Online booking for graves in the pipeline under Laois council's cemetery software plans
Online cemetery system being procured by Laois County Council will monitor headstone plans
Laois people will soon be able to book plots in cemeteries via their undertaker under a Laois County Council plan which also allows memorial plans to be viewed by the council as part of a new computer-based system to manage graveyards.
County Hall is seeking quotations from experienced service providers for the design, installation, commissioning, technical support, and maintenance of a 'cemetery management software package'.
The Council explains that it wants to consolidate the administration of six cemeteries in Laois in the paperless system with a view to scaling up to further cemeteries around the county. The Council says more than 20 Cemetery Records including maps and registers currently depend on paper-based management.
It has told potential bidders that there are several manual processes which cemetery registrars are required to perform to administer and operate the cemeteries. These tasks include updating paper maps and register books, keeping track
of interment scheduling and processing payments and issuing receipts associated with plot sales.
The council wants to replace this manual system with an IT solution that would allow for inventory and burial management with cemetery mapping managed in the same system as interment records.
It wants the status of grave spaces to be automatically updated based on capacity, burials and other standard processes. The Council adds that the cemetery management system shall provide an interactive map of each of the six initial cemeteries.
In terms of operational efficiencies, the local authority says the new system would provide a single source of information which will enable it to report centrally about income received for plots and the capacity of cemeteries and individual grave spaces.
The Council also wants the project to deliver a dedicated online portal through which Funeral Directors can access. This portal will give undertakers a live feed of plot availability and and the ability to reserve grave spaces for burials outside normal working hours following a death if necessary.
However, County Hall explains that grave spaces allocated by the system to funeral directors outside of normal working hours will be subject to subsequent approval by the Council. The local authority also says the cemetery management system shall automatically allocate the next available grave space in the cemetery.
The six cemeteries which are subject to the tender are: SS Peter and Paul’s Cemetery, Portlaoise; St Fergal's, Camross; Annatrim Cemetery, Coolrain; Rathdowney (Bealady) Cemetery; Rathdowney (Local) Cemetery; St. Brigid’s Cemetery, Rosenallis;
Pictured: What a cemetery would look like to users with access to the proposed cemetery management system.
Some minimum requirements have also been outlined in the tender. The system must allow for the management of deceased records including interment/inurnment records.
The council asks that where an existing family plot is to be used for, the system shall automatically select the existing family plot. Controls shall be incorporated to ensure that the permission of the plot owner has been obtained before a burial in a family plot.
The system must allow Council staff to view and process applications for headstones and memorials via a Certificate for Permission for a Monument. The Council wants staff to be able to review the application, drawings etc for memorials. Once an application for a certificate of permission of a monument has been approved by council staff, the system shall allow
for the issuing of a certificate of permission for a monument to the applicant.
Another built-in requirement relates to payment. The system must allow for plots to be paid for at the time of allocation/booking via credit/debit card and the council's finance system.
Users will be allowed to search the database for interments by a quick name search by an advanced search. This must include a deceased date range, burial date range, age range, religion, cemetery and plot number.
Apart from Funeral Director Portal an independent Cemetery Contractor Portal for memorial contractors is also required.
On site high resolution drone mapping to generate a digital map of each cemetery will be required. The Council says geo rectified maps are required to facilitate the tracking of the status of graves, viewing of individual plots, interment records and to perform searches with the aid of the map.
The council hopes the award the contract toward the end of October 2024.