Exhibit A_Application Software Specification Checklist_fillable.xlsx
XLSX spreadsheet 43 KB Posted
- Attached to
- RFP Utility Billing Software
- Solicitation number
- S-KA0010-00015673
- Issued by
- Jackson County, Amity City, Oregon
About this file
This is an Application Software Specification Checklist for the City of Ashland's Request for Proposal (RFP) for a comprehensive utility billing software system. The City of Ashland is soliciting proposals from qualified vendors to replace its current utility billing infrastructure, which currently relies on Tyler Technology MUNIS for financial management, Itron for meter reading, and Selectron for interactive voice response and delinquent account processing. The RFP requires vendors to respond to detailed functional requirements across multiple categories including system architecture, data migration, integration capabilities, security, customer and location information management, rates and fees management, meter reading and inventory management, billing, payments, financial management, customer web portal functionality, and service orders. The proposal submission deadline is 2:00 PM PST on February 2, 2026, with submissions accepted either digitally through OregonBuys or by mail to 20 E. Main Street, Ashland, OR 97520. The City currently operates ten billing cycles with two to three billing routes per cycle, billing two to three cycles per week across electric and water utilities, with approximately 50-55% of electric meters and 8% of water meters utilizing radio reading technology.
The specification checklist requires vendors to indicate whether their system meets each functional requirement using response codes (A for "As Is" with no modification required, B for meeting functionality with modifications required, C for not meeting functionality, or N/A for customizable items), with vendors obligated to provide comments and cost estimates for any required modifications. Critical current system challenges that the new software must address include automating virtual net metering credit distribution and billing display, reducing manual meter reading review processes, implementing equal payment program functionality compatible with the general ledger, enabling text and email notifications, eliminating the need for manual payment processing through multiple platforms, and supporting automated service order management while maintaining control over service connection and disconnection dates. The City seeks to transfer approximately ten years of historical billing data from the legacy system, requires integration with existing Tyler Technology MUNIS financial systems and Itron meter reading technology, and has identified Moonlight BPO as the current printing and mailing vendor. The new system must support unlimited concurrent users, provide 100% web-based architecture compatible with Chrome and Edge browsers, include robust security features with role-based permissions and multi-factor authentication, and deliver technical support during standard business hours of 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM PST Monday through Friday.
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Specification Checklist
| Application Software Specification Checklist |
| City of Ashland RFP for Utility Billing Software System |
| Instructions: |
| Respond to each line item as appropriate using the following codes; insert comments as needed. Name, Title, Date and Signature are required. |
| A - Application meets functionality "As Is," No modification required. |
| B - Applications meets functionality. Modification Required. (Note any cost in comments) |
| C - Application does not meet functionality. |
| N/A - Not applicable; comment on whether this can be customized |
| Functionality Item | Response | Comments |
| Utility Billing Software Functional Requirements | ||
| Vendor Information | ||
| Number of years the firm has been in business | ||
| Public or privately held firm | ||
| Number of years the firm has been in the utility billing software business | ||
| Total number of customers | ||
| Location of Firm | ||
| Total number of employees | ||
| Total number of software installation staff for the utility billing software | ||
| Number of staff dedicated to supporting the utility billing software | ||
| Number of staff dedicated to Research and Development for the utility billing software | ||
| Number of installations completed in the last year and please include for what utility services | ||
| Number of installations completed in the last 3 years and please include for what utility services | ||
| System Architecture and General Information | ||
| System uses a SQL database or comparable ACID-compliant database | ||
| Database does not lock out staff during calculations, postings, or other tasks | ||
| System is a hosted solution. Identify in comment where system is hosted (such Amazon AWS, privately owned datacenters, etc.). | ||
| System should support an unlimited number of concurrent users | ||
| 100% web-based architecture. Support for Chrome and Edge browsers. | ||
| System uses a Name User licensing model for users | ||
| System can store data on an unlimited number of customers | ||
| System can store data on an unlimited number of locations | ||
| System provides a built in query builder and/or report writer | ||
| Data can be exported to Excel, CSV, PDF or Word | ||
| System can support Single-Sign-On (SSO) Integration with Microsoft Entra | ||
| System is address based. | ||
| System accommodates one-to-many and many-to-one relationships (e.g. multiple meters per parcel, multiple accounts per customer). | ||
| Vendor provides technical support for software between 8am to 5pm PST Monday - Friday | ||
| Data Migration Requirements | ||
| Migration of existing utility billing data (accounts, meters, service locations, consumption history, notes, billing history) into the new system. | ||
| Creation of a crosswalk table to align existing UB system records with GIS records, using automated address standardization and matching methods. | ||
| Assistance with bulk import, address standardization, and crosswalk between old UB accounts and GIS location. | ||
| Establishment of a persistent service location ID to link billing service locations to GIS going forward. | ||
| Bulk data import and mapping of legacy fields to new fields. | ||
| Processes for error detection and resolution, including flagging unmatched records for review. | ||
| Delivery of data mitigation plan and timeline, detailing how the vendor will support the City through this transition. | ||
| Integration Capabilities | ||
| System has the ability to integrate with existing systems using APIs | ||
| System has the ability to integrate with modern financial management systems (City currently uses Tyler Technology MUNIS) | ||
| System has ability to process daily batch integrations to the financial management software (City currently uses Tyler Technology MUNIS) | ||
| System has the ability to integrate with Itron meter reading technology | ||
| System has the ability to integrate with Calix SMX and Calix Service Cloud (for broadband services) | ||
| System has the ability to integrate with Harmonic (for broadband services) | ||
| System has the ability to integrate with Positron (for broadband services) | ||
| System has the ability to integrate with AMI technology (detail which systems are compatible) | ||
| System must store and maintain multiple numeric keys (parcel ID, service location ID, meter serial ID, standardized address) to enable flexible cross-system joins. | ||
| System supports integration with ESRI GIS platform, allowing data exchanges and updates in both directions. | ||
| Integration must allow real-time or scheduled synchronization between GIS and utility billing | ||
| System performs data validation, conflict resolution and error reporting during GIS integration (describe how in comments). | ||
| System must connect to GIS using a unique, persistent identifier (e.g. service location ID or meter ID), not only by address. | ||
| System can be integrated to other application and products as needed | ||
| System can have multiple companies, each with their own rates and details | ||
| Security | ||
| Role-based security with field level permissions | ||
| System provides the ability for an administrator to easily set-up, define and manage users and their access levels | ||
| Ability to support multifactor authentication | ||
| System provides robust auditing tools | ||
| System provides details regarding each system update | ||
| System provides the ability to identify and track transactions that have been changed through the database | ||
| System provides a password expiration date, for non-usage, which can be set for the following durations: | ||
| (a) 6 months from creation | ||
| (b) User-defined timeframe | ||
| System provides the ability to mask (hide) portions of specific numbers through out the application (example: social security number, credit card number, and other personal related information). | ||
| System to provide a way to correct or reverse any error that may occur. This is applicable to any and all errors whether system generated or operator induced (within the same fiscal year at a minimum) | ||
| System provides redundant managed backups | ||
| System is PCI-DDS Compliant | ||
| Does the vendor undergo annual SOC audits? If so, what level of SOC audits do you undergo? | ||
| Does the vendor undergo regular penetration testing? | ||
| Does the vendor use independent third-party to conduct penetration testing? | ||
| Does the vendor undergo regular vulnerability scans? | ||
| Cloud hosting must be provided through a reputable data center vendor | ||
| Vendors must apply application version/patch updates on regular basis | ||
| Customer and Location Information | ||
| System standardizes addresses to USPS or NG9-1-1 formats. | ||
| System has a main window that allows easy access to all relevant customer/location information | ||
| System allows for a user defined Account Status | ||
| System allows documents to be scanned and attached to customers or locations | ||
| System has unique identifiers for: Customer, Location, Meter, Route, Cycle, Read Sequence, Property Type | ||
| Customer information includes but is not limited to: | ||
| Name | ||
| Multiple Addresses (mailing address, service addres(es), etc.) | ||
| Multiple Phone Numbers | ||
| Email Address | ||
| Communication Preferences (print, email, SMS, IVR) | ||
| Driver's License Number (Encryption Required) | ||
| Date of Birth | ||
| Auto Payment Information (Bank account, credit car, etc.) | ||
| Customer User Defined Codes | ||
| Attached Documents | ||
| Custom Fields | ||
| Alerts with available attributes for severity and notification to CSR staff | ||
| Customer can be tied to multiple locations | ||
| Customer can remove locations they are no longer associated with | ||
| Can see customer history including past locations on account, etc. | ||
| Customer can have multiple address types associated with their billing address at multiple locations | ||
| Location information includes but is not limited to: | ||
| Location Address | ||
| Revenue Class | ||
| Cycle | ||
| Route | ||
| Bill Period | ||
| Location Description | ||
| Parcel Number | ||
| Region/Subdivision | ||
| Alternate Location ID | ||
| Cross Street | ||
| Services | ||
| Meter Numbers installed at locations | ||
| Backflow devices installed at locations | ||
| Rate codes in use | ||
| Service Level Balance | ||
| Deposits held at location | ||
| Customer Location User Defined Codes | ||
| Location Permit Information | ||
| Custom Fields | ||
| Fee Exemption Information | ||
| Tax Exemption Information | ||
| Conservation Information | ||
| System provides the ability to keep track of communities insides one company that may have different rates, penalties, and/or taxes and other details that are different from the main company | ||
| System has the ability to keep up with notes tied to either the location, customer, or account | ||
| System can integrate with an outbound IVR product to notify customers of outages, appearance on shut off list, or other company designated reasons | ||
| System can email customers automated notifications and custom messages personalizable and transmittable by CSR staff without provider involvement | ||
| System can email customers PDF copies of their bill when they are ready | ||
| System can provide SMS notifications when bills are due, customers are shut off, there are system outages, or other information as needed | ||
| System provides custom icons to allow for quick and easy identification of customer status and situations | ||
| System allows users to create custom fields that can be tied to customers or locations or meters | ||
| System allows for the creation of user-defined codes to classify customers and locations based on any number of demographics for the purpose of reporting, notifications, etc. | ||
| System provides that every data element in the system, with access to be granted to users with the proper security, is available for inquiry, including but limited to: | ||
| Account number | ||
| Customer number | ||
| Premise number | ||
| Meter number | ||
| Parcel ID | ||
| Customer name, including Last, First, DBA, Business name, and customer last name with two last names | ||
| Primary phone number | ||
| Secondary phone number | ||
| Driver license | ||
| Email Address | ||
| Account status | ||
| Equipment type / meter number | ||
| Premise address | ||
| Mailing address | ||
| Route | ||
| Service Rate | ||
| Unique fields within services | ||
| Active/Inactive rates | ||
| System provides the ability to search by partial address such as street name | ||
| System provides that searches can be performed on accounts regardless of their status | ||
| System provides the ability to display payment information on primary CSR screen | ||
| System provides the ability to display amounts due and due dates on CSR screen | ||
| System to automatically generate unique customer numbers | ||
| System to automatically generate unique premise numbers | ||
| System provides the ability for user to modify specific data fields (regarding customer, meter, billing, etc.) for a single account | ||
| System provides the ability for user to create multiple customers, premises, or accounts from a single setup screen | ||
| System provides the ability to set user-defined defaults for customer, account, and premise data fields | ||
| System provides the ability to default mailing address to service address unless over written | ||
| System provides the ability to override defaults | ||
| System provides the ability to capture and modify all customer identification data fields | ||
| System provides the ability to capture a company name for non-residential accounts | ||
| System provides the ability to capture customer's entire name including the following: | ||
| First | ||
| Middle | ||
| Last | ||
| Title | ||
| Suffix | ||
| Double last name | ||
| System provides the ability to search by first or last name | ||
| System provides the ability to capture one or more types of identification such as: | ||
| Driver's License | ||
| Tax ID | ||
| Other types of ID | ||
| Phone Number | ||
| Password | ||
| Date of Birth | ||
| System provides the ability to identify the relationship of second person to primary account holder, including the following but not limited to: | ||
| Spouse | ||
| Roommate | ||
| Landlord | ||
| Secondary Party | ||
| Guarantor | ||
| 3rd Party non-related (e.g. attorney, executor, guardian, etc.) | ||
| Business Owner | ||
| Co-Responsible party | ||
| Co-Owner | ||
| Key Contact | ||
| Also Known As (DBA) | ||
| Property Manager | ||
| Parent | ||
| Property Owner | ||
| Contact Person | ||
| System provides information to be associated for primary party on account: multiple phone numbers, email addresses, employment information and identification numbers | ||
| System provides information to be associated for secondary party on account: multiple phone numbers, email addresses, employment information, and identification numbers | ||
| System provides the ability to capture more than one person's information on one account | ||
| System provides information to be associated for other parties after the primary and secondary on account: multiple phone numbers, email addresses, employment information, and identification numbers | ||
| System can revert to property owner or another customer when tenant closes an account | ||
| System to provide individual fields for each component of the premise's service address, which include the following but not limited to: | ||
| House number | ||
| Fractional House Number | ||
| Pre Directional (e.g. N First St) | ||
| Street Name | ||
| APT/Lot/other identification number or text | ||
| Street type (Ln, Blvd, Rd, St, etc.) | ||
| Post Directional (e.g. Highway 99 N) | ||
| City | ||
| State | ||
| Zip code | ||
| Zip+4 | ||
| System provides the ability to add a single address into the system or en-mass from an external interface upload of data | ||
| System provides the ability to validate the creation of new addresses within their system to eliminate duplicated or to provide an override | ||
| System to provide a premise comment field (e.g. barn, garage, pump house, etc.) | ||
| System to capture multiple address types such as standard billing, mailing, etc. | ||
| System to provide the ability to accommodate multiple mailing names and addresses for multiple copies of the bill | ||
| System to provide the mailing address to follow for at least two ATTN or C/O names or lines | ||
| System accommodates foreign addresses that do not follow the USPS API/CASS certification | ||
| System provides the capability to independently track the status of the account, customer, premise and service(s) including but not limited to the following: | ||
| Inactive | ||
| Delinquent | ||
| Active | ||
| Collections | ||
| Final | ||
| Liened | ||
| Low Income | ||
| No Longer Used | ||
| System to provide the ability to create and define configurable data fields without system programming | ||
| System to provide the ability to have & use multiple alert codes | ||
| System captures account information online for the following: | ||
| Detailed view of master account and associated sub accounts | ||
| Detailed view of a customer that is associated with multiple accounts. Accounts billed separately and in different routes. | ||
| System captures the history of products/services provided for a customer. | ||
| System captures the following information that can be obtained by a customer survey/audit: | ||
| Number of units | ||
| Types of fixtures | ||
| Date survey/audit was conducted | ||
| Results | ||
| System captures any tampering history at the customer level | ||
| System to provide unlimited user-defined customer types/class for differentiation to include but not limited to: | ||
| Residential | ||
| Commercial | ||
| Industrial | ||
| Irrigation | ||
| Multi-Family | ||
| Mandatory regulatory classifications | ||
| System captures original date that account was created | ||
| System to provide the ability to enter, display, and track billing delivery method for a customer to include the following: | ||
| EBPP | ||
| ACH | ||
| Credit Card | ||
| Web payments | ||
| IVR | ||
| Phone payments | ||
| System provides the ability to automatically change the payment type to "Cash Only" based on a user-defined number of NSFs | ||
| System to capture meter information at the premise level | ||
| System to provide the ability to capture multiple contact information associated to the service address to include the following: | ||
| Owner | ||
| Tenant / Landlord / Manager | ||
| System provides a unique identifier for each service type | ||
| System displays services available within a user-defined range for new and existing services | ||
| System provides a view of rates and billing schedules for services that are being activated | ||
| System provides the ability to prevent a user from activating a service that has been removed from the premise (i.e. abandoned property) | ||
| System provides the ability to create and store a new service address without all premise attributes | ||
| System provides the ability to capture and identify temporary service locations for the following: | ||
| Temporary service | ||
| Construction | ||
| Other sites | ||
| System capture date of original service enrollment | ||
| System to provide for service activation and termination history to be maintained and reviewable for at least 7 years, independent of customer activity | ||
| System provides an automatic log entry for history of customer name changes in the system | ||
| System provides ana automatic log entry for history of customer mailing address change in the system | ||
| System to capture User-ID and a date and time stamp that the memo or note was made | ||
| System provides security levels for allowing add, edit, and delete functions for memos or notes | ||
| System to provide for free form notes and remarks | ||
| System to provide for an unlimited amount of memos or notes and remarks on a customer, premise, account, services and meters | ||
| System to provide the ability to categorize notes and remarks based on user-defined criteria (complain code, user-id, etc.) | ||
| System provides the ability to display all notes that are associated to a customer regardless of their account | ||
| System will provide the ability to associate sub accounts to a master account or with multiple sub accounts | ||
| System will provide the ability for the sub account to be associated or disassociated to the master account at any time during the billing month | ||
| System will have the ability to maintain credit history of sub accounts independently from the master account | ||
| System will have the ability to maintain the credit history of the master account independently from the sub accounts | ||
| System will provide financial and reading history independently for master and sub accounts | ||
| System provides an online view of a master and it's associated subordinates that includes accounts, premises, balances, etc. | ||
| System provides the ability to establish a master account for statement and reporting purposes only. Actual billing and payment takes place on the subordinate level. | ||
| System provides the ability to establish a master account for consolidation of billing and payments. | ||
| System to provide the ability to alert the user of customers that have alert codes (e.g. cash only, confidential, etc.). | ||
| System to provide the ability to set up an installment plan for services provided with a fixed total amount due, monthly payment amount, and fixed end date. | ||
| System to provide the ability to set up an installment plan for charitable contributions with a fixed or unlimited total amount due, monthly payment amount, and fixed or unlimited end date. | ||
| System to provide the ability to setup and maintain recurring bank drafting or credit card drafting. | ||
| System to provide the ability to require certain identification and/or personal information during the account creation and maintenance process. | ||
| System to provide the ability to transfer customers from one premise to another, maintaining existing customer information; | ||
| System to provide the ability to create a new customer and transfer services from an existing customer to the new customer. | ||
| System to provide the ability to request one or more services to be terminated with a specific date (final off). | ||
| System to provide the ability to automatically identify and report accounts with no activity for a specified period of time. | ||
| System to provide the ability to view historical financial information when creating a new account, whether the historical information is active, in collections, or written off. | ||
| System provides the ability to view online the following: | ||
| Accounts receivable history | ||
| Payment history 84 months | ||
| Adjustment history | ||
| Deposit history | ||
| Interest history | ||
| Payment plans and status | ||
| Payment plan historical information | ||
| Current Accounts Receivable charges and due dates | ||
| Current payment transactions not yet dispersed to accounts receivable | ||
| Account billing history | ||
| Service Order history | ||
| Open service orders | ||
| Active products/services for a customer or premise | ||
| Metered and billed consumption across associated meters | ||
| Metered and billed consumption for individual meters or services | ||
| Customer calls, memos, notes history | ||
| System provides the ability to view history of bad payments (NSF< slow pay,. Etc.) received on an account for a user-defined time period | ||
| System provides the ability to flag accounts that have active recurring charges | ||
| Ability for a designated CSR to reset a customer's security password for web self-service. | ||
| Consumption history remains with the meter and does not move with the tenant or account holder. | ||
| Rates and Fees Management Information | ||
| Ability to define, add, change, and delete an unlimited number of service types. | ||
| Ability to define, add, change, and delete an unlimited number of rate code types and amounts and must provide audit trail of all changes to rates and codes. | ||
| Ability to define an effective date for rate tables and prorate charges based on the effective date. | ||
| Ability to define service rates that are consumption based, fixed, percentage based, tiered, or seasonally averaged. | ||
| Ability to define distribution of fees to multiple general ledger accounts based on user defined account types, fee category, service type or reason code. | ||
| Ability to capture device bandwidth usage | ||
| Meter Reading and Inventory Management Information | ||
| Ability to define, change, and delete an unlimited number of meter types. | ||
| Ability to maintain an unlimited number of meters. | ||
| Ability to identify a meter by type size, meter number, serial number, manufacturer, location, install date, test date, and additional customer fields as needed | ||
| Ability to enter meter reading data through data entry screens from hand held devices or automated meter reading system | ||
| Meter history includes but is not limited to: | ||
| Test history | ||
| Install history | ||
| Repair history | ||
| Disposition history | ||
| Custom fields | ||
| User login information for who read meter | ||
| Service consumption automatically calculated upon entry of meter reading with ability to edit readings | ||
| Allow concurrent meter reading data entry of one route while processing billing for another | ||
| Ability to maintain a list of frozen accounts and send notice to affected property owners | ||
| Maintain meter readings and dates independent of customer or account changes | ||
| Provide ability to enter a meter change without interruption of the billing cycle and final billing | ||
| Generate work orders based on meter reading exception messages and actions entered along with meter reading | ||
| Ability to describe the location of the meter at the service location along with X, Y coordinate and picture | ||
| Ability to view a history of all meters that have been installed at a service location | ||
| Ability to record unlimited notes for a meter | ||
| Ability to define meter read types | ||
| Ability to estimate meter reads based on user defined history preferences | ||
| Ability to estimate reads by route or by cycle, mass estimates | ||
| Ability to identify reads that were estimated versus actual | ||
| Ability for system to automatically identify roll over readings based on meter setup | ||
| Flexible high/low feature that allows the user to set a range of parameters that produce consumption edit | ||
| Ability to change out meters at any time. Where meters have been changed out, ability to show separate individual meter readings and consumption and to show total consumption and billing amount on the same bill. | ||
| Ability to change meter reading sequence without changing customer account number | ||
| Allows user to flag individual accounts for which zero consumption is not considered to be an exception | ||
| Prints meter route pages in customer number or route sequence number order | ||
| Ability to alert when account or meter has lower or higher than average usage or based on certain high or low percentage | ||
| Billing Information | ||
| System can integrate with Itron or receive a CSV file for meter reading data | ||
| System can read meters at any level of frequency (annually, quarterly, monthly, daily, hourly, etc.) | ||
| System can print post card or statement sized bills | ||
| System can export bills to a file for third-party printing vendor | ||
| System can reprint bills from any time period | ||
| System can bill by Route, Cycle, Special billing rules, etc. | ||
| System provides the ability to calculate and bill for all products and services on a single bill (metered and unmetered services) | ||
| System provides the ability to bill for multiple meters at a single location | ||
| System provides the ability to bill for aggregate of meters at a single location | ||
| System provides the ability to bill for associated services (i.e. reconnect charge, etc.) | ||
| System captures consumption for meter exchanges between billing periods and calculates the billed consumption correctly, taking into account billing multiplier differences | ||
| System has the ability to capture consumption and bill based on real time meter read (i.e. call-in over radio). | ||
| System has the ability to incorporate solar net metering, including but not limited to: | ||
| Tracks and accounts electricity use and generation (from both same address and virtual address). | ||
| Applies credits based on net-billing or net-metering rates and can credit based on percentage of total KWH | ||
| Calculates final bill, showing energy charges and applied credits per policy (i.e. multiple policies appear on bill as separate line items) | ||
| Software is adaptable to different policies and multiple policies can be applied concurrently. | ||
| Ability to track the solar generated during the billing period, disperse solar credits that are produce by the VNM to multiple accounts over different billing cycles. | ||
| Ability to generate net metering accounting and reporting | ||
| System has the ability to modify billed consumption values including but not limited to: | ||
| The product of the metered consumption and a fixed user-defined calculation adjustment factor | ||
| The product of the metered consumption and number of units | ||
| System provides the ability for a line-item charge to be the product of any given rate and any user-defined data items) including but not limited to: | ||
| Consumption value(s) | ||
| Multiplier(s) | ||
| Unit(s) | ||
| Percentage calculation adjustment factor(s) | ||
| Basic service charge | ||
| Average consumption for a set period to be used on an annual basis | ||
| System has the ability to bill for flat rates that contain but not limited to the following rate determinates: | ||
| User-defined factor | ||
| Square feet | ||
| Units | ||
| Equipment charges | ||
| Fixed consumption | ||
| Special negotiated charges | ||
| Line extension charges | ||
| Standby water storage | ||
| System provides the ability to bill for associated meters (e.g. master metered mobile home park) | ||
| System provides the ability to provide an on-screen bill calculation for a single bill and generation feature | ||
| System provides the ability to provide an on-screen bill calculation for a complete route and generation feature | ||
| System provides the on-screen ability to assign dates to schedule and initiate billing cycles | ||
| System provides the ability to bill for unmetered related services at a user-defined time | ||
| System provides the on-screen ability to change the billing cycles/routes | ||
| System provides for billing on a monthly schedule that includes meter reading activities | ||
| System provides the ability to bill multiple cycles on the same day | ||
| System provides the ability to override the system default billing date | ||
| System provides a warning if the read dates are less than twenty days from the previous read dates | ||
| System provides the ability to prorate non-consumption based charges and credits based on the number of days in the billing cycle (user-defined). | ||
| System provides the ability to prorate a new bill based on the number of days active | ||
| System provides the ability to prorate a final bill based on the number of days active. | ||
| System provides the ability to turn off specific proration types that include the following: | ||
| Rate change | ||
| Initial Bill | ||
| Final Bill | ||
| Number of days in billing period | ||
| System provides the ability to prorate based on the number of days that are outside the normal billing schedule (Billing days between 27-33 is billed based on 30 day consumption charges, anything outside of those date is billed base on actual number of days). | ||
| System provides the ability to not bill an account if active less than "x" number of days | ||
| System will allow for late reads to be input without deviating from the original billing schedule. The system will process accounts with reads and hold the accounts without reads. | ||
| System provides the ability to bill in advance for a service (flat rate services) | ||
| System provides the ability to accommodate back billing for multiple periods with a user defined start and end date. | ||
| System will provide for onscreen bill production for a single bill that will not require batch or nightly processing. Bill will be generated after calculations have been processed. | ||
| System provides the ability to produce duplicate copies of the bill at the time of billing. | ||
| System provides the ability on-screen to generate a one-time miscellaneous bill to an existing customer. | ||
| System provides for tax and fee exemptions. | ||
| System provides the ability to bill surcharges based on a fixed or percentage charge. | ||
| System provides the ability to track surcharges independently of all other charges. | ||
| System provides the ability to bill for special rates based on the following but not limited to: | ||
| Recurring charges | ||
| Conservation | ||
| One-time miscellaneous fees / or charges | ||
| System provides the ability to generate a test billing process that generates the necessary financial reports for review before actually submitting the billing batch to post | ||
| System provides the ability to bill and track the following customer classes, but not limited to: | ||
| Residential | ||
| Commercial Low | ||
| Commercial High | ||
| Small Industrial | ||
| Large Industrial | ||
| Local, state, and federal government | ||
| Sales to other public authorities | ||
| Resale | ||
| Interdepartmental sales | ||
| Miscellaneous water, sewer, trash revenues | ||
| City owner property / rentals | ||
| Non-billed meters (testing, validation, theft detection) | ||
| System has the ability to bill for the following charges and fees, including but not limited to: | ||
| Return check fees | ||
| Moving fee (move from one location to another) | ||
| Interest and finance | ||
| Door-hanger notice fees | ||
| Meter testing fees | ||
| After hours service fees | ||
| Labor charges for work performed | ||
| Reconnect/Disconnect fees | ||
| Collection fees | ||
| Late payment fees | ||
| Missed appointment fees | ||
| Tampering fees | ||
| System provides for unlimited user-defined fees | ||
| System will provide the ability to associate adjustment types with the appropriate GL | ||
| System provides the ability to select a specific historic charge to adjust | ||
| System provides the ability to track a set dollar amount in discounts based on different services. | ||
| System provides the ability to automatically inactivate a discount once a dollar limit is reached across multiple services, and reactivate the discount on a set date. | ||
| System provides the ability to identify any billing line item charges that must have the following fields: | ||
| Billed date | ||
| Processed date | ||
| System provides the ability to generate a corrected bill with "user entered" correct meter readings and number of months to be corrected. The system should generate the adjustment, change meter reading data fields, and produce a bill. | ||
| System provides the ability to correct consumption, actual, or estimated reason on an account and adjust the billing accordingly to any specific month within a user-defined timeframe. | ||
| System provides the ability to correct charges for unmetered services on an account and adjust the billing accordingly to any specific month within a user-defined timeframe. | ||
| System will provide the on-screen ability to cancel and re-bill account for the last bill issued. | ||
| System will generate the GL entries associated to the services being cancelled and re-billed. | ||
| System will allow the cancel re-bill process to include all line items on the bill. | ||
| System will have the ability to select which line item on the bill to cancel and re-bill, not affecting the other billed line items. Any dependent charges of the select item will be automatically recalculated. | ||
| System will generate a corrected bill reflecting adjustments to the previous bill. | ||
| System will provide the ability to include payment adjustments during the billing cycle. | ||
| System captures online details of adjustment history. | ||
| System will provide the ability to attach a reason code to the adjustment for reversed transactions including, but not limited to: | ||
| Connected in error | ||
| Disconnected in error | ||
| Transferred in error | ||
| Dispute charge was resolved | ||
| Bill error charges | ||
| User-defined with comments | ||
| System provides the ability to adjust off (remove) a single line item from a bill on-screen - based on security levels. | ||
| System to capture all appropriate GL transactions for adjustments (system will provide a list of historical charges to select from) | ||
| System will provide the ability to transfer balances from one account to another with the appropriate audit trail in one transaction. | ||
| System provides the flexibility in combining line item charges or separating item charges for bill printing. | ||
| System provides the ability to accommodate multi-page bill formats. | ||
| System provides the ability to display Name/Spouse/Company name before street address within the bill format. | ||
| System provides a separate line item for deferred payment arrangements. The deferred due date will be printed and can be different from the net new due date. | ||
| System provides the ability for detailed balance forward information to include, not limited to the following: | ||
| Previous balance due | ||
| Payments applied | ||
| Adjustments applied | ||
| Penalties applied | ||
| System provides the ability to produce a mail barcode on the bill print. | ||
| System provides the ability to show the total amount due plus amount of penalty if not paid by due date. The penalty amount can be viewed as a separate line item. | ||
| System provides a graph or table showing consumption/usage for current and prior 13 months for each service/usage type. | ||
| System provides the ability to generate an image of the actual view of the billing statements and letters. Viewing can either be a PDF or HTML file format. | ||
| System provides for a check digit/barcode to be included on the return portion of the bill print for scanning into payment batch. | ||
| System provides 13 month average usage on the bill. | ||
| System provides the ability for unbundled rate components (base charge, consumption, etc.). | ||
| System provides multiple capabilities for sorting bills by the following: | ||
| Zip code + 4 | ||
| Cycle | ||
| Billing Route | ||
| Customer Name / group | ||
| System provides the ability to sort bills by postal code for bulk rate discounts. | ||
| System will provide the ability to identify bill types (so that proper form can be used for printing) including, but not limited to: | ||
| Initial Bill | ||
| Closing/Finaled | ||
| Regular | ||
| Delinquent | ||
| Estimated | ||
| Bank draft (ACH) | ||
| Duplicate | ||
| System provides the ability to have the system display the number of bills to be printed (by bill type, etc.) | ||
| System provides the ability to have the system display the number of total bills printed. | ||
| System provides the ability to allow restarting of a bill run from any point within the bill run. | ||
| System provides the ability to allow a bill run to be paused and restarted. | ||
| System provides the ability to be capable of creating an html and.or text only version of any bill for e-mail attachment purposes. | ||
| System provides the ability to automatically transmit bills to selected customers via email, IVR or SMS. | ||
| System provides the ability to re-print a duplicate copy of the current bill in an online mode. | ||
| System provides the ability to re-print a duplicate copy of the bill for any previous billing period. | ||
| System provides the ability to re-print the current bill after adjustments have been made. | ||
| System provides the ability to provide output file for bill print outsource company. | ||
| System provides the ability for global custom messages (no programming needed as this may change with each bill run) where all bills produced will have a single message. | ||
| System provides the ability for all message types to be started and terminated based on an input date. | ||
| System provides the ability to view history of bill messages for a user-defined time frame. | ||
| System provides the ability to define custom messages by individual customer. | ||
| System provides the ability to display a message based on route number. | ||
| System provides the ability to define custom messages by service or other user-defined group. | ||
| System provides the ability to summarize multiple accounts onto a single bill (master account). | ||
| For misbilled amounts, the system provides visibility into both the corrected dollar amount and the corrected consumption quantity. | ||
| Ability to stop and start dates for individual fees on an account. | ||
| Ability to back date the date of occupancy | ||
| Payment Information | ||
| System can accept the following payment types: | ||
| Cash | ||
| Check | ||
| Money Order | ||
| ACH Bank Draft | ||
| Custom Payment Methods | ||
| Credit Cards (online, in office, IVR, and SMS) | ||
| Electronic Checks (online, in office, IVR, and SMS) | ||
| System can apply auto payments for recurring methods (ACH Bank Draft, Recurring Credit Cards) on aset date for the bill/billing cycle. The autopay function takes into consideration credits on the account or adjustments to the bill that have been processed before the autopay date. | ||
| System automatically notifies customer if auto payment method fails. | ||
| System automatically applies deposits to a final bill or to an account that has been in good standing for a user-defined period of time. | ||
| System accepts over payment or credit adjustment with amount maintained as unapplied credit balance or to be applied to the next service bill. | ||
| System provides ability to accept full, over, partial, and pre-payments | ||
| System provides ability to distribute partial payments based on user defined preferences (due date, service type, or percentage) | ||
| System can enter in payments in a payment grid for faster entry of mailed in payments | ||
| System can utilize a service to eliminate paper Bank Checks (Fiserv, CheckFree, etc.) | ||
| System can utilize an IVR service to send outbound notifications and alerts | ||
| System can utilize an IVR service to collect inbound payments | ||
| System can utilize an SMS service to send outbound notifications and alerts | ||
| System can utilize an SMS service to collect inbound payments | ||
| System can utilize an online payment portal to accept payments in real time. | ||
| System can let customers utilize budget billing. | ||
| System can let customers establish a payment arrangement if certain conditions are met. Scheduled payments must show separately on bill. | ||
| System can integrate with a check scanning solution to import/export customer data and payment information. | ||
| System has the ability to pass a fee for credit card and/or electronic check payments. | ||
| System can take one payment for multiple customers/accounts in a single transaction. | ||
| System can take multiple payment types for a single customer/account in a single transaction | ||
| System can take multiple payment types for multiple customers/accounts in a single transaction | ||
| System can take credit card payments in the software without having to process the transaction in a separate system or on a separate device. | ||
| Credit card payments processed anywhere in the system should maintain PCI security and any other levels of security required by law. | ||
| Users can batch payments | ||
| Users can post payments at the end of the day or as often as needed | ||
| System to provide the ability to have daily balancing including cash, returned items, accounts receivable, deposits, and billing as well as the capability for diagnostic reporting if out of balance. | ||
| Users can run reports to balance their cash drawer and see their end of the day posting totals. | ||
| Financial Management Information | ||
| System allows positive or negative transaction adjustment with a complete audit trail. | ||
| System automatically prepares transaction batches in a batch format for posting to general ledger including billing, cash receipts, NSF's adjustments, etc. | ||
| System provides automatic allocation of payments with ability to adjust or override the default distribution. | ||
| System provides automatic allocation of deposits to the correct revenue accounts. | ||
| System provides ability to track deposits and interest on all deposits. | ||
| System provides ability to initiate bankruptcy on account previous balance as uncollectable, maintain account history, and provide audit train for uncollectable balance. | ||
| System provides complete audit trail of payments processed for reconciliation prior to general ledger cash posting | ||
| System has ability to age accounts in 30, 60, 90, 120- day increments and by general ledger fund and/or service rate. | ||
| Ability to automatically add late penalties and/or interest to delinquent accounts according to a flexible rate structure determined by the user. | ||
| Automatic printing of shut-off notices and service orders. | ||
| Ability to process accounts for write-off and collection. | ||
| Ability to maintain a dynamic shut-off list that can be automatically or manually updated. | ||
| Provides standard financial, operational, and service work order reports. | ||
| Provides a manager configurable dashboard for key operational statistics | ||
| Ability to generate analysis reports with user defined parameters with flexible selection criteria and grouping options. | ||
| Ability to generate ad hoc reporting | ||
| Ability to generate year-end financial reports including top ten consumption report and other required information | ||
| Customer Web Portal Information | ||
| Customer web portal is a solution developed, supported, and hosted by vendor and is not a third-party product. | ||
| System is hosted on a Microsoft Azure, AWS, or similarly a robust solution for guaranteed uptime and redundancy. | ||
| System to provide the ability for customer to create their own profile with username and password. | ||
| System would require authentication using an account/PIN combination when linking an account or group of accounts to a user name. | ||
| System to provide the ability to provide e-mail confirmation and userID information in real-time, automatically. | ||
| System to provide the ability to link accounts online. | ||
| System to provide the ability to require username-password to access account information. | ||
| System to provide the ability to relate multiple customer accounts to one online account. | ||
| System to provide the ability to set-up recurring checking and savings account payment drafts/plans online (ACH) | ||
| System to provide the ability to set up recurring credit card payment draft online. | ||
| System to provide the ability to modify recurring credit card information online. | ||
| System provide the ability to schedule future payment online. | ||
| System to provide the ability to pay one-time payments via following method: | ||
| Credit Card | ||
| Check | ||
| Savings | ||
| System to provide the ability to update mailing address, phone number, or other user-defined customer account fields online. Any changes will be captured including old value/new value and change source, etc. | ||
| System to provide the ability for online updates to be available in real-time for access to display the most current element value. | ||
| System to provide the ability to prevent a customer from performing an online self service function if an alert code or restriction exists for that customer and that function (e.g. Cash Only customer). | ||
| System to provide the ability to make a payment online. | ||
| System to provide the ability to post a payment in real-time. | ||
| System to provide the ability to post deposit payment to account online. | ||
| System will apply the deposit amount first before applying to outstanding balances. | ||
| System to provide the ability to change bill delivery type (mail, EBPP, etc.) and other options as offered by the utility. | ||
| System provides the ability to prevent cut-off notices from being created when payment plan terms are being met. | ||
| System to provide the ability to view account history online. | ||
| System to provide the ability to view account financial transaction history for 24 months online. | ||
| System to provide the ability to view account financial transaction history for over 24 months online. | ||
| System to provide the ability to view current: | ||
| Amount past due and due date | ||
| Current amount due and due date | ||
| Total balance due and due date | ||
| System to provide the ability to view current statement online | ||
| System to provide the ability to view and print the most current bill or statement online. | ||
| System to provide the ability to view and print a selected bill or statement up to 12 months prior online. | ||
| System to provide the ability to view service specific metered and billed consumption online. | ||
| System to provide the ability to view service specific metered and billed consumption online for 24 months history online. | ||
| System to provide the ability to view service Total Customer-Account-Premise-Meter relationship. | ||
| System provides the ability to display date and time a payment was made through internet or IVR. | ||
| System to provide the ability to view posted payment history including date, time, and amount. | ||
| System to provide the ability to send customers e-mail messages based on the customer profile (e.g. Budget bill , Levelized, Payment plan, ACH, etc.). | ||
| System to provide the ability to provide e-mail notification for account reminders such as expiration date of credit card on autopay. | ||
| System to provide the ability to display messages based upon customer status/services/un-used available services, etc. | ||
| Vendor and/or its subcontractor or partner must be PCI-compliant and demonstrate in writing proof of compliancy. | ||
| Service Orders | ||
| System has service orders built in as a core part of the CIS/Utility Billing application | ||
| Service orders can be printed to be used manually or accessed via browser to be used digitally from any modern browser | ||
| Service orders can be assigned to multiple users | ||
| Service orders can have user defined statuses | ||
| Service orders can have multiple tasks assigned to the order | ||
| Utility can track task and service order comments | ||
| Utility can track internal discussions on the service order | ||
| Utility can attach pictures or other files to service orders | ||
| Service orders can be stored and reported on over time | ||
| Service orders can be viewed in a dashboard that can be filtered by user, type, status, etc. | ||
| Service orders can be tied to locations and/or customers | ||
| Service orders provides the ability to store meter reads on multiple meters as part of tasks | ||
| Service orders provide the user name when opened, fulfilled, completed, or reassigned. | ||
| Field Service technicians who are accessing the service orders via browser will have access to: | ||
| Associated Customer Name and Phone Number | ||
| Service Order History | ||
| Usage History | ||
| Inventory Items & Details | ||
| Notes | ||
| Service Orders can track the following dates: | ||
| Date created | ||
| Date scheduled | ||
| Date due | ||
| Date completed | ||
| I attest that the information provided in this form is true, accurate, and complete to the best of my knowledge. | ||
| Name: | ||
| Title: | ||
| Date: | ||
| Signature: |
NOTES TO INTEGRATE
| What our the current systems? |
| How many year sof data do you want transferred? July 1, 2018 |
| What is our mailing/printing vendor? |
| What are the major problems with the current system? |
| How does meter reading and billing work? |
| Munis - |
| Itron - meter reading software |
| 10 cycles in town (2-3 billing routes per cycle) |
| Each cycle is billed each month -- bill two or three cycles per week |
| Electric 50-55% radio read (one reader) |
| Water - 8% radio read (one reader) |
| 4 days before billing |
| Import out of Itron, review them in Munis, do quality checking, send reread list to meter read crew, readjust, bill |
| Billing that refunds deposits -- 11 consecutive months of good payments, refunds deposit (Munis) |
| One offs |
| Virtual Net Metering -- meter reader in the field reads Laurel street then has to take those reads, use a separate spreadsheet to distribute credits, manually apply credits to customer address |
| Munis has no way to display this on the bill, so yearly we send that spreadsheet to the main solar holder |
| **WANT SOFTWARE TO DO ALL THIS AUTOMATICALLY** |
| Moonlight BPO - printing company in Bend. |
| We upload file to the portal and they print the bills and mail out of Portland |
| Munis emails the PDF bills |
| Payments |
| Tyler Cashiering -- hand processing payments |
| Each day we import payments through Wells Fargo (which receives payments from other banks) |
| Credit Card payments imported every morning (Tyler webportal CSS) |
| IVR (interactive voice response system) - Selectron -- they integrate with Munis |
| Selectron also our call out for delinquent processing |
| Selectron is also a potential for emergency communication |
| Texts are wanted |
| Emails are wanted |
| New Web Portal |
| Less manual review of meter readings (consistency on parameters with meter reading) |
| Equal payment program does not work in Munis (doesn't work on the GL side with Munis). Takes two whole billing cycles to show changes. Every six months we adjust (or adjust at customer request) |
| Service Orders |
| Connects/disconnects, meter change outs |
| We do not allow automated service orders because dates matter |
| *do not want to allow automatic service orders |
| Email request comes in, Staff creates service order, |
| Residential wastewater is the average of January, February, March -- applied for whole year |
| Charge an average rate, fixed rates, |
File details come from the government source that posted it. Updated .