FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 17, 2001
Contact: SID GAULDEN, (803) 896-8755

DMV BEGINS INSTALLING LONG-AWAITED COMPUTER
EQUIPMENT AROUND THE STATE AS PART OF PROJECT PHOENIX

COLUMBIA, SC – The South Carolina Department of Public Safety announces that its 70 Division of Motor Vehicles branch offices will begin getting new computer equipment the week of April 16 as part of Project Phoenix, a long-term plan begun in 1997 to upgrade DMV’s computers and processes. The Irmo/Ballentine and Lexington offices near Columbia will be the first offices to begin using the new equipment. These first two sites represent a test of the system in an actual production environment before it is installed statewide.

"We want to make sure that the system is running as flawlessly as possible before we begin the installation around the state," said DPS Director B. Boykin Rose. "That’s why we will be installing the Columbia offices first in case there are any glitches in the new system, we can fix those quickly and move on."

The first phase of the rollout will replace all driver’s license equipment. DMV offices will receive new computers, new machines to issue driver’s licenses and new driver’s license testing equipment. The software applications, new DMV database and vehicle registration equipment will be installed in the offices in the Fall of 2001.

During the week of April 30, equipment will be installed in one DMV office each day until all Columbia-area offices are complete. Beginning May 7, the Upstate will begin getting the new equipment with two offices installed per day. This initial rollout of new equipment should be completed by the end of June.

The branch offices will close for one day while technicians install the equipment and employees are trained. No more than two offices in the state will close on any given day, and customers will be notified in advance of the closings so they can arrange to visit other offices or wait until the next business day to complete their transactions. Information about office closings will be available through the DPS web site at www.scdps.org.

"The DMV has long been associated with old equipment that has hampered our ability to provide quality customer service," said DMV Deputy Director David Burgis. "While the new computer system won’t fix everything overnight, it should significantly reduce the number of delays caused by equipment failures."

DMV’s 15-30 year-old computers have been failing at a rapid rate over the past few months, particularly in the area of driver’s services. One of the initial changes that customers will see with the new system is new equipment to create the driver’s license and a new driver’s license with enhanced security features that will be phased in over the next five years. In the past several weeks, sometimes as many as 25 to 30 offices have been unable or limited in their ability to conduct driver’s license transactions. The new equipment should ease the delays in issuing driver’s licenses.

BP/SI/53/01

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Click here to find out more about Project Phoenix

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