The Simplified Administrative Services Project
PROJECT UPDATE
MARS Countdown
Helping Employees and Vendors to Succeed: the Customer Resource CenterSeveral resources are in place to make sure that we are able to reap the benefits of the Management Administrative and Reporting System (MARS). These resources are brought together in the Customer Resource Center (CRC), housed in the Finance and Administration Cabinet.
CRC operations began on Monday, June 14th. CRC staff will provide assistance in three key areas: Help Desk, Training, and Continuous Improvement. The Help Desk will be of critical importance during the first 3 months following the July 1st launch of MARS operations. During that timeframe, users will be building their MARS skills 00and questions are sure to arise.
Who should contact the Help Desk?
Commonwealth employees as well as vendors who do business with Kentucky should contact the Help Desk when they have questions about where to go for financial and procurement information and issues related to MARS software.
What are the hours for the Help Desk?The Help Desk00 hours of operation will be 7:30AM until 5:30 PM EST Monday through Friday, during the months of June, July and August. Following this initial period, the Help Desk00 operations will be reviewed to ensure they best meet the needs of the Commonwealth.
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Tuned in to MARS00
What do staff in budgeting, procurement, and financial management have in common? As of July 1, 1999 they will have a new tool to do their jobs. That day, the Management Administrative and Reporting System (MARS) will be used across the Commonwealth for administrative operations.
Agencies across the state have been busily preparing for MARS. Getting ready has meant ensuring that the right hardware and software is in place, granting users access to the system, providing user training, and analyzing business practices 00to name just a few activities.
We expect to reap many rewards from all of this hard work. Once implemented, MARS will:
Establish Internet-based self-service applications enabling us to complete in minutes what used to take days, Streamline and automate purchasing and payables transactions by using automatic routing, verification, and payment scheduling for electronic documents, Improve reporting with a new comprehensive reporting database and powerful new user-friendly reporting tools, and Consolidate processes within a single system, integrating business processes and saving us time and money through reduced maintenance and reconciliation costs.For those who would like to learn more about MARS, a wealth of information is available. Please visit the MARS Page of the Simplified Administrative Services Web site at
Has our agency implemented a protocol as to who should contact the Help Desk?
[Agency Communication Leads insert agency-specific information here ] How may the Help Desk be contacted? The Help Desk may be contacted via telephone, electronic mail, or Web functionality that allows users to log and forward inquiries through the Internet. Details follow: Method Access Details Telephone 00Toll Free Local Calls (Frankfort) 1-877-973-HELP (4357) 564-9641 E-Mail FinanceCRC@mail.state.ky.us Internet[Agency Communication Leads insert additional agency specific items they may want to include about the implementation, etc.]
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Using the Internet to Contact the Help Desk00/font>It00/font>s Easier Than You Might Think!
Does logging your question on the Internet sound complicated to you? It shouldn00! Questions logged on the Internet will be logged and assigned immediately upon receipt so if you do not have time for the phone or you don00 need an answer immediately, then the Internet may be the way to go.
The following steps walk through what you need to do to use this feature:
GO to our internet site at Plans for MARS post-implementation training should be completed by month00 end. In July, you can expect to hear about the schedule of course offerings and how you can register for them. Post-implementation classes will begin in August. Once available, postings of the new Training Schedule will be available on the CRC00 web page. How should I prepare for making a call? No matter how you submit your inquiry to the Help Desk, there is certain information you will need to provide. Please be prepared, before making contact, to supply the following information, including: RACF ID / MARS ID Name Cabinet, Department and Division E-mail Address Phone A concise description of your question (five words or less) Types of requests the Help Desk is prepared to respond to00. Requests for training, MARS enhancements, software, Questions or problems with Best Value, Pro-Card, Administrative Policies and Procedures, and Warehouse Optimization Questions about how to process MARS documents, what to do when you can00 access MARS, how to change workflow, how to address error messages Requests for technical help with MARS software Help on how to register a new vendor We Look Forward to Helping You!! Don00/font>t Miss the Chance to Celebrate! [Communication Leads insert information about any MARS 00o-live00activities or other items they would like readers to be aware of. Alternatively, if the agency is planning festivities later in the summer, a 00ave the date00message could appear here.]Continued from page 2
