Business implementation tips
If you are a new Landonline e-survey user or firm, we understand that moving to Landonline e-survey can have a significant impact on your day-to-day business processes. From human resources to practical issues such as knowing where to get help, there are some matters that need to be addressed to ensure the transition to an electronic environment is a smooth and successful one.
With this in mind, LINZ has spoken to other firms like yours and the answers to the most commonly raised issues and concerns are as follows.
How will you incorporate e-survey into your firm?
You need to consider how using e-survey will alter people's work and roles; who will be using the system and how that person's role and function will fit with e-survey. For example, you may currently have a draftsperson doing your drawings on paper. You may consider having this person create the plans with e-survey in place of manual drawings.
Other firms who have adopted this approach have found that this allows the same level of human resourcing with similar work levels, but with different tasks in the electronic environment.
Related to this, you may also need to think about who will have the responsibility for ongoing training, both when you take on new staff and when the Landonline system is upgraded and changed. Planning for succession in this way will ensure that the knowledge stays in place even if staff change or leave.
Finding an expert e-survey user
As above, there are often different people in a firm that you will be using to do different parts or stages of an e-survey. For example, a draftsperson may create the drawings, and a registered surveyor would be required to submit the plan.
While this is the case, many firms find that following e-survey training, they have an ‘expert' in the use of Landonline. In firms where this approach is working well, this expert is an experienced surveyor in the firm. Where this role is filled by an experienced surveyor they can translate their knowledge of survey planning into the electronic environment, using e-survey to its full potential.
Get using e-survey as soon after your training as you can – start simple
Many firms had training early but didn't use the system immediately. This meant that by the time they started using Landonline, they had lost much of the knowledge and many of the tips they had learnt during the training.
The amount of time it takes to become familiar with e-survey depends on the number and type of plans that are being submitted. Feedback we've had from survey firms tells us that to become comfortable with e-survey, a plan type needs to be done about three times. So the sooner you are underway, the sooner you will be comfortable in the new environment.
We recommend you begin using the system as soon as you can. Start with a simple plan – or even just create a "practice plan" in workspace to get started (if the plan is solely for practicing, please don't lodge the plan, place any plan reference labels, or notify a Territorial Authority online. It is a complex operation to delete the plan if you do these things).
The Getting Started section on this website is designed to guide new users through the entire e-survey process.
Other options for your firm
You might also want to think about using an independent adviser to quality check work before it is submitted. Another alternative is to use an e-survey bureau service.
Other advice we've got for you
If you've got problems, call for help
Our customer support people are there to help and our e-survey specialists are available 7am-5pm Monday to Friday. Just call free on 0800 665 463 and select option 2.
Use the resources available
There are a number of online help and self-training tools available. We recommend you make full use of them to make sure you are comfortable with how the resources and the system work.
In the best practice section, you will find a full index of tips and hints including example plans of different plan types, complexities and situations. Tips and hints cover a wide range of survey and related topics and articles that are added to regularly.
There are also three categories of information to help you use e-survey as effectively and efficiently as possible.
The LINZ website holds the Rules for Cadastral Surveys 2010 and the Interpretation Guide to Rules for Cadastral Survey 2010.
We also have a moderated online e-survey web forum where other firms can post questions and provide advice and suggestions.
Storing your Digital Certificates and keeping security tight
Prior to setting up, you will need to decide how you will store your Digital Certificates for post-disaster recovery. You may also need to think about how you will manage the transfer of Digital Certificates of staff who leave to work at another firm.
Other considerations include how you will store passwords and passphrases and how you ensure the security of this information. See the advice sheet: Storage of Digital Certificates, Passwords and Passphrases and Keeping your firm and PC environments safe, for information.
