Series of issues plaguing DMV’s new appointment system in Las Vegas

After a smooth rollout of its new appointment system in Northern Nevada, the Department of Motor Vehicles hasn’t seen anywhere near the same success implementing the system in the Las Vegas Valley.

Technical difficulties have plagued the new system since it went live Monday at the four Las Vegas-area offices after they were without the appointment system for almost four months as they changed vendors.

Through Wednesday, the in-office aspect of the QMatic queuing system was down, with customers being split into two lines — one for those with confirmed appointments and the other for walk-ins — and were being called up manually, according to Kevin Malone, DMV spokesman.

“It has been minor configuration issues,” Malone said. “The system itself works very well.”

Then, beginning Wednesday, the online portion began seeing issues, with the appointment-setting capability going out intermittently throughout the day, Malone said.

As of Thursday afternoon, the in-office service was finally up and running, but the online portion where appointments are set was down all day.

Some residents took to social media Thursday to air their displeasure with the department as it continued to work out the kinks in the system.

“What a joke… online appt’s, right,” said Twitter user Rob Leo. “Tried to make an apt for the last two days and get ‘error message.’ I called and talked to a person who acknowledged this and got the same error message!!”

The DMV hopes to have the system in working order on Friday, officials said.

When the system is working, customers can set an appointment on the Dash Pass section of the DMV website by choosing their preferred date and time. Motorists are urged to arrive 10-15 minutes ahead of their scheduled appointment time and to have the required documents and any forms filled out ahead of any transaction.

The new system, once fully operational, will enable the DMV to double the number of available appointments.

Over 1.2 million appointments will be available annually statewide under the new system, up from 663,000 with the old system.

The new system also offers improved capabilities and options. Eight services will be available for appointment setting, including the newly added driver’s license written tests, or reinstating a suspended driver’s license or registration, Malone said.

Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on Twitter.