims the Disability grants into their possession so that they can verify the disability grant for the applicant.

The application is marked as captured and the date of capture is recorded.

Once captured the application is sent to the Approval Officer who either approves or rejects the application. The date and status of approval or rejection is captured.

The Approval Officer is responsible for generating a letter to inform the applicant that the application has been approved or rejected. The Approval Officer is required to record the date the letter was generated and the reason for the rejected application. application. The letter is passed on to the Registry Officer along with the

Registry Officers file away all applications received from the Approval Officers into the registry (approved applications) or into archives (rejected applications).

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The Registry Officers are required to ensure that the letters of approval/rejection are distributed to the applicants.

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2.2.Enquiry Management Description An enquiry feature has been designed to assist with queries on applications. These enquiries can be made via telephone, mail, e-mail or over the counter. A need to monitor these enquiries has been established and the following feature of the system has been designed accordingly.

Functional Requirements The Helpdesk Employee receives telephonic, written and oral enquiries. The enquiry is logged onto the system and following fields are recorded: o Reference Number (system generated) o ID Number of enquirer o Name o Contact Details o Date of enquiry o Type of enquiry o Description of enquiry

The Helpdesk Employee is able to query the database to obtain relevant information. Grant applications will be able to be tracked based on the barcode, Identity Number and name of the applicant. The Helpdesk employee would be required to input one or more of the above into the system in order to determine the status of the grant application.

The grant application status is determined by checking which stage of the process the application is at. The statuses identified include approved, rejected and pending. If the status is pending, the stage in the workflow process can be determined. This is possible because the status and date is recorded after each application is passed from one Officer/stage to another.

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Once the enquiry is finalised, the date of finalisation is recorded and the Helpdesk Employee communicates the outcome of the enquiry telephonically, in writing or orally.

2.3.Reporting Management Description A number of KPIs will be produced in the designated reporting period, but there are a number of additional reports that will be produced for additional management information. The additional reports are listed below, but for more information on the KPIs please refer to chapter 1.1. This feature is restricted to users with the appropriate security level.

Functional Requirements Number of applications submitted/verified/captured per grant type, service point, district and province. These reports might be required on a daily, weekly or monthly period.

Performance per user (all users that handle an application) number of applications per user per day, week or month. This report has more detail than the KPI.

Number of enquiries per telephonic, oral or written per type of enquiry, service point, district and province per day, week and month.

Number or percentage of applications checked by the Head of Social Security or the District Manager.

Productivity reports of each data capturer/approval officer per day, week and month.

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Number of grants approved per grant type, service point, district and province.

Number of grants rejected per grant type, service point, district and province.

Disability grants assessment per disease type.

Exception reporting, enquiries not finalised in a required time frame.

Exception reporting, applications not forwarded for verification/data capture. The user will determine what period of time is an exception.

Exception reporting, a list of applications not captured within 30 days utilising the date of application (date entered by the Attesting Officer).

Exception reporting, all captured applications that are not approved/rejected within 5 working days.

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3. Appendix

3. 3.1. Issues List

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2.2 Data Flow Diagram

Grant Application

Attesting Officer

1. Capture Applicant Details

2.
Barcodes Application

3. Verify Application

Verification Officer

Transport Officer

District Manager

4. Check Application

Doctor

Data Capturer

6. Approve/ Reject Application

Approval Officer

5. Capture Application

Approval/ Rejection letter Registry Officer

7. Appeal Rejection

8.
Store approved Applications in Registry

9.
Store rejected Applications in Archive

10. Distribute Approval/ Rejection letters

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Appendix

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3.2.Reference List CorpInfo Services (2002) Defense in depth. A Strategy for Securing Information in Todays Networked Environment. [Online]. Available: www.corpinfo.com/Defense_in_Depth.doc [Accessed: 14 February 2003]

Development of Monitoring and Evaluation System

Terms of Reference Development of Monitoring and Evaluation System based on performance indicators

(MIS) based on performance Document. Social Development. Eastern Cape Government. indicators Document (2002)

Process Impact (2003

Software Requirements Specification. [Online]. Available: www.processimpact.com/process_assets/srs_template.doc [Accessed: 03 February 2003]

RUSecure (2002)

Information Security: A Managed Response. [Online] Available: http://www.rusecure.co.uk/information_page.htm [Accessed: 14 February 2003]

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3.3.Glossary Attributes The basic unit of information about an entity occurrence.

DFD

Data Flow Diagram: DFDs show the logic and flow of data through an information system in a graphical and top-down manner.

Entity

Representations of people, places and things that encapsulate the business model including rules, data and relationships.

ERD

Entity Relationship Diagram: ERDs model entities (tables) and the relationships between them.

GUI

Graphical User Interface

KPI

Key Performance Indicators: Key performance indicators that can easily be tracked by coordinators at all levels.

MIS

Management Information System: Organisation, storage and retrieval of data that is accumulated and created by use of computers and computer programs.

SRS Document

Software Requirements Specification: The SRS document details what is to be produced and the product to be generated from the definition.

SDLC

Systems Development Life Cycle: A process by which project managers, systems analysts, programmers, and end users build information systems. It consists of five phases:
1. Planning

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2. 3. 4. 5.

Analysis: currently at this phase of development Design Implementation Maintenance

Use Case Diagram

Describe functions of a system from a users standpoint. Consists of a scenario, which describes current work situations. The scenario, which represents the view of a user, comprises the system that is being developed as a black box. The inner workings of the system are hidden to the user. Only the external system behaviour viewed from a concrete working context of a user is of interest. In this perspective the focus is on typical interactions between users and the application system.

WAN

Wide Area Network

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