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CIS Billing Meter Reading Boot Camp
When I hear the words “boot camp,” it brings to mind images of intense training with never-ending calisthenics, lots of running, and really bad food in the mess hall. We all realize that analyzing meter readings has typically been a tedious, manual process taking days, if not weeks, to pore through the data and generate accurate, readable reports. And looking for trends or readings outside of the norm becomes even more tedious as more readings are added. Oh, and who decides what the norm is anyway? And there’s no guarantee of accuracy when humans are involved. If this sounds all...
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Behind the Scenes: Infor Hansen CDR
Have you watched a “behind the scenes” special about an upcoming movie? All we see is the final product in the theater, but these typically short TV specials provide a little insight into the story as well as let you in on all the goings-on during filming not seen on the big screen. Now you’ll have a chance to go behind the scenes with Infor Hansen Community Development and Regulation (CDR). See for yourself how integrated GIS, interactive voice response, mobile inspections, 24/7 citizen access, and electronic plan review make it to the final cut to help deliver a “single...
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The Infor Professional Services Advantage
This is my first contribution to Infor’s blog for public sector, and our professional services team (PSO) looks forward to beginning a dialog on a variety of relevant Hansen 8 implementation topics. We welcome your opinions and comments. You’ve read from many contributors to this site about the benefits that an asset management solution can bring to your agency, including configurability and flexibility to seamlessly interface with other agency applications. Customized workflows suit how your agency operates, providing you with greater control of your asset information. So now you might be saying, “Yes, that’s what we really need, but how...
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CIS Billing Customer Move-In/Move-Out Process and Setup
The move-in/move-out process can be particularly difficult on residents. And many government agencies are attempting to meet the needs of the 21st-century customer with an information technology (IT) infrastructure designed and implemented 10 to 15 years ago when the state-of-the-art in IT was less advanced and each agency’s challenges and pressures were less demanding. But in recent years, there have been significant advances in both IT architecture and functional capabilities that improve the ability of government agencies to address inefficient operational processes caused and perpetuated by outmoded IT. Advances have been made in billing applications that now allow standard customer...
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Condition Based Monitoring
Not since the Great Depression have American companies had to do more with less. Less revenue, higher utility costs, and reductions in skilled labor have placed organizations in uncharted waters. The difference between 1929 and today is that technology has advanced to a level where we can see—and do—more to offset the impact. This is especially true in asset and maintenance management. When it comes to sustaining assets, maintenance professionals are moving away from a defensive and reactive approach to a planned and proactive strategy by using condition based monitoring (CBM). CBM saves organizations money by monitoring assets for potential...
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CIS – Utilities – Engineering, “Huh?”
I’ve been in the utilities software business for 12 years. Normally, when I visit a customer or prospective customer site to talk with the “billing” people and I mention the word “permits,” they say, “Huh? What’s a permit? Oh, you mean that stuff where we have people fill out applications? The paperwork that’s required to do something and that we file away? Do you mean that CAD (computer-aided design) system where we look at pipes in the ground? Permitting, yeah we do it.” My response (only a little nicer): “Of course you do … you’re required by law to.” Anytime...
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Paperless Planning
The shift toward paperless business has been fueled not just by the green movement, but also by the need and desire for real-time collaboration and cost and time savings. I believe that within the next few years, most building and planning departments will become paperless. The technology is readily available and already in place in many cases. Virtually all commercial plans are already electronic, so the next step is to receive them over the Internet, review them concurrently rather than consecutively, and monitor performance through an integrated permitting and inspection system, resulting in electronic files that can easily be shared...
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Are You at Risk?
I recently watched an interesting movie that portrays the end of the world as we know it. In this flick, there were earthquakes, floods, storms, fires, and every other catastrophe one can imagine. (And they were not just in California!) Talk about a public works nightmare! As overblown as the movie was, it did inspire thoughtful questions about our infrastructure, and what kind of risks that government agencies face in managing our utility and transportation systems, as well as public facilities. What are the risks from natural catastrophes, major asset failures, or even terrorism? The consequences can affect customer satisfaction,...
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Making the Jump from Maintaining Assets to Averting Risk
Making a jump from one business methodology to another is no easy task because it involves variables typically outside of your control—people, processes, and products. This leap can be especially difficult when the data simply isn’t there to justify the change. Making a move with data, however, makes it a whole lot easier. To move from a “maintain and react” to an “identify and evade” mode of asset management is a leap, but not as great as you’d think. You simply need to know more about your assets and start thinking more about how they will—or won’t—fit into your future...
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Who Owns Your Water Meter?
If you’re a city, county, or water utility you’re probably saying, “Is this a serious question?” The answer to your question is YES. And the answer to my question to you is probably, “I don’t know…” Yes, you own the physical water meter in the ground, but the real question is, “Who actually owns the meter in terms of responsibility?” When someone calls in with a complaint about a high bill, who checks it out? When a customer tells you they suspect a leak or maybe they have bad-tasting water, who checks that out? In dealing with hundreds of different...
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