Leading DNA-Testing Company Chooses Inquisite Survey Technology

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Leading DNA-Testing Company Chooses Inquisite Survey Technology
Posted on: 11/04/2003

AUSTIN, Texas -- Inquisite announces that IDENTIGENE, an industry leader in DNA identification testing, has selected Inquisite's web-based technology to power surveys targeting the thousands of individuals, families and law-enforcement agencies across the nation using its paternity and forensic DNA-testing services.

Headquartered in Houston, IDENTIGENE provides identification testing to resolve paternity cases, as well as those involving immigration validation, inheritance or estate claims, adoption disputes and family reconstruction. The company also performs forensic testing services, such as evidence screening, presumptive testing, DNA analysis, case review and expert witness testimony in criminal proceedings for crime labs, police departments, prosecutors and defense attorneys throughout the United States.

Caroline Caskey, IDENTIGENE's founder and president, said the company posts testing results on a secure, password-protected area of its web site, where customers can privately monitor the progress of their cases on a 24/7 basis. It only made sense for the company to further explore how the Internet and Web-based tools like Inquisite can help maintain the highest standard of service for the families and government agencies it serves, she said. IDENTIGENE will begin administering large-scale customer feedback surveys in early 2004.

"The testing we conduct has a tremendous impact on human lives," Caskey said. "Due to the very nature of our work, it's vital that we remain highly sensitive and responsive to our customers, many of whom are experiencing great emotional stress. We're also committed to delivering swift, responsive service to assist in the rapid resolution of criminal cases. Inquisite gives us another way to ensure the quality of service we provide both to the public and to the criminal justice system."

Human Resource Director Wayne Consolvo conducted IDENTIGENE's first survey using the Inquisite solution earlier this month. The workforce satisfaction survey gauged employees' views on topics ranging from compensation to professional development to the effectiveness of the company's internal communications programs. Consolvo said he plans to introduce 360-degree performance evaluations using Inquisite early next year.

"We were searching for a highly scalable survey tool that could be used to gather and analyze information from our centralized employee base and from thousands of clients dispersed across the United States," he said. "Our first use of Inquisite went off without a hitch. I sent out survey invitations on a Monday and within the week, I was able to identify definite trends from the data we collected which is helping our executive team shape our recruitment and retention policies."

As the use of DNA test results became more widely accepted in criminal cases in the 1990s, government-run forensic laboratories experiencing heavy backlogs began to contract with private labs such as IDENTIGENE to perform DNA testing. Between 1997 and 2000, DNA labs across the country reported an increase of more than 50 percent in casework and in the number of samples they received, according to a 2001 U.S. Justice Department survey. Forty-five percent of state and local laboratories reported contracting a private lab to do DNA testing in 2000. The increase in demand for DNA analysis is due to changes in technology that have made it easier to test small or degraded samples and in law enforcement agencies' increased reliance on DNA testing as an investigative tool, forensic experts say. The gradual shift by states to include felons in DNA databases has also caused a jump in the backlog.

Source: Inquisite