Page 2 - 2019 MAR/APR Outdoor Oklahoma

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n exciting new era began Jan. your account, so that you will know which
7 for the Wildlife Department licenses are required for a specific activity.
and for almost everyone who The user might click a link for the “Water-
A does business with the Depart- fowl Hunting Package.” The new smart
ment. That’s when our state-of-the-art license system will then add all of the needed items
management system went online. Many of us to the customer’s cart. No more guessing
were here in the office in the wee hours of that about whether you should buy this or that.
Monday morning, including License Super- The new streamlined system is also easier
visor Mike Chrisman and technicians from to use by our license dealers statewide to
the system’s provider, to make sure everything sell licenses.
launched smoothly. Customers can also access The Outdoor
And the transition has gone remarkably well. We’ve seen a Store where hats, atlases, magazine subscriptions and other
few small snags, but these are being addressed as they happen. merchandise are sold.
The new state-of-the-art system is called Go Outdoors In addition to License Activity Packages, other features
Oklahoma, and our customers can access the system include the ability to apply for lifetime licenses and com-
through the “License” tab at the Department’s website, mercial permits online; to purchase collector cards, featuring
www.wildlifedepartment.com. They can also download the Oklahoma artwork, on which all of a person’s licenses can
free mobile application for their Apple or Android devices, be loaded; and to allow Game Wardens to check sportsmen’s
which truly gives users all the benefits of the new system. data in the field.
This is a major step forward compared to how the Depart- The new Go Outdoors Oklahoma system has been years in
ment has interacted with customers for decades. Now, all of a the making, from the initial decision to modernize our proce-
customer’s information will be together under a single custom- dures to bidding out the system to actually going online. We
er ID number. With the customer ID, a sportsman can buy have successfully imported records from more than 5 million
a license, check in a harvest, apply for draw hunts, and even sportsmen and sportswomen, who we can now communicate
enroll in an education course. with on a regular basis. Our goal is to make buying a license
The new system is a customer-driven, user-friendly, one- as easy as possible.
stop shop. The users are the ones who log in and maintain We hope you will log on to the license system to check your
their accounts. For the first time, a customer can enroll his or account and then make use of all the different features that
her licenses in auto-renew so that they don’t find themselves are now available to you. Giving our customers better service
with an expired license. And the mobile app showing your and convenience is what this is all about, and we couldn’t be
licenses is legal proof in the field in the event you are checked happier about it.
by a Game Warden.
Go Outdoors Oklahoma really allows us to better serve
our customers with many new features and conveniences.
For example, customers will be able to buy needed hunting
or fishing licenses online or through the mobile app. But Melinda Sturgess-Streich
the system will offer License Activity Packages tailored to Assistant Director of Administration and Finance

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