More than three million transactions at Michigan Sectary of State offices have been conducted using self service stations since they started being installed. That’s according to the Michigan Sectary of State’s office. It tells us more:
A Michigan resident conducted the 3 millionth transaction at one of the Secretary of State’s new self-service stations this week, demonstrating more progress in the agency’s turnaround.
“Michiganders have always deserved convenient, efficient service from their Secretary of State, and that’s what we are delivering with more services available from home and at grocery stores, and office visits that take an average of 20 minutes or less,” said Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson.
After being sworn into office in 2019, Benson visited all the agency’s offices and kiosks. She found the majority of the 90 kiosks broken, so she set about replacing them with new self-service stations through a public-private partnership that costs the state nothing.
Most of the 160 new machines are located in grocery stores that are open evenings and weekends and are where Michigan residents already shop, saving them the trip to a Secretary of State office. The machines can print vehicle registrations, tabs and temporary driver’s licenses on the spot and have been wildly popular. They all accept credit cards, many accept cash, and all are multilingual. Among the eight languages they offer, French and Pashto were just added.
“Since installing our first machine in Michigan in October 2019, this program has continued to exceed expectations as it expands access to Secretary of State services,” said Frank Amoruso, senior vice president of sales and marketing with Intellectual Technology Inc. (ITI), the company that operates the self-service stations. “The Michigan program is one of the fastest-growing programs in our company’s history.”
Since taking office, Benson has doubled the number of services available on the machines, as well as the services available online. Now, more than 60 percent of transactions are conducted without an office visit, up from just 28 percent in 2018.
Benson also ended the “take a ticket and wait” system that by 2018 had tripled office wait times and forced people to stand in line for hours in the busiest offices. Now, office visits can be scheduled online, by phone or in person and take just an average of 20 minutes or less in total, with little to no waiting at all. Walk-ups are also accepted and, in most cases, are served immediately. If there is no immediate availability, staff assist scheduling a return visit convenient for the resident, typically within 24 hours.
To locate a self-service station, access online services, schedule an office visit or find more information visit Michigan.gov/SOS.
