OBMV Cboss gets online registration pact

Officials expect to see 500,000 Ohio motorists registering online this year.
By CYNTHIA VINARSKY
VINDICATOR BUSINESS WRITER
BOARDMAN -- Cboss Internet, an Internet service provider based on Southern Boulevard, has been awarded a new five-year contract to continue providing online motor vehicle registration for the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles.
Ralph Zerbonia, general manager, said Cboss got its first five-year agreement to design the system it calls OPLATES.com in 1999 and deployed it in December 2000. Since then, he said, OPLATES.com has become the largest single source of license registrations for Ohio, with more than 40,000 transactions monthly.
Zerbonia wouldn't put a dollar figure on the OPLATES agreement but said it's a significant part of the company's day-to day business.
Cboss has other, short-term government contracts, he said, including a new, $1.5 million contract to design an online system for the Ohio Attorney General's office to manage bingo and other charitable games.
"The difference is, that's a one-shot deal," he said. "OPLATES, in comparison, might bring us a few hundred thousand dollars this year, but it's constant, and it's growing every day."
Cboss will continue to host OPLATES out of its Northeast Ohio Network Operations Center in Boardman. The system provides online registration services, vanity plate orders and fleet plate management services.
Zerbonia said the Cboss program won out over four other finalists in a competitive bidding process, based on technical merit and price.
Renewals
OPLATES.com handles an average of 40,000 transactions per month, he said, and technicians expect to tally 500,000 or more registration renewals this year.
Starting at zero in 2000, the system handled nearly 250,000 plates the first year and was up to more than 400,000 in 2003.
Zerbonia acknowledged that company officials expected growth to be much faster when they launched the OPLATES service. They were projecting as many as 2 million motorists would use the option in its first year.
He said the state has done very little marketing of the service and Cboss people think that explains the slow growth. They've noticed, however, that customers stick with the system once they make the switch from mail or in-person registration.
Registering for vehicle registration renewals online is a time saver for motorists because they can do it from home, Zerbonia said. It's advantageous for the state because it reduces paperwork and generates revenue more quickly.
Cboss Internet has been designing online services for governments since 1994. Besides Ohio, the company has provided Internet solutions for state or local governments in California, Rhode Island, Florida, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.
vinarsky@vindy.com