How Ararat Council’s Three-Person IT Team Integrated Snap Send Solve in Under 7 Weeks

For many rural councils, delivering efficient, modern services can feel out of reach. But Ararat Rural City Council saw their size as an advantage, not a limitation.
Their vision was to move fast, make the most of existing tools, and build smarter digital connections.

As Melanie Roberts, Organisational Transformation Specialist at Ararat Rural City Council explained:

“We’re a small rural council with a limited budget. We are lucky to have a flat reporting structure. These factors help us with the way we’re able to be fast and agile about reaching decisions and implementing projects.”

With clear goals and a lean team, they set out to integrate Snap Send Solve in a way that would transform both internal workflows and the customer experience.

Complex Service Delivery, Limited Resources

Before adopting Snap Send Solve, Ararat faced the same challenges as many councils. Reporting issues often involved manual processing, double handling, and slow communication.

They needed a way to modernise local issue reporting without increasing pressure on staff. Their key challenge was to deliver a smarter service model using the resources they already had.

“Here was our problem to solve: we had an old customer service system and no app to integrate with. We got a quick ‘yes’ from the CEO, made a plan, configured Snap Send Solve, configured our service request types to fit — and then we just did it.” — Glenn Carman, Business Transformation Specialist at Ararat Rural City Council

Rapid, In-House Integration

Instead of relying on external vendors, Ararat’s team built and delivered their Snap Send Solve integration entirely in-house. They did it in under two months.

Glen’s advice to other small councils integrating with Snap Send Solve was, “Focus on minimum viable solution to go live with.”

Starting in the staging environment, they safely prototyped workflows and then built automations to connect Snap Send Solve directly with their CRM and asset management systems.

As Glenn Carman explained:

“We utilised Snap Send Solve’s staging environment basically to prototype without any risk associated with customer or staff impact. We used existing platforms that we already had access to… and did the in-house development rather than going out to market.”

By keeping the process internal, the council maintained control of timelines, reduced costs, and ensured the solution matched their needs.

“If I look at our journey in terms of the time we spent implementing Snap Send Solve — probably 80% of our effort went into future state customer request system configuration associated with our request types. The actual integration side of the piece… we probably spent less than two weeks actually implementing that.” — Glenn Carman

Faster Response, Happier Residents

The outcome was clear and measurable. Reports submitted by residents through Snap Send Solve now flow automatically into the council’s CRM. That means fewer manual steps, faster action, and clearer communication back to the community.

Automation also helped remove bottlenecks, as Glenn Carman highlighted:

“The officer puts in a closure comment that goes straight back to the Snapper, who then receives an email notification letting them know the job’s done.” — Glenn Carman

The integration didn’t just save time. It also improved the experience for residents, who now receive timely updates through the same platform they used to log the issue.

Results That Matter

First Half vs Second Half of 2025 (through October)

• Customer satisfaction increased by 32%.
• Snappers reported a 5% improvement in speed to solve.
• Communication from Council improved by 63%.
• Satisfaction with the resolution increased by 15%.

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A Future-Proof Approach

The team isn’t stopping here. They’re already planning how to make the most of upcoming Snap Send Solve features, including after-photo functionality and additional messaging tools.

As Glenn Carman noted:

“When Snap Send Solve complete the API and webhook associated with allowing after photo functions, we’ll add that in.”

Thanks to their flexible, in-house approach, they can quickly adapt to new features and continue strengthening their digital service delivery.

"I see Snap Send Solve as being a key cog in a bigger customer experience system."  — Glenn Carman

A Model for Other Councils

Ararat Rural City Council has shown what’s possible when a small team embraces agility and ownership. By integrating Snap Send Solve quickly and deeply into their systems, they’ve created a seamless, modern way to handle community requests.

Their story proves that size isn’t a barrier to innovation. With a smart integration strategy and a clear vision, even the smallest councils can deliver responsive, modern services their communities truly value.

“I think a lot of people probably think it’s way more complicated or difficult than what it actually is.” — Glenn Carman

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