Residents of towns and cities almost always have to pay municipal rates. There are very few property owners who are not subject to these charges. Monthly billing occupies a large amount of the municipality's productive time, and yet at the same time the local authority also has to keep tabs on whether or not residents are paying their bills. The utility bill software that the municipality uses to perform these functions therefore needs to be able to support the latter.
There are certain issues involved in this area of activity. First, the bills need to be issued, and this, in turn, relates to several factors. One of the most common urban jokes is about incorrect amounts on municipal accounts. A water charge of millions of dollars makes you laugh but, actually, it's not as funny as it sounds. Accuracy is essential in issuing the paperwork.
Also, towns and cities are home to large populations, sometimes numbering several millions of people. This makes the municipal database of residents extremely large, so the software that is used should be able to accommodate a database of this size. These records are also being updated on a monthly basis, or at least continuously.
A particularly and notoriously tricky issue for municipalities is that of non-payment. There is probably no municipality that has not encountered this issue. The poorer residents in the more indigent suburbs sometimes do not pay due to nothing other than their lack of financial resources. However, there are also those who do not pay for other reasons, whatever those may be. The software should be able to deal with these residents, otherwise it is not adequate for municipal purposes.
Third, the software needs to allow its users to produce paperwork that is appropriate to the local residents. Some urban settlements are home to more than one language. This should be accommodated through the use of bilingual bills, or bills issued in the language of a specific resident's area. The software should be able to handle more than one language where this is required.
Staying with language, some residents are either not literate or have only a very low level of literacy. This does not imply that they are low-income earners, either, so it is not a reliable indication of what area or suburb they reside in. They may be professionals or trained workmen, so there is no automatic indication that they stay in the poor suburbs or that they are themselves poor. The bill therefore needs to be very basic in its language, and simple to understand. Where the entire population receives a document, this is always an issue and it should be reflected in the software.
The actual physical statement has its own requirements. A person who seldom reads such documents, or who is not literate, should be able to identify the important figures on it, and also the dates. This implies that it should be easy to assess, with a simplified layout.
Municipalities need a reliable and accurate software system for their billing administration. Non-payment is a thorny issue that causes severe emotional responses, at times, and the issuing of inaccurate bills is another. The software that the municipality uses to issue the bills should be easy to use for a system that has as many as millions of entries and thousands of users.
There are certain issues involved in this area of activity. First, the bills need to be issued, and this, in turn, relates to several factors. One of the most common urban jokes is about incorrect amounts on municipal accounts. A water charge of millions of dollars makes you laugh but, actually, it's not as funny as it sounds. Accuracy is essential in issuing the paperwork.
Also, towns and cities are home to large populations, sometimes numbering several millions of people. This makes the municipal database of residents extremely large, so the software that is used should be able to accommodate a database of this size. These records are also being updated on a monthly basis, or at least continuously.
A particularly and notoriously tricky issue for municipalities is that of non-payment. There is probably no municipality that has not encountered this issue. The poorer residents in the more indigent suburbs sometimes do not pay due to nothing other than their lack of financial resources. However, there are also those who do not pay for other reasons, whatever those may be. The software should be able to deal with these residents, otherwise it is not adequate for municipal purposes.
Third, the software needs to allow its users to produce paperwork that is appropriate to the local residents. Some urban settlements are home to more than one language. This should be accommodated through the use of bilingual bills, or bills issued in the language of a specific resident's area. The software should be able to handle more than one language where this is required.
Staying with language, some residents are either not literate or have only a very low level of literacy. This does not imply that they are low-income earners, either, so it is not a reliable indication of what area or suburb they reside in. They may be professionals or trained workmen, so there is no automatic indication that they stay in the poor suburbs or that they are themselves poor. The bill therefore needs to be very basic in its language, and simple to understand. Where the entire population receives a document, this is always an issue and it should be reflected in the software.
The actual physical statement has its own requirements. A person who seldom reads such documents, or who is not literate, should be able to identify the important figures on it, and also the dates. This implies that it should be easy to assess, with a simplified layout.
Municipalities need a reliable and accurate software system for their billing administration. Non-payment is a thorny issue that causes severe emotional responses, at times, and the issuing of inaccurate bills is another. The software that the municipality uses to issue the bills should be easy to use for a system that has as many as millions of entries and thousands of users.
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You can find an overview of the benefits of utility bill software and more info about a great software program at http://www.quikwaters.com right now.
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