July 23, 2002 -- The Greater Peoria Sanitary District (GPSD), responsible for wastewater collection and treatment for the Peoria, Ill., area, had decided to replace its remittance processing system, which had been installed in 1995.
The Greater Peoria Sanitary District (GPSD) is a non-profit municipal corporation responsible for providing wastewater and sewage collection and treatment for Peoria, Peoria Heights, Bartonville, West Peoria, and Bellevue plus adjacent unincorporated areas.
As a utility servicing nearly 50,000 residential, commercial, and industrial customers, GPSD knows firsthand the importance of operating with reliable equipment and providing prompt service to customers of all size.
One critical area in need of reliable equipment was GPSD's remittance payment processing system. "Reliability is so critical for us," said Randy Skender, Director of Administration. "If you can't process your payments, you can't get your deposits to the bank."
GPSD's existing system was purchased in 1995. After six years, the system had limited software capabilities and used an old transport that was prone to continual breakdowns. In one instance, the system was down for an entire week while GPSD waited for service.
Existing system limitations ruled out pursuing an upgrade from the existing vendor. In early 2001, GPSD began looking for a new remittance system replacement. "We wanted a system that would provide for our needs," said Skender. "We started with a clean sheet of paper. We didn't have the payment volume for a larger transport, so we knew a tabletop transport would fit our needs. Overall, system price was a concern."
Through a competitive bidding process, GPSD selected ImageRPS LE, a full featured, conventional read and key and power encode remittance application from Wausau Financial Systems.
Key system functionality included image-assisted setup for new documents, image-assisted jam recoveries, easy-to-use balancing screens, and full deposit and system management reports. The tabletop transport selected was the NCR 7731. The system included the ability to archive payment information and images on CD-ROMs using the optional RPS Image Archive application.
Previously, GPSD stored physical payment stubs for research. According to Skender, "Paper storage was a continual challenge for us. It took a lot of time for our staff to organize and box up the stubs and make arrangements with outside people to transport to another building. These stubs would sit there and collect dust. When we had to go back to them for customer research, it was a real mess. With RPS Image Archive, we don't have to do that anymore. It has been a real time saver. Customer service research is now done in minutes instead of days."
During the sales and implementation process, the people and service at Wausau Financial Systems made quite an impression on GPSD. "Everyone at Wausau was good at offering service. Our sales representative was a high-level professional who talked the talk and walked the walk. It wasn't like we bought the system and were left hanging," continued Skender. "The implementation process was very systematic and organized with the team at Wausau Financial Systems telling us exactly what we can expect."
When the system arrived on schedule as planned, Wausau Financial Systems sent installation and training associates on-site to set up, test, train, and assist in the live processing of payments. "All the training was very positive, top to bottom," said Skender. "Our operator remarked that the implementation team made her feel really comfortable. She was impressed with their thoroughness and patience. They took time to answer all questions and were there to help and teach."
The benefits of choosing Wausau Financial Systems became apparent immediately after the ImageRPS LE system was installed. "Where we really saw the immediate change was the fact that we didn't have downtime. We were actually able to process our payments and make our deposits in a timely fashion," recalled Skender.
Additional benefits included the ability to process cash tickets from walk-in window payments, fewer check encoding errors, and the virtual elimination of carryover work into the next day. Since installing ImageRPS LE, GPSD has not experienced the constant breakdowns as with their old system.
According to Skender, "The ImageRPS LE solution is a vast improvement over our old equipment. The productivity improvement is significant."
Important Factors
* Reliability: System must have minimal processing downtime and provide long-term, trouble-free processing.
* One-Stop Solution Provider: Quick problem resolution through one toll-free phone number for all hardware and software questions.
* Ease of Use: System must be easy-to-use for multiple, back-up operators with varying system experience levels.
* Quality Training: On-site system training must be professional, comprehensive, and personalized, delivered at the learning pace of the audience.
* Feature-Rich Application: System must accurately process payments, easily interface into host accounting system, provide detailed reports and image archive for customer service research.
* Increase Productivity: System operator has other job duties outside of payment processing. The system must be efficient and allow for processing of all payments from mail delivery to deposit creation in less than four hours.
Quick Facts about the installation:
Wausau Financial Systems' Conventional Remittance Application
Software:
* ImageRPS LE
* RPS Image Archive
* PC Anywhere(tm) Remote Diagnostic
* Windows(r) NT Operating System
Hardware:
* NCR 7731 Transport with 6 Pockets
* NCR 3234 PC Workstation
* Internal CD Writer Drive
* Hewlett Packard 1100xi Laser Printer
Installation Date:
June 2001
Timeframe from System Ship Date to Fully Approved
Customer Acceptance:
Nine Calendar Days
Payment Processing Staff:
Primary operator with two cross-trained operators. Primary operator divides time equally between payment processing, administrative duties and telephone operator responsibilities.
For more information, visit www.wausaufs.com.
