RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFNS) -- Revisions in the civilian permanent-change-of-station orders process at the Air Force Personnel Center are intended to save time and money, and reduce errors for hiring officials, relocating employees and personnelists, officials said.

The new civilian PCS process is conducted virtually through the Civilian Virtual Inprocessing system, or cVIP, that is available on the Air Force personnel services website.

"There used to be three or four different documents from different sources that had to be attached to an e-mail and sent to a selectee," said Maili Peters, a systems specialist at AFPC. "Now there's one online questionnaire that selectees use to provide all the information. It's easier and faster now."

Relocating for a position can be stressful, and officials said the PCS process should not add to that stress.

According to Tonya Harris, the PCS unit chief, cVIP helps eliminate the confusion and should decrease employees' stress.

"When a civilian is selected for a position, they will get an e-mail with a link that will take them to the virtual inprocessing page," Ms. Harris said. "From there, it's easy to follow the prompts."

In addition to simplifying the process for civilians, built-in system requirements are intended to help prevent errors that previously would have bogged down the process. For example, selectees will not be able to send the questionnaire until they complete all mandatory information blocks.

According to Ms. Harris, a time-consuming aspect of the relocation process is "reach back."

The more often a person has to go back to a document to correct information, the more time it takes to complete a process, she said. So, the new PCS process through cVIP decreases touch time, which increases productivity.

Also, once a selectee completes and sends the form, the next person in the process is automatically notified.

"Documents don't sit in limbo unattended, because hiring officials and personnelists are notified when a document needs their attention," Ms. Harris said. "That speeds up the process too."

Selecting officials who need access to cVIP should have their supervisor send a digitally signed, encrypted e-mail request to the AFPC Personnel Systems Operational and Control Center service desk at psocc.sd@randolph.af.mil. The request must include the last name, first name, Social Security number, base e-mail address or e-mail for life address, and DSN phone number. E-mail sent to the address must also be digitally signed and encrypted to protect personally identifiable information, such as a Social Security number.

For more information on this and other Air Force civilian personnel programs, visit the AFPC personnel services website at http://gum.afpc.randolph.af.mil or call the Total Force Service Center at 800-525-0102.