“Because we are small, we were stuck with this old system and that made my job horrible. We just couldn’t afford any of the solutions out there.”
~Donna Martin
Windsor Borough had been using a 20 year old basic system that provided very little functionality. The meter readings were taken by hand and then entered by hand into each individual account. The system would calculate the bill amounts and then run the bills, but that was it. Donna said, “In this day and age, you really would consider this program to be a dinosaur! There should be no reason that I’m doing everything manually here.” There were no reports offered, there was no ability to view prior bills or usage on the individual accounts and all reporting had to be created manually on spread sheets. This allowed for many instances where there could be human error and checking for errors was very time consuming. In fact 60 to 70% of the work week was spent just on the billing process.
Donna is the sole person responsible for all billing aspects, and there is one additional employee who
handles meter reading and maintenance. So, a solution that was user friendly and simple to use was critical. She also had concerns about data conversion due to the age and extreme limitations of the old system. In order to keep up with her daily duties, she would be able to dedicate minimal time to the conversion/training process. A short learning curve and a system that was intuitive was imperative.
Donna researched 4 different software companies. The Product Demo of Muni-Link was the most impressive with its functionality and affordability. Double printing bills, one for the customer and one for her records, was eliminated. The many built-in reports also eliminated the need to keep numerous spread sheets. She now takes the reports with her to the bank to make deposits into each service account. The Account Central is a favorite feature. Being able to access individual accounts, previous bills and usage, meter readings, all from one screen saves time and makes interaction with customers much more efficient. The hand recording of meter readings onto forms as well as the hand entering of them into the system has also been eliminated saving countless hours. The readings are now entered into the system directly from the field via a tablet.
Donna feels that the conversion and training process was nearly painless. There were a few bugs during the conversion but that was due to the age of her system and the bugs were worked out almost immediately. She said the training process was very easy. It never felt intensive or overwhelming and went very smoothly and she very much enjoyed working with the Trainer. When she does have questions, she is able to reach customer service every time. “Those ladies are top-knotch. They know everything! Even if they don’t have the answer right then and there, I hear back from them the very same day. The next day at the latest.” The time involved in the billing process has now been cut in half, and there have been little to no problems at all.
