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Utility Billing Manual - Information Management Services

1. comments use either the R or M com mand M Memo While on route only Enter a service memo for the current record P Previous acct While walking route Show prev acct wea ther fwd or back Q Query Display count of read unread meters and number of previous uploads R Remark While on route only Enter a comment for the cur rent record S Search While walking route This menu allows user to select a topic to V Movement vector Choose default dir ection of movement through accounts F4 Enter data on a found meter After data is entered the route is resumed 211 List Comments Screen The comment listing mode operates exactly like the help mode described above All of the ninety eight standard comments are shown four per screen along with the two special action codes 0 and 99 Due to the limits of screen size the comments are truncated to sixteen characters in length so that LIST COMMENTS lt F2 gt next screen lt F3 gt prev screen lt ENTER gt quit SS TT the number of each comment may be shown on the left side of the screen Enter Remark and Enter Service Memo Screens The R and M commands allow you to add comments from the standard comment list to an account as well as erase existing comments The main difference between rem
2. Wet Water Company 25 First Avenue North Return To Tide FL 184 Late Notice Forms Four Piece Laser 1 0001 0002 00 0001 0004 00 Lil Busters Eugene Boe P O Bax 000 4704 KingawnS dactsanvillke FL Flawery FL 2241 aaa 4 0001 0006 00 Dennis Garcia 4711 Nawhere 3 Wantavilke FL KA e Magnified e view 0001 0004 00 Eugene Been 4704 Kingtown St Flowery FL 33333 185 Staggered Tractor 1 2 21 36 163 41 1 98 3 66 usters oox 666 nville FL 138 Staggered Tractor 2 il Busters Box 666 ja onville FL 1 0 CKS 241 L P Ja 32 141 186 Lists Rate Classes Run 8 27 01 Wet Water Company Page 1 SUSENI Billing Rates Abbrey Name Computation Method Target Charge Proration Method Comp Order Base Extra Surcharge Maximum Source Meter Flat Amount hack backflow 3 4 Flat Amount Backflow None 12 50 00 Low Limit To High Limit Base Extra Flat Per Unit Up to 0 00 0 00 0 00 0 00 and Above 0 00 0 00 ate Late Fee Overdue Amount Late Fee None 1 Low Limit To High Limit Base Extra Flat Per Unit Up to 5 00 0 00 0 00 5 00 and Above 0 00 0 00 3 00 ulti Maulti Famil Metered Usage Water None 6 Water Low Limit To High Limit Base Extra Flat Per Unit Up to 13 5 32 5 32 4 14 2 040000 13 to 23 5 32 5 32 12 30 2 7 20000 23 and Above 5 32 5 32 42 00 4 070000 PSTS _ PST Sewer Current Charges PST None 14 Low Limit To High Limit Base Extra Flat Per Unit Up to 0 00 0 00 0 00 0 00 and Above 0
3. Combine Ale i P Gombine Tash Wb Leon combine Interest Accrual Interest Rate Accrual Categor 0 0000 Backflow Prior Mest 4 A charge name may be flagged to be skipped when automatically distributing payments The Payment Order may be set to zero blank which will disable automatic distribution of any payment to this category When viewing the list of charge names in Setup Lists Charge Names the Pay Order column will be blank for any such charges Ifthe list is displayed in payment order sequence by clicking on the Payment Order Tab any such charges will not appear in the list 33 This option will disable only the automatic payment distribution from using this charge when determining the default payment distribution shown to the user It may still be overridden by manually distributing a payment to the charge name When bills are printed any charge category for which there are no charges and does not have the Print Name box checked will be printed as a blank space maintaining the print position of subsequent charges The Cash In account will continue to receive all receipts entered into the system but will not be used by deposit refund transactions When deposits are refunded the Cash Out account will be credited for the deposit refunded If the Cash Out account is empty the Cash In account will be used When outstanding balances are paid from deposits the Cash Out
4. 1 1 2 commerical billing report park 6 21 2000 2 47PM 2 commercial billing park 6 21 2000 2 46PM 3 4 X 5 3 Commerical Billing park 6 21 2000 2 43PM Billing Report park 1 29 2001 3 51PM Commercial Billing Report park 1403 2001 12 16PM Edit List park 42 27 2000 11 244M 1 25 2001 12 26 2000 11 25AM 1 03 2001 1219PM sf Record 9 of 13 Export Import Close On the General Tab fill in the accounts to be used and tab to the date range The dates to be used should be the dates used when computing such as March 1 Click on Process and Print to run the report When the report is printed to your screen press the button with the picture of the printer on the preview bar and the report will print to the laser printer Click on Cancel to come out of that window After the report has been reviewed you are ready to print bills 135 To load the bill cards to the printer for printing start with the card that has the star on the left side and fit that into the tractors feeders Then push the Load Button which will position the paper bill card at the right height Make sure you are using the Courier 10 font and the 10 pitch selection and the Online light is on Go to File Print Setup select the Generic Text Only Printer and tab to the Source line and select the Continuous No Page Br option Then your program is ready to print to the Panasonic printer See a sample
5. General Record Source Rate Class Multiplier Late Fee ji Extra Percent Extra Charge 0 0000 0 00 43 The Record Tab shows you when the information was created Label Formats Go to Setup Lists Label Formats To enter your own label definitions press the Insert Button and set the fields to your own preferences To change existing labels either delete them or press the Change Button Click OK when done amp Adding a Labels Record x General Label Type l Page width O00 Page Height joo Label width 000 Label Height 000 Top Margin joo Lett Margi joo Font Size jo Cancel Help Print Mailing Labels Go to Activities Print Mailing Labels The label formats are user defined but are only available for printing with Supervisor access You have the option of using either the billing or service address or based on rate classes Printed on the labels are account number and the customer mailing address Labels may be printed for a specified range of account numbers and limited to specified billing cycles The customer name is printed on the first line of the label and the In Care Of line on the second line If an address line is blank the line is suppressed and subsequent lines are moved up A zipcode order option is available 44 The zipcode will depend on the address selected to print on the labels The printing order will be by zipcode of the address selected Choose Use or Igno
6. J Address ServiceParcel Z Address Service Route Number Address Servicestte T os Address ___ Service Street Addr Address Service Consumed You may edit or insert new categories and information by highlighting existing ones and pressing the Change Button or adding new information by pressing the Insert Button Edit Custom Data Field ine ooo 0 000 E EXI I ere oe Enter a Type Width and Depth Click on OK when finished You may view when this information was created on the Record Tab 91 Charge You are now ready to compute the charges on the i meters Go to Activities Charge Computations Computations Compute Charges x General Options Account Range Biling Cycles Rate Classes pete Label 0001 0001 00 A VATER OCEAN FRONT VWATER BUSINESS VWATER BHY Endin 0003 041 79 00 Insertion Treatment CC Billing Date Jo222200 RE RESIDENTIAL RR OCEAN FRONT RE APARTMENTS Computation Results Compute All Ignore All a VWATER BHY COLLINS a Reason Skipped If Any Group Processing Individual Processing Cancel Charges for customer accounts that have more than one meter will compute even 1f there is no reading for one of the meters The charge is based on the consumption on the meters that were read Two readings are required to determine consumption The start date for the customer account i
7. Sequence Increment 10 af Upload File Upload Report File Results New Reading Results Problems Cancel Print Upload Reports Go to Activities Meter Reading Entry Use EZRoute Hand Units Print Upload Reports You may also print the upload report at Reports Standard Reports Upload Reports Make Download List Go to Activities Meter Reading Entry Use Badger Dialog Hand Units Make Download List Create Download List PE E3 General Account Range Billing Cycle 1 of 1 Scheduled Read Date oti Label Status 0001 0009 00 A Use 3 TERE t IV Overwrite existing file if any Endin 0006 0245 01 Download File IV Show rejected accounts in results list Results Account Notes Cancel Invensys Hand Units 86 Process Meter Readings Go to Activities Meter Reading Entry Use Badger Dialog Hand Units Process Meter Readings Enter the Upload File and Upload Report File names Press the Process Button Process Upload List PE x Reading Date Prior A far 3 2001 E P Allow Resequence General Upload File Em adstsd Upload Report File Jasdfsa Results New Reading Results Problems Cancel Print Upload Reports Go to Activities Meter Reading Entry Use Badger Dialog Hand Units Print Upload Reports You may also print the upload report at Reports Standard Reports Upload Reports Go to Activities Meter Reading Entry Use I
8. Year to Date Summary Go to Report Specialty Reports Year to Date Summary The Year to Date Summary Report excludes reversed transactions and may be printed for any 12 month period by specifying the beginning month of the reporting period The first month of the period will be assumed to be in the year of the current system date unless the month is after the month of the system date in which case it will be the prior year The report may be printed for any historical 12 month period by setting the system date back The range of dates used by the report will be printed in the report header Press the Process and Print Button See a sample of this report Profile Report Go to Reports Specialty Reports Profile Report This report contains some extra Profiles to Print boxes to check if you want to include them in the report There are also 2 other boxes to check directly below them which are not found on the other reports namely Start Each Section and Use Multipliers Auto Group On the Rate Groups Tab type in the names of the groups The Auto Group Button supplies you with them automatically Profile Report PE x General Rate Groups erint Preview Rate Group 1 of 16 Late Fee Sewer Com sewer 1 1 2 Sewer 5 8 X 3 4 State Tax Vater Auto Group Process and Print Process and Discard Cancel 146 Press the Process and Print Button See a
9. 141 Exception Reports Go to Reports Standard Reports Exception Reports They generally deal with consumption and are used as a tool to identify customers whose readings show they used a large amount of water exception to the norm The cause could be improperly read meters leaks or simply high usage These reports will help them head off problems Highlight the report to print Press the Process and Print Button to print Browse Exception Reports PE x Report Title creator Date and Time Report Tite Crested By Date Time Bill Printing esate eS MS naaa 229M W Bill Printing IMS 1110241999 3 09PM Bill Printing Park 11 304999 11 03AM Bill Printing Park 11 304999 1 27PM Bill Printing Park 01 05 2000 4 20PM Bill Printing Park 01 05 2000 5 44PM Bill Printing Park 0140 2000 11 334M Bill Printing Park 0140 2000 11 344M Bill Printing Park 0140 2000 11 354M Bill Printing Park 01 24 2000 2 24PM sf Report Title TT Record 1 of 184 See a sample of this report Upload Reports Go to Reports Standard Reports Upload Reports Choose from the following 4 reports Trakker 9440 Upload Reports ltron Upload Reports E Rioute Upload Reports Badger Dialog Upload Reports Make sure that you have the correct Upload File name and the report checked that you want Press the Process Button when you are ready to print Spe
10. Changing a Letter x General Text FDATI SBNAM CCHG Please note that there is Balance Due on your account This amount will be sent to Claims if not paid by 5701 02 Thank you System Administrator zl Cancel P Help Print Form Letters by Customer Go to Activities for printing form letters and maintaining records of letters and inspections This is fully integrated with Utility Billing but is only available with Supervisor access It is a general purpose facility that will print by account number or zip code with filters for account number and billing cycle Closed accounts will be skipped The module is specifically intended for address record keeping and customer notification requirements for anti backflow devices but parts of the facility particularly the letter writing capability may prove useful elsewhere The data files consist of a letters file letter history file meter device file inspector file and inspection history file A filter is available for the minimum and maximum balance Ifa value is placed in either the Minimum or Maximum field letters will be printed only for accounts whose current balance falls within the specified range If the fields are left blank the list will not be filtered by balance Note that the balance in question is the total amount owed by the account at the time the letters are printed without regard to whether the balance is current late overdue or past due 46 The
11. Lounaan h WHE O II Il rrj H o o pe ee ae O TEL eT Screens 0 lt a Using the T command will bring up the first TITLE PAGE ONE of the three title pages Each page is displayed Version 04 for ten seconds or until you press the ENTER key Release 5 304 After the final page has been shown control is Touch lt ENTER gt returned to either the Meter Reading screen or i the Hookup screen Like the query screens the title screens are _____ designed to show information on the hand unit s TITLE PAGE TWO show data that is subject to frequent change while User lt lt lt ID gt gt gt the title screens show information that is set by Touch lt ENTER gt _ the user and then left alone nl On page one version and release identify which set of hand held programs are being used Page two shows the name of this particular unit TITLE PAGE THREE represented as lt lt NAME gt gt in the diagram and the Date MM DD YY initials entered by you back on the Identification Time HH MM screen Page three gives the current date and time Touch lt ENTER gt _ according to the hand unit s internal clock Note that the time is kept on a 24 hour military clock which is easier for computers to work with operational setup However the query screens Unit lt lt NAME gt gt Default Direction Screen SS Entering the V command at the Meter Reading Forward t
12. Endin 0003 01 79 00 J Skip closed accounts IV Generate Exception Report Include rejected accounts in results summary Processing Results Billing Cycles Label Status fF A Use Use Process and Update Process and Discard Cancel When a payment greater than the amount owed is posted to an account the result is a credit balance In most utility billing systems credit balances are fairly common They are usually the result of a customer planning to be out of town for an extended period and has prepaid on their bill so they won t become delinquent in their absence 111 If you are entering the payment manually you will have to distribute the overpayment to some charge category You could distribute the payment to the most frequently used charge category such as water This would of course result in a credit balance in the water charge category It would eventually be consumed as new charges are subsequently billed to that category But there is a better way to handle credit balances You can designate a charge category as the repository for overpayments The date used is the late date stored in the customer record which is updated whenever charges are computed for the customer This has no effect on payments already entered but all payments will result in a late charge if paid after the late date even if it pays the entire current balance This process will automatically apply any credit balances in the
13. INFORMATION MANAGEMENT SERVICES INC Utility Billing User s Manual 2001 Information Management Services Inc All rights reserved Reproduction adaptation or translation without prior written permission is prohibited except as allowed under the copyright laws First Edition July 2001 Version 6 16q Warranty The information contained in this document is subject to change without notice Information Management Services makes no warranty of any kind with regard to this material including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose Information Management Services shall not be liable for errors contained herein or for incidental or consequential damages in connection with the furnishing performance or use of this material Information Management Services Inc P O Box 3720 Ormond Beach FL 32175 386 677 5073 Table of Contents Getting Started Welcome System Requirements Installation of Updates Windows Basics for 95 98 NT Users Windows 95 98 NT Internet Users Windows Skills You ll Need Getting Organized System Date Security Configuration List Setup Day to Day Use How to Use Utility Billing Customers Meter Reading Rollover Trakker 9440 Hand Units Itron Hand Units EZRoute Hand Units Badger Dialog Hand Units Invensys Hand Units Run Consumption Report Charge Computations Billing Notices Late Notices Reprinting Enteri
14. Ignore Add Check Edit Check Void Check Reconcile Kill Check Prior Net V Cancel Insert Rate Change Rate Delete Rate 69 On the Rates Tab you may insert change or delete information about a rate including surcharges proration information and multiplier information When a rate is deleted the name of the deleted rate is logged All changes to any field in this file are logged by field name If the customer is coded as outside city limits the charge computed for that rate will be increased by the percentage specified in the surcharge field If the customer is coded as inside city limits the surcharge will not be applied Update Account 0001 0001 00 Darlene Hamberger General Personal Notes Meters Transactions Selected Details Rates wiork Orders Record Rate Class 1 of 6 Rete Class Name Mut Extra Pct ExtraFee Balance Payment Amount Status a Late Fee ra 0 0000 0 00 Use Water 5 8 X 3 4 x1 0 0000 0 00 PST Vater x1 0 0000 0 00 PST Sewer x1 0 0000 TA Use State Tax Sewer x1 0 0000 0 00 E Use State Tax Vater x1 0 0000 0 00 J Use zi Insert Rate Change Rate Delete Rate Type pee Residential Inside City Limits Commercial Outside City Limits Other Prior Neto Cancel To edit highlight the entry and press the Change or Delete
15. T Title screens 3 pages of title data are shown then the program resumes V Movement vector F4 Enter data ona Choose default dir found meter After ection of movement data is entered the through accounts route is resumed List Comments Screen The comment listing mode operates exactly like the help mode described above All of the ninety eight standard comments are shown four per screen lt F3 gt prev screen along with the two special action codes 0 and 99 Due to the limits of screen size the comments are lt ENTER gt quit truncated to sixteen characters in length so that the number of each comment may be shown on the left side of the screen LIST COMMENTS lt F2 gt next screen and Enter Service Memo Screens The R and M commands allow you to add comments from the standard comment list to an Enter Remark STI Enter change or delete a comment for this account Comment code account as well as erase existing comments The main difference between remarks and service memos is that remarks are made a permanent part of the account s record when they are uploaded whereas 224 service memos appear on the upload reports and are I then discarded Both are drawn from the same list Enter change or of standard comments in the unit s memory files delete service memo To exit from either of these screens w
16. The main difference between remarks and service memos is in how they are treated by the host computer Service memos are printed on the reports but are not otherwise saved in any way Remarks are made a permanent part of the account s header record O Display account s prior period old reading Entering this command letter selects the Old Reading display mode for line two of the Meter Reading screen The other two display modes for line two display modes for line two are Remark and Memo See the R and M commands for more information about these modes P Move to the previously displayed account This command is similar to but not the same as the B command The B command allows you to move sequentially through the list of accounts in the order that they are stored in the hand unit The P command takes you directly back to the account that was being viewed right before the current account For example while viewing account 12 5 you used a search command The search skipped over many intermediate accounts and took you to account 12 32 If you now use the F or B commands they will take you to accounts 12 33 or 12 31 but if you use the P command it will return you to 12 5 QO Query the hand unit s internal condition counters The query pages display two different sets of internal counters The first query page shows the count of read versus unread meters The second page shows the count of accounts that
17. 0001 0001 00 Account Number Service Address Service Period 12 21 00 to 1 21 01 Statement Date 6 06 01 rasa eo Due Date 2 21 01 isabeth Eaker Past Due Amount None 4700 Superior St Total Amount Due Cr 332 77 Anywhere FL 33 Amount Enclosed Return To Wet Water Company 25 First Avenue North L Address change noted on reverse side Tide FL 183 Letter Size Laser 3 Statement Wet Water Company Account Number 0001 0001 00 Charge Summary Statement Date 6 06 01 Previous Balance Cr 379 00 service Address 4700 Superior St Payments Received None service Period 12 21 00 to 1 21 01 Current Charges 46 23 Past Due Amount None Total Amount Due Cr 332 77 Due Date 2 21 01 Eo a Mis era FL l Usage History Service This Month LastMonth Year Ago Water V7 13 D Meter Readings Semice Previous Latest Used Date Read Water 3307 3324 V7 1 21 01 Current Charges Water 42 42 PST 0 81 Late Fee 3 0C Notes Please detach and return the bottom portion with your payment Service Address 4700 Superior St Account Number 0001 0001 00 Service Period 12 21 00 to 1 21 01 Statement Date 6 06 01 Se Due Date 2 21 01 isabeth Eaker Past Due Amount None 4700 Superior St Total Amount Due Cr 332 77 eee FL 33333 Amount Enclosed L Address change noted on reverse side
18. C DecemberS Monthly 30 days D December 11 Monthly 30 days Monthly 30 days P January 1 Monthly 30 days Monthly 30 days 4 F Cycle Record 1 of T Insert _change Delete Close 164 The starting date for each billing cycle is controlled by its Starting Month and Day fields in combination with the Duration field Note that Starting Month and Day refers to the first full billing cycle of the year not to the current cycle If a billing cycle is set up with a start date of January 15 and a duration of Monthly then the first full billing cycle of the year runs from January 15th through February 14th The second cycle of the year runs February 15th through March 14th the third cycle spans March 15th through April 14th and soon This pattern continues through to the last billing cycle of the year which would run from December 15th through January 14th If the duration were changed to Bi monthly the first cycle of the year would run from January 15th through March 14th the second cycle would span March 15th through May 14th and so on Meter Readings and Billing Cycle Dates For a meter reading to be considered current its date must place it within the current billing cycle For example If the current billing cycle runs from July 20th through August 19th then only meter readings with a date of July 20th through August 19th belong to the current cycle Any meter readings with a d
19. External meter number 1 Internal Sensus pit probe meter number Before making the selection it is helpful to understand the differences between these meter number types The external meter number is the identifi 22 cation number actually stamped or otherwise indicated on the meter case It is the number most often thought of and used when people say meter number Every meter has an external number By contrast only certain types of meter have an internal number Internal numbers are stored electronically within the meter and are used by some automatic meter reading equipment like the Sensus pit probe gun It is usually not stamped or marked on the outside of the meter In fact it usually cannot even be detected without special equipment Not all accounts will have an internal meter number E Erase the current meter reading Using this command will cause any meter reading you have entered for this account to vanish Some internal counters are changed when a meter reading is erased To best see these changes examine the Query screen both before and after erasing a meter reading If the account had no meter reading this com mand will have no effect F Move forward to next account This command brings up the account that lies just after of the present ac count in the hand unit s internal list of accounts If you are already at the very end of the internal list this command will wrap around to the first
20. Fill in the Consumption Range This report has an Ignore Multipliers Box you have the option of checking There are also Rate Classes and Rate Exemptions to mark with Use or Ignore 144 The Industry Class Breakdown Report prints a separate breakdown for water and sewer inside outside accounts The rate classes used to identify whether accounts are inside or outside city limits are hard coded and cannot be changed by the user Press the Process and Print Button See a sample of this report Date toDate Summary Go to Reports Specialty Reports Date toDate Summary The format is similar to the Year to Date Summary report except that it prints a single total by charge name for billings payments and refunds for a specified date range See a sample of this report Date to date Summary Report Of x General Print Preview Account Range Date Range TEENA innin Beginnin 8726 2002 E TOAN 0245 01 pasama I Show rejected accounts in results summary Processing Results Account Notes SS O Process and Print Process and Discard Cancel Route Number Breakdown Go to Reports Specialty Reports Route Number Breakdown Route Breakdown Report PE E General Print Preview nacre Range IE 7 Endin fooo6 0245 01 Show rejected accounts in results summary Processing Results Process and Print Process and Discard Cancel 145 Press the Process and Print Button See a sample of this report
21. General Editing This record was 9 01AM by park times since then performed on 3 2 park Address Editinc This record was 9 02AM by park times since then performed on 10 IMS Address Editint This record was 9 04AM by park edited only once performed on 3 2 park Meter Editing This record was 9 02AM by park times since ther performed on 5 C park Type Code New Hand New Hand New Hand New Hand New Hand New Hand New Hand New Hand New Hand New Hand ACH Direct debit Active Meter Backflow General Buttons wf Apply g Change if rrr Change All Close i el Delete 199 Glossary Ach Direct Debit withdrawal is a system whereby a file containing a list of customers including their bank number account number and amount owed are transmitted to a bank and in turn the various customer accounts are debited for the amount of their utility bill and the utility s bank account is credited with the total amount The payment is applied to the customer account at the time the file is created and a report is printed listing the transactions The definition of an active meter is one that belongs to an active account that does not have the duplicate flag set does not have a date removed and is related to an active metered service A device that is attached to a meter to prevent the backflow of water sewage into the house This item 1s noted in the Customer Window under the Meter Tab
22. Go to Setup Lists Charge Names You may sort the information by 5 tabs The box to find things with on the bottom left hand corner will change according to the tab you select The category tab has 4 selections Standard Fee Deposit Cash Out and the original cash account has been renamed to Cash In When payments are distributed automatically a consistent procedure is followed to allocate the payment to the outstanding charges The order in which payments are applied is user defined Current charges and previous charges brought forward are totaled separately The amount of the payment is then applied to the previous charges in the specified payment order If there is remaining undistributed payment it is then applied to current charges in the specified payment order If any payment remains it is applied to the charge category specified for overpayments If a payment is made on an account that has a zero or credit balance the entire payment is applied to the overpayment charge category if one has been specified If a category has not been specified it will be applied in payment order according to the current charges of the latest billing period If the print name is checked on the General Tab after the Change Button is pressed the charge name will be printed If not the amount will be printed without a name on the assumption that the charge name is preprinted on the bill form This also allows for a mix of blank and preprinte
23. It was added to accommodate an individual user It is available for all to use but not recommended because it will not be enhanced in future releases The other letter laser forms provide more options and should be used instead The header is centered This has the capability of printing meter readings and consumption for a second metered service 103 Each is enclosed in a box The box will not be printed if there is no text The text will be the same for all accounts and will be saved between print runs The text is entered on the Messages Tab of the bill printing setup window Go to Activities Billing Notices Print Billing Forms to the Messages Tab The Note and Footer special message entry forms will appear only when the form type is set to Letter Laser 1 There is also a Meter Reading box The Meter Reading and Current Charges boxes change size to fit each customer On the Print Preview Tab select the Preview Method and Initial Display Late Notices Print Late Notices Go to Activities Billing Notices Print Billing Forms Check the Late Notices box You may Process and Print on any one of the 5 tabs when you have the information entered in See this under Billing Forms On the General Tab fill in the Beginning and Ending accounts you want to print late cards for and tab to the Print Order and select which order your cards should be printed in either account number or zip code Tab to the Minimum Balance and fill in a
24. Report The current deposit report has the option of printing a breakdown by boook and may be printed for specified rate classes The book breakdown is in the summary page and lists the total of all fees and deposits by book Ifa deposit was not paid all at once 138 the date printed will be the date of the most recent payment of the specified deposit Highlight the report to print Press the Change Button to make adjustments Press the Print Button to print It may be printed for a specified rollback date Ifa rollback date is specified the deposits listed will be as existed at the rollback date rather than the current date The tracking number of the deposit payment is included in this report When the field selected for the report detail is category Deposit Balance field Category Breakdown the breakdown will include a new column to the right containing the tracking number if any The order of columns in this detail is deposit name deposit amount deposit date and tracking number If there is no deposit date value there will be no tracking number because the tracking number is that of the same transaction from whence came the deposit date the payment transaction for the deposit See a sample of this report Browse Current Deposits Report Formats PE x Title Report Title Last Used By Date rime a IS a H Current Deposits 3 06 2001 2 50PM i Report Title Record 1 of 1 Insert Change
25. When the meter is added a reading will also be added for the initial reading When the first actual reading is entered for the new meter charges can be computed for consumption on the new meter amp Update Meter Reading Ea General Record subsequent keadima Current Reading Type Code status Correction 7 Hana iF Use Readin Date sulle 550 Jan 3 2001 fa Estimate Previous keadinmg Recompute 66 If there is unbilled consumption on the old meter the duplicate flag should be left unchecked until after charges have been computed This will allow the account to be billed for consumption on the old meter and the new meter Once charges for the last reading on the old meter have been computed the duplicate flag should be set on the old meter This change in procedure eliminates the need to enter two readings for the new meter in order to compute charges for it On the Transactions Tab you may enter in information about each transaction such as bill specifications information about payments about bills about due dates You may use the Add Pay Add Bill Recompute Edit Trans and Reverse Buttons here Changing the date of record for billing and payment transactions requires Supervisor access New transactions are set to the current system date This prevents date keying errors resulting in transactions falling in a past or future accounting period Update Account 0001 0001 00 Elisabeth
26. after erasing a meter reading If the account had no meter reading this com mand will have no effect F Move forward to next account This command brings up the account that lies just after of the present ac count in the hand unit s internal list of accounts If you are already at the very end of the internal list this command will wrap around to the first account in the list Pressing the ENTER key without having typed anything is the same as using the F command H Review the Help screens Issuing this command will bring up the first of many help screens You may then move sequentially forward and backward through the list of help screens using the function keys F2 and F3 When you have seen enough and are ready to leave press the ENTER key Pressing any keys other than these three will have no effect L Review the list of standard comments A list of ninety eight predefined comments may be loaded into the hand unit from the host computer Two more comments are added to this list by the hand unit itself Comment number zero which 1s actually a command to erase an existing comment from an account and comment number ninety nine also a com 239 mand allowing you to type in your own remark for the current account Once you have entered the L command the first page of the comment list is displayed This page reminds you to use the F2 F3 and ENTER keys to move through the twenty five pages of comments that fol
27. back to the account that was being viewed right before the current account For example while viewing account 12 5 you used a search command The search skipped over many intermediate accounts and took you to account 12 32 If you now use the F or B commands they will take you to accounts 12 33 or 12 31 but if you use the P command it will return you to 12 5 QO Query the hand unit s internal condition counters The query pages display two different sets of internal counters The first query page shows the count of read versus unread meters The second page shows the count of accounts that have been uploaded versus accounts that have not yet been uploaded Accounts that have not yet been uploaded are referred to as unloaded accounts for brevity on the hand unit s display screen When the meter reading of an already uploaded account is changed either by erasing the current reading or by entering a new meter reading the account is removed from the uploaded list and restored to the unloaded list This is to show that another upload is needed in order to get the latest meter information into the host computer R Add change or delete a remark This command does two things Merely entering this command will change the display mode used by line two of the Meter Reading screen from Memo to Remark This change is automatic even if no memo number is entered The second action of this command is to allow you to enter a number f
28. but can have values from l to 9 This will be placed in byte position 41 of the batch header record Its purpose is to provide a prefix to the company identification field A field for Desired Settlement Date is also in the setup window This value is placed in byte positions 70 75 of the batch header record The format of the descriptive date in byte positions 64 69 of the batch header record is YYMMDD Different banks may require a different format Advise IMS if your bank requires a different format 115 Accrue Go to Activities Accrue Interest Fill in the Interest Compute and Apply Refunds Beginning and Ending Account Numbers the Control Dates and the Start and Stop Dates Choose Use or Ignore for the Billing Cycles Fees and Deposits You may edit the Rate and Receiving Charges The popup list of charge categories is available via the F3 Key as well as the right Mouse Button when selecting the receiving charge for deposit interest Compute Interest Ea m Account Range Biling Cycles posi EEE Name Staus Rate Receiving Charge r _A Use DEPOSIT VVATER Ignore 0 0000 Endin B Use DEPOSIT IRRIGATION Ignore 0 0000 0003 01 79 00 Control Dates Eligibility Date 272272000 Start Date 272272001 a a Computation Results Stop Date a e Notes E LEE DOO T Compute and Apply Compute and Discard Cancel When finished press the Compute and Appl
29. consider typing Palm instead of Palm note the blank 12 271 99 Ri dgecr est Rd space In this case the search window 12 5 101 Plalmet to Court would have been five characters wide not 2S9 110 Plalmet to Court four and success would not have come 12 9 1921 Palm Tree St until step six with account 12 9 as 12 10 77 Or ange Tree Rd shown at right Also remember that if Leh Apt i cal eee R either PALM or palm had been typed in 242 the search would have failed completely Search modes zero and eight next book and unread meters operate in a basically similar fashion but the search string is devised by the hand unit itself not typed in by the user I Display the title screens There are three title screens all of which show information about the hand unit s internal conditions These screens are most useful to check information which is usually set once and then left alone such as the hand unit s internal clock F1 Exit from the meter reading mode Using this key from the Meter Reading screen will return control to the Hookup screen F4 Record data on found meter When this function key is pressed the hand unit prepares itself to record information on a new meter that was not previously a part of the meter route You will be asked four questions to help identify the new meter The service address the name of the customer if known the type of meter water or gas fas and the meter s
30. note the difference between the words unloaded Uploaded 222 237 accounts have NOT had their meter readings sent the the host computer yet Search Sub Menu Screen There are nine different ways to search for an account in the hand unit The S command takes you to the sub menu screens that list the search modes Once in the search sub menus you may enter the number of the desired search mode even if it isn t listed on the current sub menu screen For example you may enter an 8 which is find next unread meter while on the first search page even though that option will not be visible until you reach the second page On the first page if you press ENTER without having typed anything the second page will be shown On the second page pressing ENTER without having OT Nxt bk 1 addr 0 2 Name 3 Meter 4 II Acct 5 Remark Search target 6 Rem ptr 7 Ser ptr 8 Unread Search target typed anything will return you to the Meter Reading screen 0 Next book in the memory file 1 Find specified service address 2 Find specified customer name 3 Find specified meter number 4 Find specified account number 5 Find specified remark string 6 Find specified remark pointer 7 Find specified service code pointer 8 Find next unread meter Title Screens Using the T command will bring up the first of the three title pages Each p
31. of this report Cash Receipts Reports Go to Reports Standard Reports Cash Receipts Reports The Cash Receipts Report prints a breakdown by book in the report summary page You may print by Account Number Date Order of Entry or Tracking Number Highlight the report to print Press the Change Button to make adjustments Press the Print Button to print See a sample of this report Browse Cash Receipts Report Formats Be E Title Report Title Last Used By Deposits park 706 2000 2 27PM h ao 0 2001 1 33PM r Collectio AS 2 26 2001 2 04PM wer PST park 1 30 2001 1 34PM ad al Report Title Record 3 of 4 Insert Change Delete L erie Export Import Close Refund Reports Go to Reports Standard Reports Refund Reports The Refund Report includes a breakdown by book in the report summary page Highlight the report to print Press the Change Button to make adjustments Press the Print Button to print See a sample of this report 136 Browse Deposit Refunds Report Formats PE x Title Report Title Last Used By Date al TTE a A Standard unknown al Report Title Record 1 of 1 Insert Change Delete erie Export Import Close Current Balance Reports Go to Reports Standard Reports Current Balance Reports This report locates accounts that have multiple balance records in the same category and contains a breakdown by book
32. the information that you are trying to find a match for You will be reminded that upper and lower case must fit This is because capital letters and little letters called upper and lower case in computer language are represented by different internal code numbers This means for example that the words PALM Palm and palm are all different to the hand unit because different code numbers are used to store them When entering the search string you may type in as many characters as you like but excess characters are always ignored A character is anything that can be typed in from the keyboard Upper and lower case letters numbers punctuation symbols and even blanks are all characters The maximum number of useful characters for each type of search is shown below Service address 19 Customer name 19 Meter number external 8 Meter number internal 8 Account number 9 Remark string 19 Remark pointer 2 Service memo pointer 2 When the hand unit searches for a match it masks off a field that is the same size as the search string you entered subject to the maximum sizes listed above It then begins its search with the account immediately following the current account and proceeds to the end of the list If no match was found it starts the search at the beginning of the list and searches until it has come back to the current account If still no match was found the search mask is shifted one character to t
33. 00 0 00 2 000000 PSTW PST Water Current Charges PST None 13 Reports Pending Refund Report Pending Refunds Report Parameters Wet Water Company 4 15 2001 5 00PM Printed by IMS Account Range 0001 0001 00 to 0001 0111 00 Billing Cycles Skip Closed Accounts Yes A iiia Pay Balance from Refund Yes Minimum Overpay for Refund 0 00 Minimum Refund Check 0 00 187 Refund Checks 5 Six Dollars and Seventy Seven Cents 0445 2001 6 77 Elisabeth Eaker 4700 Superior St Anywhere FL 33333 Account Deposit Refund 0 00 Check Number 5 0001 0001 00 Paid to Balance 0 00 Overpayment Refund 6 77 Total Refund 6 77 Consumption Reports Consumption Report Parameters Wet Water Company Multifamily report l 7419 2001 12 58PM Printed by IMS Account Range 0001 0001 00 to 0001 0008 00 Route Number Two Rate Classes Billing Cycles Date Range 07 19 2000 to 07 19 2001 Blank Ignore Blank Use Late Use A Use Print Order Account Number Ignore Inactive Use SewCom Ignore Summary Only Ho Ignore VACANT Use Sew 5 Ignore Estimates Only Ho Ignore inactive Use Sew5is ignore Ignore vacant Use Sewer Ignore Sore Wu oia Unusual use filters er gnore Include accounts with no readings No ipare Water3 Ignore Below average consumption nia 4 aneis al re Above average consumption nia 2 ignore waters ali Lower consumption limit nia 3 Ignore back g Use Upper consumption limit n a 4 ignore PST Ignore 5 ignore PSTS ignore 6 Ignore TaxS Ignore 7 Ignore
34. Apply Button Apply the change immediately Change Button Change the access level for the highlighted item Change All Button Change the access level for all items Close Button Close this window Delete Button Delete selected entry 200 a Edit Edit Button View or change selected entry T Help Help Button Help on this window EE Insert Insert Button Add a component to this asset OK Button Save changes and close window HE k Quit Quit Button Abandon changes and close window w Spell Spell Button Spell checking is available for users that have Microsoft Word installed on their computer Ifa Spell Button appears on the window it means Word is present If the button does not appear either Word is not present or is an incompatible version Special Buttons Auto Group Auto Group Button This button supplies you with groups automatically under the Profile Report Rate Groups Tab Enter Readings Button Enters the meter reading information into the account Export Export Button Exports information to a location chosen by the user Filter and Apply Button Filters the information and then applies it to the account Fiter and Discard Filter and Discard Button Shows the information with the filters but does not apply permanently to account Individual Processing Group Processing ort Mest 4 Imp Net Pre Prior lt gt Process and Print Process and Di
35. Court four and success would not have come 12 9 1921 Palm Tree St until step six with account 12 9 as 12 10 77 Or ange Tree Rd shown at right Also remember that if 12 12 Apt E OEE R either PALM or palm had been typed in the search would have failed completely Search modes zero and eight next book and unread meters operate in a basically similar fashion but the search string is devised by the hand unit itself not typed in by the user Search mode nine also has one special con sideration Since Sensus meter numbers are always eight characters long any search string that is not exactly eight characters long will be ignored same as pressing ENTER without having typed anything at all T Display the title screens There are three title screens all of which show information about the hand unit s internal conditions These screens are most useful to check information which is usually set once and then left alone such as the hand unit s internal clock y Change the default direction of traverse After a reading has been successfully entered or when just ENTER has been pressed at the Meter Reading screen the hand unit advances to display the next account The direction of traverse that is which way the hand unit looks when next is specified is under user control This command brings up 231 an editing screen where the default direction vector can be changed There are only two options forward or b
36. Date 2 21 01 Statement Date 6 06 01 Past Due Amount None service Address 4700 Superior St Total Amount Due Cr 332 77 Service Period 12 21 00 to 1 21 01 Elisabeth Eaker 4700 Superior St Sl elt FL 33333 Meter Readings Notes Service Previous Latest Used Date Read Water 3307 3324 Pe 1 21 01 Current Charges Water 42 42 PST 0 81 iLate Fee 3 00 Charge Summary Previous Balance Cr 379 00 Account Number Service Period 12 21 00 to 1 21 01 Statement Date 6 06 01 Sern Due Date 2 21 01 isabeth Eaker Past Due Amount None 4700 Superior St Total Amount Due Cr 332 77 Anywhere FL Amount Enclosed L Address change noted on reverse side Return To Wet Water Company 25 First Avenue North Tide FL 182 Letter Size Laser 2 Wet Water Company Account Number 0001 0001 00 Due Date 2 21 01 Statement Date 6 06 01 Past Due Amount None Service Address 4700 Superior St Total Amount Due Gr3 2 Z7 Service Period 12 21 00 to 1 21 01 Elisabeth Eaker To popan St Current Charges E ae Water 42 42 PST 0 81 Late Fee 3 00 Meter Readings Service Previous Latest Used Date Read Water 3307 3324 VF 1 21 01 Notes Charge Summary Previous Balance Cr 379 00 Current Charges Payments Received Past Due Balance Total Current Balance Chae re None 46 23 None Please detach and return the bottom portion with your payment 4700 Superior St
37. Display the search sub menu and select a target to search for This command has a two page sub menu of nine different things that you may search for Type in the number of the item that you wish to be the target and press ENTER Typing in something not on the list will return you to the Meter Reading screen The nine search targets are 0 Look for first account in next book 1 Search for a particular service address 2 Search for a particular customer name 3 Search for a particular meter number 4 Search for a particular account number 5 Search for a particular remark string 6 Search for a particular remark pointer 7 Search for a particular service memo pointer 8 Look for the next record without a meter reading If you select search options one through seven you will next be asked to type in the search string the information that you are trying to find a match for You will be reminded that upper and lower case must fit This is because capital letters and little letters upper and lower case in computer language are represented by different internal code numbers This means for example that the words PALM Palm and palm all look different to the hand unit because different code numbers are used to store them When entering the search string you may type in as many characters as you like but excess characters are always ignored A character is anything that can be typed in from the
38. Eaker Closed on 5 03 2001 Be E3 General Personal Notes Meters Transactions Selectea Details Rates work Orders Record Current Balance Transaction 1 of 1 Billing Hand Bill Printed 5 22 2001 T Reprint Late Printed 4452001 Reprint Total 332 77 Cutoff Printed Billed To T Reprint Due Date Lie 44 4 Ifinciviuel fRetuna gt J gt gt nf Add Pay Add Bill Recompute Edit Tran Reverse Prior Next V OK Cancel 2 22 2001 The Recompute Button will recompute the average consumption for the current meter It is not automatically updated This option is available to users with update or higher access The computation will use every reading in the database The Transaction column to the far left should be the latest Billing transaction click on that column and then use the Edit Tran Button on the bottom of the column which will bring up the window showing the billing transactions and how they were applied 67 Tab to the Value charge that should be changed and fill in the amount to be changed to 1 e if you need to take off the late fee tab to that amount hit the space bar tab again and the late fee is removed if you need to make the water charge 23 instead of 25 tab to the water charge of 25 and type in the 23 Add Pay The Add Pay Button on the customer transactions tab doesn t do all th
39. Help D on the Help Display toolbar to get technical support answers to frequently asked questions and late breaking tips yj User s Manual Go to Help View User Manual This is the manual in pdf format which requires Adobe Acrobat to view See the website for a free download link to this program on the homepage under View and Print Product Manuals 14 The manual is set up so that each main category is to the left side each function of the program to the right is Bolded and Underlined Fields of information and the path i e File Setup are typically bolded so that you may recognize them easily The explanation steps are directly below it The manual attempts to follow the natural progression of steps the user would normally take when running the program If in doubt always look to the Index for the topic and hyperlink jump from one point of the document to another from the page number of the item you seek Use the Go Back Button to return to where you were last First Steps When setting up the Utility Billing system there are important decisions to be made before any data is added to the database One of these is assignment of the two user defined fields User Keyl and Key2 in the customer record Each of the fields is 16 characters in length and can be numeric or alphabetic You activate these fields by assigning a title to the field in the configuration window Once a title has been assigned to the field it wi
40. Included Charge Categories Rate Classes Billing Cycles Water Standard Use Late Use A Use Sewer Standard Use SewCom Use PST Standard Use Sew 6 Use Late Standard Use Sen5 3 Use Sen Non Refundable Use Sewer Use CutOft Standard Use hulti Use House Standard Use Water4 Use Bkflowy Non Refundable Use Waters Use Dep Refundable Use Water Use BadChk Standard Use Water Use Tamper Standard Use waters Use CutOn Standard Use back Use CR Standard Use PSTwW Use PSTS Use TaxS Use Taxi Use 190 Current Deposit Report Deposits Fees Report Parameters Hotville Water Company Current Deposits 8 26 2002 3 57PM Account Range 00010003 00 to 0001 0023 00 Charge Categories Rate Classes serv Non Refundable Ignore Late Print Order Account Number Bkflow Non Refundable Ignore SewCom Printed As Of 08 26 2002 Dep Refundable Use Sew1 5 Summary Only No Sews 9 Exclude Residential Accounts No Sewer Exclude Commercial Accounts No Multi Exclude Inside City Accounts No Water4 Exclude Outside City Accounts No Water3 Final Bill Accounts Only No Water2 Exclude Final Bill Accounts No picid Sewer Accounts Only No Wales Exclude Sewer Accounts No Paty PSTS Taxs Tax Work Order Report Work Order Report Parameters Wet Water Company Standard l 4 15 2001 5 57PM Printed by IMS Account Range 0001 0001 00 to 0001 0002 00 Work Order Types Rate Classes Billing Cycles Date Range 04 15 2001 to 04 15 2001 After Use Late Use A Use P
41. It may be printed in order of Service or Billing Street Address or Customer Name or Account Number Highlight the report to print Press the Change Button to make adjustments Press the Print Button to print The Utility Billing database maintains a current balance in each charge category for each customer account It also retains a list of transactions by customer account and charge category Each time a transaction is added the current balance in the appropriate charge category is updated Browse Current Balance Report Formats Title PReport Tile tat sed By Date Time Current Balance Report l iis anepoo 234PM m Past Due balances park 1 25 2001 11 254M Service Address park 99 2000 10 194M deposits park 706 2000 2 22PM a Report Title Record 1 of 4 Insert Change Delete erie Export Import Close With this system the balance at any time in the past can be calculated by starting with the current balance and playing back the transactions in reverse order until the desired date is reached The purpose of this utility This utility processes a large amount of data and thus takes a long time to complete its work The processing rate on a moderate size database runs about one second per account 137 is to perform a transaction playback for all accounts and find any that don t have a zero beginning balance A non zero beginning balance is usually the resul
42. One For an account with a consumption of 5 anda multiplier of 1 the water charge would be computed as follows 1 Compute Working Consumption Working Consumption Current Consumption Multiplier Working Consumption 5 1 Working Consumption 5 173 2 Consumption of 5 uses first line of Charge Table 3 Compute Fixed Charge Fixed Charge Base Extra Multiplier 1 Fixed Charge 3 2 1 1 Fixed Charge 3 4 Compute Consumption Charge Consumption Charge Flat Working Consumption Per Unit Consumption Charge 0 5 5 1 Consumption Charge 5 5 5 Compute Total Charge Total Charge Fixed Charge Consumption Charge Multiplier Total Charge 3 5 5 1 Total Charge 8 5 Since there is no Charge Limit steps 6 and 7 do not apply The total water charge for this account is 8 50 Example Two For an account with a consumption of 50 and a multiplier of 10 the water charge would be computed as follows 1 Compute Working Consumption Working Consumption Current Consumption Multiplier Working Consumption 50 10 Working Consumption 5 2 Consumption of 5 uses first line of Charge Table 3 Compute Fixed Charge Fixed Charge Base Extra Multiplier 1 Fixed Charge 3 2 10 1 Fixed Charge 21 174 4 Compute Consumption Charge Consumption Charge Flat Working Consumption Per Unit Consumption Charge 0 5 5 1 Consumption Charge 5 5 5 Com
43. Rate Button To add new rate information press the Insert Rate Button General Record Source Rate Class Multiplier start Date Close Date EE Extra Percent Extra Charge Delay until next period 0 0000 0 00 Continuous Proration Status E Use Ignore Insert Order Change Order Delete Order 70 Fill out the Source Rate Class Start and Close Date Extra Percent and Charge boxes Check the Multiplier section and the Status Decide if you would like to Delay until next period and or Continuous Proration On the Work Orders Tab you may insert change or delete information about a work order including comments on the work order and who is the party responsible for it The date a work order is printed is saved during the printing process and may be viewed or changed here General Personal Notes Meters Transactions Selected Details Rates Work Orders Record Work Order 0 of 0 3 Change Order Delete Order Update Work Order x General Record Work Order Number Work Order Type Begin Date Closed Date Date Printed BEI Premises visit fans2001 fanero 4715 2001 Assigned To Jim Beam Comment 7 to customers residence to turn off meter but they pay the balance due instead Cancel On the General Tab section of the Update Work Order window enter the Work Order Number Type Begin and Closed Date and Date Printed The Assigned To field desig
44. Send List Button Sends the comment list to the handheld unit Validator Close Closes the validator drawer Validator Open Opens the validator drawer Meter 2 Social Security Route Number Two Parcel 4 H a Accounts are color coded according to whether they are active dormant overdue These colors can be chosen by the user See Setup Configuration Colors Tab Amount of water sewer used by the consumer Readings are taken from a meter where the consumption takes place Dormant Meter Flag Prenote Proration Rounding 203 The definition of a dormant meter is the same as for an active one except it belongs to a dormant account Meters that have the duplicate flag set have a date removed or are not related to a metered service are not counted as active or dormant Marking an item for notice when the account 1s printed or otherwise processed Flags include Prenote Last Active Book etc When setting up for Direct Debit marking for Prenote on the transaction merely tests to see if all account and bank information is correct Once the account has been approved the prenote can be unchecked and subsequent transactions will actually take place Proration in the context of utility billing refers to the adjustment of charges for a period of time different than the normal period For example if a customer is billed at a rate of 30 per month for some service but used it for only 20 days the prorated charge mi
45. TH Awam Sneak Of as GATS Fir aa Melka H ee a720 Wasa Tide F Pies inun iha aud vih cored A weterturg War Corp i TI ewa Sneak ige PTAA GATS EEE Tete zw Balance Fanward Waer PST Piece iaun ies atu dh 179 Staggered Tractor 1 abeth Eaker Superior St r FL Cr 332 2 21 4766 Superior St Two Piece Tractor 1 0001 0001 00 4700 Superior S 122100 Elisabeth Eater 4700 Superior 3 Anywhere FL Pert a2a01 180 Two Piece Tractor 2 0001 0001 00 4700 Superior St 0001 0003 00 US 27 3324 3307 17 Wate 42 42 PST 0 81 Late 3 00 7417701 0001 0001 0 7717701 16 22 Ce 379 1 Cr 332 7 Cr 332 7 7417701 20 0 Elisabeth Eaker Tony Veal 4700 Superior St 400000 Wales St Anywhere FL tripville 33333 r 33333 Two Piece Tractor 4 Water 3324 01721 3307 42 42 PST 6 81 Late 3 66 BAL FWD Cr 379 66 6661 6661 66 DUE BY 2 21 61 C DUE AFTER 2 22 61 C DUE BY 2721701 Cr 332 77 DUE AFTER 2 22 61 Cr 332 77 Flicaheth Faker UFAA Sunerinor Ct Animheare FI 323333 0001 0001 08 Elisabeth Eaker 4700 Superior St Letter Size Laser 1 181 Wet Water Company 25 First Avenue North Tide FL 33333 Payments Received None Current Charges 46 23 Past Due Balance None Current Balance Cr 332 77 Please detach and return the bottom portion with your payment Service Address 4700 Superior St 0001 0001 00 Account Number O0001 0001 00 Due
46. Taxvy Ignore Billing Report 4 15 2001 5 48PM Account Range Date Range Print Order Types New Correction NSF Rebill Notes blank FAST Svc EMERG LATE 04 45 2001 to 04 15 2001 Account Number Summary Only No Use Use Use Use Use Use Use Use Codes Hand Automated Late Print Work Order New Acct Cash Receipts Report 4 15 2001 5 50PM Account Range Date Range Print Order Account Number Summary Only No Types Codes New Use Hand Correction Use Automated NSF Rebill Use Late Print Work Order New Acct Notes Cashiers blank Use IMS FAST Use Master SWC Use pak EMERG Use LATE Use Use Use Use Use Use 188 Billing Report Parameters Wet Water Company 0001 0001 00 to 0001 0001 00 Charge Categories Water Sewer PST Late Sev CutOff House Bkfl ovu Dep BadChk Tamper CutOn CR Multi Family Cash Receipts Report Parameters Wet Water Company Sewer Collection and Pst 0001 0001 00 to 0001 0001 00 04 15 2001 to 04 15 2004 Use Use Use Use Use Methods Cash Check Electronic From Deposit Interest Credit Card From Credit Use Use Use Use Use Use Use Use Use Use Standard Use Late Standard Ignore SewCom Standard Ignore Sew 6 Standard Use Seng Non Refundable Ignore Sewer Standard Ignore Multi Standard Ignore Water4 Non Refundable Use Waters Refundable Ignore Water2 Standard Ignore Water1 Standard Ignore water Standard Ignor
47. This is necessary because the meter number is used by the upload program to locate the meter If the Module field is empty the meter number will be put in the ID Expected field for Z meters as well as standard ones Create Download List PE E3 General Account Range Billing Cycle 1 of 1 Scheduled Read Date Beginnin Status 0001 0001 00 A Use Endin 0006 0245 01 V Overwrite existing file if any Download File Existing file will be overwritten kkjljljkl V Show rejected accounts in results list 901 meters processed 0 meters to be read 0001 0001 00 1 meter to download 0001 0002 00 1 meter to download 0001 0003 00 4 meter to download 0001 0004 00 4 meter to download 0001 0005 00 1 meter to download Cancel Process Meter Readings Go to Activities Meter Reading Entry Use EZRoute Hand Units Process Meter Readings This will process the upload list Badger Dialog Hand Units ze Badger Dialog Handheld Meter Readers use the Connect C format 85 F3 in the Upload and Upload Report File fields will help you find the names of the entries for those two fields Allow Resequence will allow the resequencing of meters Also select the Sequence Increment Process Upload List PE E3 General Metered Services Reading Date service Prior fA 4737200 Vater SKID pe ppitin Fuseesessesssesesssessessessessessessesssesessd
48. To change the display mode type in the To leave the current just press ENTER without typing Typing in anything other than a recognized mode will have no effect Service address mode Customer name mode Book account number mode Internal record number mode E f the help mode when you are finished F2 or ENTER keys will have no effect while in the some of the explanations run Unusually high use Do you want to re enter the reading Y N 0 Addr 1 Acct 2 Name 3 Rec Current mode 2 New display mode _ Pressing To be sure that you ve seen all there is to see using the F2 key L A D Display mode While walking route only Allows user to determine what data will be shown on top line of acct screen Choices are address amp rec acct name H Help screens List amp describe the commands needed to use this unit for a continuation of the rs Q Query Display count of read unread meters and number of previous uploads R Remark While on route only Enter a comment for the cur rent record S Search While walking route This menu allows user to select a topic to 236 L o L List comments Comments shown page B Backward While walking route only Show last account m search the account list for Searchin
49. a particular metered service such as water gas electricity etc This field has a hot key lookup into the metered services file to aid in making a selection Rate Class Setup Before proration can take place any rate class for which you want proration to occur must specify the proration type to be used Use Setup Lists Rate Class to select a rate class then press the Change or Insert Button Under the Proration label is a drop list of the proration types in your system Once you have selected a proration type you are ready to start prorating General Meters Record Rate Class Name Full and Abbr Target Charge Source Charges COMM MULTI UNIT OUT SWR16 SEVER OUT Charge Name fStatus a Computation Method Order Proration WATER OUTSIDE Use Current Charges zj 43 PARTIAL MON PYATER INSIDE Use SEVVER INSIDE Ignore Minimum Surcharge Charge Limit GARBAGE RESIDENTIAL Ignore 23 75 0 0000 0 00 TAX Ignore LATE FEE Ignore Optional Charge Preconversion Amount Ignore DEPOSIT WATER Ignore CREDIT BALANCE ignore f Charge Levels Low Limit_to_ High Lim _ Up to 0 00 125 000000 0 00 and above 125 000000 Prior Next V Cancel How it Works Now that you know how to set up a proration type let s walk through a charge computation to see how the settings affect the proration When charges are computed the charges for a prorated rate are first comp
50. account 12 2 1 and reached the current account again 12 7 5 it will shift 230 the search mask one character to the right and start over again This process will continue until it finally finds a match in step five Step one search fails Step two search fails again 2S 2 yk E 99 a Rd 2 2 1 9 9 Ri dgecrest Rd 12 5 101 Palmetto Court 12 5 1 01 P almetto Court TZET 110 Palmetto Court 12 7 5 1 10 Plalmetto Court 12 9 o Palm Tree St 12 9 ee Palm Tree St 12 10 77 O range Tree Rd 12 10 7 7 Orjange Tree Rd 12 12 zaa 9 Grapefruit R 12 12 o 9 Grapefruit R LO geSp three more tarlure Skep Live success At Last eo a 12 2 1 99 Rid gecrest Rd L7SZ1 99 R idge crest Rd LA 5 10 1 Pajilmetto Court 12 5 101 Palm etto Court L2 ieS i Pa lmetto Court 12 7 5 110 Palm etto Court 12 9 19 21 P alm Tree St 12 9 1921 Pal m Tree St L2 10 77 Ora nge Tree Rd 12 10 77 O rang e Tree Rd 12 12 a 9 Grapefruit R 12 12 Apt 9 G rapefruit R L In step five the hand unit searches from account 12 9 to the end of the list then starts over with account 12 2 1 at the beginning of the list When it reaches account 12 5 it has found its match As a second example consider typing a Palm instead of Palm note the blank Heels 99 Ri dgecr est Rd space In this case the search window 12 5 101 Pj almet to Court would have been five characters wide not Led oS 110 Plalmet to
51. and Initial Display 47 Press Process and Print to continue The Accounts will show up in the Processing Results box once you start processing Print Form Letter by Meter Go to Activities Print Form Letters This is only accessible with Supervisor access The second letter printing facility is for the backflow preventer management system Aside from selecting which letter to print there are only three controls to set up before printing is initiated with this program When printing letters by meter the last letter will be considered the last one specifically related to the meter whereas when printing by customer the last letter will be the last letter printed for the customer regardless of whether it was for a backflow preventer device or general purpose Letter Options of zx Installed or Last Inspected Before 02 00 Last Letter Sent ff20 00 Cancel Help To get the results you want from printing letters you need to understand exactly what these controls do You will find a checkbox labeled Device Installed If this is checked letters will be printed only for meters that have backflow preventer devices installed If it is not checked letters will be printed only for meters that do NOT have devices installed Note also that when this box is not checked the second control Installed or Last Inspected Before is not available because it is not applicable if there 1s no device If you enter a date in the In
52. and double click on it to run the installation following the instructions on the screen Remember to TYPE in which drive and directory you want the program to install into If you skip this step now you may view the documentation later in the program itself Windows Skills You ll Need 9 Updating from a disk Insert the Update disk 1 into drive A or drive B In Win 95 98 NT right click on My Computer select explore Highlight the drive A or B that the disk is in Find the file Setup exe and double click on it See the above installation instructions for Windows updates Insert Disk 2 and 3 when prompted In all of these installations you may choose to read the release notes which are essentially the latest update information and changes to the program Because the Utility Billing runs under Windows it is necessary for you to have certain Windows skills to be able to use it most effectively What follows is a very brief explanation of some of the skills that would be most useful in using your Utility Billing This is not intended to replace your Windows manual If any of these is not a skill you re comfortable with you ll want to refer to your Windows manual for a complete explanation Entering information on a screen When you are entering information into many fields on a screen such as when adding a license use the Tab Key to move to the next field and Shift Tab to move to the previous field When you ar
53. as shown below Compute Charges by Account Ei Account cycle 0001 0001 00 a Addresses iling Elisabeth Eaker 4700 Superior St Anywhere FL 33333 Reazon for Skipping lt Any Cancel When charges are computed for rate classes that have a minimum charge if the proration type associated with the rate is set to prorate the base amount then the minimum charge will be prorated as well General Record Type Source Reference New Hand Date Trackin Notes fain 5 2001 Billings Vater 115 89 42 42 158 31 Sewer PST 2 21 0 81 3 02 Late Fee 9 00 3 00 12 00 Service Charge OnOff Charge House visit Backflow Deposit Bad Check Charge af Totals 127 10 46 23 173 33 Cancel Compute Billing Notices Be aware that if there are charges in the category used as a placeholder the charge amount will be printed with no identifying name 93 Press the Compute Button to start computing the charges You will need to add a Tracking code and select a specialty Notes notation and Reference Press OK when finished All utility bill forms print account numbers in short format leading and trailing zeros suppressed There is flexibility in specifying the print position on certain bill forms When the charge names are on the bill form the charge amounts must always print on the same line This can be controlled by settin
54. calculate based on the meter read date and calculates the charges for readings from that date forward Readings that are entered with a date prior to the date in the billing cycle start date will not be picked up when the charges are computed 3 Browse Billing Cycle File Cycle Starting Day Length Ot a January 1 Monthly 2 30 days ols Cycle Record 1 of 1 Insert _ change Delete Close Tab to the Due field and type in how many days until the bills will be due 1 e 3 16 01 then tab to the Late field and put in what date you want to calculate the penalty on if they have not paid by that date such as 3 28 01 The dates that are used in the Due and Late fields will be added to each customers transaction file when the charges are computed for that cycle For details on this process see Billing Cycles Update Billing Cycle ei Ee General Record Billing Cycle Starting Month and Da Due El January Jh a fs AEH Duration Late honthly 30 days 5 znano Prior Mesct 4 Cancel The popup calendar The Due or Late date will always be equal to the start _ is available while oF the billing cycle plus the number of days until it is editing the date fields l changed again The program then looks at that late date on each customers transaction file When you run the Compute Late Charges Activities Charge Computations or if you compute them at your next 38 billin
55. change the items you want and press Copy Then hit OK once the main page shows up again It will insert a duplicate entry if you haven t changed anything So you might as well change it here while you have the opportunity to edit Otherwise you may simpley click on one of the duplicates and go in and edit it later Meter Reading 72 Vacate Move an Account General Address BE E Old Source Account Account Cycle Start Date Close Date Ja 4 2730 2002 Flags I Delete personal information H No Charges No Readings Delete full meter history Set Duplicate meter tag Keep transaction history Keep fee deposit history Keep check register Set Service Name Vacant Set Billing Name Vacant Set Billing Address Service Address New Destination Account Account Close Date Cycle Start Date foot 0007 01 a 4 Flags IV Copy personal information z te Seal oe I Copy latest meter reading Copy full meter history Set Duplicate meter fag C Keep transaction history C Keep fee deposit history Keep check register Set Service Name Vacant I Set Billing Name Vacant I Set Biling Address Service Address Erase Other Addresses IV Copy Other Addresses New account will be created Manual Entry Go to Activities Meter Reading Entry Manual Entry The other choices are for those customers using a handheld reading device and they upload rea
56. code enter too many characters only the first eight aAa will be remembered by the unit The purpose of this question is only to help provide a record of who used the hand unit last If you wait twenty seconds without pressing ENTER the hand unit will assume that you have forgotten about it and it will return to the Hookup screen Likewise it will return to the Hookup screen if you press ENTER without having typed anything Meter Reading Screen This is the most complex and often used of all lt lt lt lt lt LINE ONE gt gt gt gt gt the screens in the hand unit It s general format lt lt lt lt lt LINE TWO gt gt gt gt gt is as follows X lt NUMBER gt PT1 PT2 READING _ Line One This line will display either the service address account number customer name or the hand unit s internal record number pointer for this account The current setting of the display mode see the D command described below controls which of these four items is shown here When the address or customer name is on display remember that only the first nineteen characters are used by the hand unit Line two Displays either the remark the service memo or the prior period s meter reading for this account If the meter reading is being shown the number in line two will be prefixed with the label Old Read The old meter reading is always eight digits long with as many leading zeros as needed to pad i
57. cycle but after the late date for the previous cycle When charges are computed for the new cycle the balance could be paid in full but the payment might have been after the cutoff date The late date is determined by the late date of the prevailing billing cycle but the late date for the billing cycle may have been changed for the next billing Update Account 0001 0001 00 Elisabeth Eaker Be E3 General Personal Notes Meters Transactions Selected Details Rates Work Orders Record Current Balance Transaction 1 of 19 Charge Amount Action Billing Billing New New New New Late Print Late Print Late Print Late Print Billing Billing NSF Rehill Cash Bill Printed Date 45 2001 45 2001 45 2001 4415 2001 EE l Reprint Late Printed T Reprint f j 24 00 Total 0 00 Cutoff Printed RGE Billed To J Reprint 176 33 179 33 182 33 185 33 Due Date Taf aa 4 fincivicuar fan J gt 2 YH Add Bill Recompute Edit Tran Reverse Prior lt gt Next gt Cancel 212212001 In order to determine if a payment was made after the late date it is necessary to know the cycle late date that existed at the time of the payment Whenever charges are computed for an account the current late date for the cycle is saved in the customer record It can be viewed here When a payment is made in Activities Payment Entry the late date
58. dollar code variables for form letters have a current balance code which more correctly defines the value to be printed the current balance not necessarily the current charges There are also variables for late amount and overdue amount and credit balances in the late over or past due fields which print as None rather than a credit amount The only field for which a credit will be printed is current balance To review the distinction between the four balance variables Current is the total amount owed which could consist of current late over and past amounts Late is the amount that is late for the first time in the current billing period Over is the amount that was due at the time the current charges were computed Past is the amount that was already overdue at the time the current charges were computed Print Form Letters Bee General erint Preview Account Range Print Order mE Account Number Endin 0006 0245 02 Billing Cycles Letter Type Warning Letter ba V Show rejected accounts in results summary Processing Results Process and Print Process and Discard Cancel On the General Tab enter the Beginning and Ending Account Range the Print Order the Letter Type and use the spacebar to select from Use Ignore or Skip on the Billing Cycles Check the box to Show rejected accounts in results summary if you want this option On the Print Preview Tab select the Preview Method
59. each tab on the main customer window If the access level for the Customer Tab menu is set to No Access the security settings for the tabs will no longer function and access will be determined by the setting of the Customers item as before To enable this enhancement go to Setup Security Security Profiles EMA Wiking Sa ATAO Waar Sa Soe The Revise Button in the bottom right hand corner allows you to customize the list box layout Your options are either Fixed or Scrolling for the Status column General List Box Format Column Title status Width in Characters Current Default Account Singh 12 Phone o ooo Soin 14 Mame Scrolling 32 Address Scrolling 32 Zipcode OOOO Sooling 143 Meter 1 Soong 416 Meter 2 Scrolling 16 Social Securty Scrolling 16 i a Restore Defaults Restore Defaults The Restore Defaults Button will take your settings back to the original default settings i You can use the Up and Down Arrow Keys to scroll or your Arrow Keys on your keyboard To search for or sort customers you have 18 different tabs Social security number is one of the customer search keys The database will allow duplicates because it is possible for a person to have multiple properties each with a different utility account No warning will be given when an account is added with the same social security number as an existing account 53 For users that want to chec
60. forms Four piece Laser see Billing Forms See a sample of this form Staggered Tractor I See a sample of this form Staggered Tractor 2 See a sample of this form On the Print Preview Tab select the Preview Method and Initial Display Go to Activities Billing Notices Edit Reprint Bill Flag Enter the account range You will need to decide how to handle closed accounts whether to skip or not to Set or Clear the flag to Use or Ignore the billing cycles and to include rejected accounts or not When finished entering information press the Process and Apply Button and the accounts will appear in the box Entering Payments 105 Edit Reprint Bill Flag General Account Range New Flag Value Taal Billing Cycles Beginnin Set checked EE Clear no check Endin p E 0003 01 79 00 I Skip closed accounts 7 Include rejected accounts in results summary Processing Results Process and Apply Process and Discard Cancel Edit Reprint Late Notice Flag Go to Activities Billing Notices Edit Reprint Late Notice Flag See Reprinting Edit Reprint Cutoff Notice Flag Go to Activities Billing Notices Edit Reprint Cutoff Notice Flag See Reprinting Manual Entry Go to Activities Payment Entry Manual Entry Once you have printed the bills you are ready to enter new payments for the next billing cycle A warning message will be displayed if the Enter Payment Bu
61. has System Update access or higher A warning message is displayed before moving an account into an existing account 18 Supervisor this user has access to every single file the highest level of security which is essentially responsible for all others below it It is wise to have a backup for this person who will also hold the password Passwords and Users Once you have profiles go to Setup Security Passwords and Users to define who is going to be using the system and what their passwords will be To add new user information press the Insert Button To change information about existing users highlight the user and press the Change Button Browse List of Users EAA User Mame Hierarchy Position ALFRED 1 i O O i ols User Mame Record 1 of 5 Insert _ change Delete Close Update User Record i z General Record User Name Security Profile rire JPA MENT ENTRY Fassworgd Hierarchy Level TINA 1 Prior lt gt Mest Cancel Make sure that you write down your password someplace secure Prior Neat 4 19 On the General Tab fill out the User Name the Security Profile one of the levels you just created Leave the Hierarchy Level blank as this no longer has any viable function for the user Choose the Password you prefer The Record Tab is system information which shows when the record was created and does not get edited The Prior and Next Bu
62. have been uploaded versus accounts that have not yet been uploaded Accounts that have not yet been uploaded are referred to as unloaded accounts for brevity on the hand unit s display screen When the meter reading of an already uploaded account is changed either by erasing the current reading or by entering a new meter reading the account is removed from the uploaded list and restored to the unloaded list This is to show that another upload is needed in order to get the latest meter information into the host computer R Add change or delete a remark This command does two things Merely entering this command will change the display mode used by line two of the Meter Reading screen from Old Read or Memo to Remark This change is automatic even if no memo number is entered The second action of this command is to allow you to enter a number from the standard comment list at the Remark code prompt This number will then be displayed next to the letter R on line three of the Meter Reading 216 screen and the comment itself will appear on line two of the screen that is it will be shown there until you switch to the Memo display mode If the account already had a remark number it will be replaced by the new number Typing in something that is not a valid comment number or just pres sing ENTER without typing anything will return you to the Meter Reading screen without changing the account If the number e
63. in since there will be no readings for removed meters or meters not yet installed Select the correct report to use and press Print On the General Tab fill in the accounts to run the report for 1 1 will get you the first account and then tab and fill in the last account such as 1 9999 Then tab to the Beginning Date and fill in the date that was used for the meter entry date Process Consumption Report PE x General Notes Print Preview Account Range Beginnini Beginnin Today Only fpoot 0001 00 2 23 2001 This Week Endin Endin This Month 0001 0001 00 2 23 2001 Last Month Date Range IV Print summary pages only Show rejected accounts in results summary Processing Results Account Meters Reads Consumed Notes Process and Print Process and Discard Cancel To see the detail account by account make sure you have removed the check mark from the Print Summary pages only selection Print the report review it for consumption that looks too high or too low and check out meter readings to make sure they were properly entered 131 On the Notes Tab you may enter in comments to appear in the report On the Print Preview Tab you may select the Preview Method and Initial Display A special case option is in the Consumption Report If the Beginning and Ending Date is the same the report will print the number of meters belonging to inactive accounts on the date sp
64. it back to the original location For example the value 23456 rounded down 3 places becomes 23000 Rounding 2 places yields 23400 4 places yields 20000 etc The same number rounded with the nearest method results in 23460 23500 23000 and 20000 for places of 1 through 4 respectively It is important to note that the rounding is applied to the meter readings and or consumption before the multiplier is applied If the meter has a multiplier of 1000 then the consumption billed will be the rounded value times the meter multiplier This means you cannot round to units smaller than the meter multiplier For example If you have a meter multiplier of 1000 read in 1000 gallon units you cannot round to less than 1000 gallon units Actually you cannot round to less than 10 000 gallon units since rounding to zero places is effectively no rounding If you want to round to 100 gallon units you must read in 10 gallon units or smaller In technical terms rounding lowers precision Rounding to units smaller than the initial value is not really rounding but interpolation Interpolation requires a basis for the interpolation which doesn t exist in the case of readings and consumption 152 General Personal Notes Meters qTransactions Selected Details Rates Work Orders Record Meter 2 of 2 Seve pus Sea Neee froot Tenere Da average uee me Ta 54821 ENKET 45667 02 Insert Meter Change Meter Delete Meter Mem
65. keyboard Upper and lower case letters numbers punctuation symbols and even blanks are all characters The maximum number of useful characters for each type of search is shown below Service address 19 Customer name 19 Meter number 8 Account number 9 Remark string 19 Remark pointer 2 Service memo pointer 2 241 When the hand unit searches for a match it masks off a field that is the same size as the search string you entered subject to the maximum sizes listed above It then begins its search with the account immediately following the current account and proceeds to the end of the list If no match was found it starts the search at the beginning of the list and searches until it has come back to the current account If still no match was found the search mask is shifted one character to the right and the search starts over This process continues until a match is found or until the search mask cannot be shifted any further For an example consider the following list of addresses note that the last account s address has been truncated to nineteen characters Acct S5 5 Address 12 2 1 99 Ridgecrest Rd T2 5 101 Palmetto Court Record 12 7 5 is the current 12 7 5 110 Palmetto Court account the one being shown 12 9 1921 Palm Tree St on the Meter Reading screen 12 10 77 Orange Tree Rd 12 12 Apt 9 Grapefruit R If you enter Palm as your search string the hand unit will const
66. next book Search for a particular service address Search for a particular customer name particular external meter number Search for u U U vas Search for a a particular account number Search for a particular remark string Search for a particular remark pointer Search for a particular service memo pointer Look for the next record without a meter reading OAYDOBWNE OC II 9 Search for a particular internal meter number If you select search options one through seven or nine you will next be asked to type in the search string the information that you are trying to find a match for You will be reminded that upper and lower case must fit This is because capital letters and little letters called upper and lower case in computer language are represented by different internal code numbers This means for example that the words PALM Palm and palm are all different to the hand unit because different code numbers are used to store them When entering the search string you may type in as many characters as you like but excess characters are always ignored A character is anything that can be typed in from the keyboard Upper and lower case letters numbers punctuation symbols and even blanks are all characters The maximum number of useful characters for each type of search is shown below Service address 19 Customer name 19 Meter number external 8 Meter number inter
67. of how the default This vector determines the direction of traverse only when a direction must be assumed rather than explicitly stated Sensus pit probe screens There are several screens that you will see only when attempting to read the meters electronically by way of a pit probe gun This first screen appears only after the pit probe has successfully transmitted the meter data to the hand unit A four note victory beep will be played when this screen appears If the transmission was not successful a warning beep will sound and this second screen will appear There are two likely causes of an incomplete message A loose cable or an attempt to electronically read the next next meter before the previous reading has been fully processed After receiving the meter reading data parsing it and locating the target account a confirmation screen will appear This screen normally goes by quickly enough so that it isn t visible except by careful observation It is normally used only by IMS during troubleshooting operations If the transmission was successful but no account Data received now searching for acct Meter lt METER gt Reading lt READING gt Cb Message incomplete Please try reading the meter again Touch lt ENTER gt _ EESSSSSS Sq The account has been found reading entry is in progress 226 with a matching internal meter number could be found
68. of these two screens will be displayed In both cases answering with Y will cause WWOXvwKwc the current account to be redisplayed so that a Unusually high use new meter reading may be entered Answering with Do you want to re N will allow the meter reading to be accepted enter the reading and recorded the hand unit will then move on to Y N the next account The default answer is N al Display Mode Screens r Entering the D command at the Meter Reading 0 screen will bring up this two page sub menu The 2 Name 3 first page is concerned with what will be displayed Current mode 2 on line one of the Meter Reading screen All of New display mode _ the choices along with the current mode are shown To change the display mode type in the new number and press ENTER To leave it unchanged just press OX ENTER without typing anything Typing in something 0 Meter Number other than a recognized mode will have no effect 1 Sensus I D II ys O Q e 0 Service address mode Current mode 2 Book account number mode New display mode _ Customer name mode Internal record number tf 2 3 The second page which will appear after the query on the first page has been satisfied dictates what will be displayed in the meter number field of the Meter Reading screen All the choices and the current mode are shown To change the display mode for this field type in the n
69. once for each closed account at the same location The count displayed on the customer browse window is run in real time Thus when checking for inactive accounts and removed meters the existence of a date closed qualifies an account as inactive and the existence of a date removed causes a meter to not be counted Setting the system date ahead or back will have no effect on the count Copy 54 In order to copy an account into an existing account the current balance test requires that the destination account have no balance in any charge category The destination account must be inactive and must have no outstanding debit or credit balance Before you copy run a report to determine which accounts have multiple balance records in the same category Reports Standard Reports Current Balance Report Then go to File Customers Highlight the account to copy and press the Copy Button The new file has the same information with a different number as the end of the account number Example Original customer number is 006 245 01 the new will be 006 245 02 This is the only difference you will notice You may then edit the information in the new account so that it is different from the original by highlighting it and pressing the Change Button You must confirm the change of a customer account number before the change will take place to minimize the possibility of inadvertently changing an account number You may select whether commen
70. sample of this report Customer Edit History Report Go to Reports Specialty Reports Customer Edit History Report This report will print a list of all logged edits to a customer record for the range of customers specified Currently the only edits logged are account number changes user index changes account transfers and deletions This report allows logging deleted records This is essential since a deleted account would no longer exist in the customer record When a rate is deleted the name of the deleted rate is logged When a meter is deleted both meter numbers and the value and date of the last reading 1s logged All changes to any field in either file are logged by field name The report is also enhanced by the option of printing in Date or Account Name order and including changes made within a specified date range Press the Process and Print Button See a sample of this report Capital Credits Report Go to Reports Specialty Reports This report is used by private water associations to apportion earnings among their members according to each member s charges The report allows selecting which charge categories are counted whether or not billings or payments are counted and the time period surveyed Select to Use or Ignore the different Charge Names Enter What to Tally Billings or Payments the Beginning and Ending Date and the Total Profit to apportion See a sample of this report Capital Credit Report
71. service See a sample of this form Two Piece Tractor 3 is experimental and should not be used The due date printing on both sections of this form is the due date not the late date This has the capability of printing meter readings and consumption for a second metered service Two Piece Tractor 4 This prints two 6 wide by 4 high impact forms side by side The consumption multiplier is 10 This will cause the consumption to print in 10 gallon units The consumption printed is truncated to an integer The printer must be set to print at 16 67 characters per inch horizontally and 6 lines per inch vertically The print position of meter readings is on the same line as the charge name to which the meter charges are billed not in order of the metered service name This has the capability of printing meter readings and consumption for a second metered service See a sample of this form When a charge amount is zero it will print on the bill if the charge is for a metered service unless the metered serviced is coded to not print see Setup Lists Charge Names If there was an unpaid balance or credit as of the start of the billing cycle it will be printed on the bill after the current charges Any payments made during the billing cycle are likewise printed The balance forward and payments lines will not print if there is not room on the bill form but the balance due will be correct 102 Letter Size Laser 1 The amount that prin
72. specified overpayment category for the range of accounts requested and print a report listing the accounts and the amount applied Note that this process cannot be used if there is no overpayment category specified It will apply the credit to the outstanding balances in payment order until the credit balance is used up or there is no balance owed in any category This does not result in any billing transactions nor does it result in any net payment amount Since a credit balance means a payment was previously entered the process reverses the payment out of the overpayment category and distributes it into the categories with a current balance resulting in a net payment change of zero The recommended time in the processing cycle to use this process is after charges have been computed but before bills have been printed The bills will then reflect the true balance owed in any charge category and the true remaining credit balance ACH Direct Debit 112 If this process is not used the balance on bills will still be correct but will indicate a higher balance in the billed categories offset by a higher credit balance in the overpayment category Fill in the accounts to be used Tab to Processing Order usually this is done in Account Number Order Tab to the cycle you are using and ignore the other cycles by highlighting them and using the space bar to Ignore or Use each cycle Click on Process and Update This applies any amounts t
73. the number you entered will be displayed immediately behind the R Otherwise the R will be followed by blanks The service memo pointer PT2 on the diagram above appears and behaves almost exactly like the remark pointer except that it uses the letters M and m in place of R and r The M command described later is used to con trol the service memo Line four The first letter on this line tells what kind of meter is being read W water and G gas If you have already entered a meter reading for this account it will be displayed next bracketed by parenthesis If no reading has yet been entered the word none will be displayed At this point you may enter a meter reading of up to eight digits or one of the following command letters Entering an unrecognized command has no effect You may also activate the pit probe s automatic meter reading process This screen s command list has fifteen options as shown on the next page Fl Exit the meter reading mode and go back to the Hookup screen F4 Enter the data for a found meter Move back to the previous account Switch the display mode for line one Erase the current meter reading no effect if no reading Move forward to the next account same as ENTER below Begin displaying the help screens List the 98 standard comments currently in the hand unit s memory Add change or delete a service memo Move to the previously
74. these are checked the bill print procedure will print only those accounts with the flag set and the flag will be cleared after the bill has been printed 24 Account Flags One and Two These are user defined such as Flag One for Final Bill which most customers do Not everyone uses Flag 2 but could be used to mark something Meter Index Keys Meter One Name is the meter number for most customers Meter Two Name is the sequence number for most users but can be anything from their sequence number to a route number to nothing at all In the case of some with their ITRON Hand Units Meter One is the sequence number and Meter Two is the meter number Last Active Book All processes that begin with a window showing the beginning and ending account number range which includes almost all reports now will show a default ending account of the last account in the last active book Ifthe last active book field is left blank the default ending account will be the last account in the database as in previous versions Note that if a report was run with the ending account manually changed to something other than the default the next time it is run the default ending account will be as last run The purpose of this scheme is to allow a group of inactive books to be retained for archival purposes without them being processed or included in reports If a report or process need be run for these inactive books the default ending account number m
75. this not in list error screen will be printed This meter is not in Generally this error will occur only when the host the list You must computer has failed to provide the proper internal provide the I D meter number for the target account The proper Touch lt ENTER gt long range solution is to amend the host computer s data so that the account can be located in the future However until that is done the meter readings for this account will have to be entered by hand without aid from the pit probe gun Note that a reading entered by way of the pit probe is treated just like a hand entered reading after it is in the account s data field The customary consumption checks for high low and rollover are performed If anything questionable is found in the data the appropriate warning screen will be displayed and confirmation from the user may be required before the next meter can be read PART TWO THE COMMANDS Commands for the hand unit are entered either by pressing a single function key or by typing in a letter and pressing the ENTER key There are fifteen commands which may be used with the hand unit However some of these commands will bring up a sub menu with additional options so there are actually more than fifteen actions possible B Move backward to last account This command brings up the account that lies just before of the present account in the hand unit s internal list of accounts If you are already
76. this report 120 Examine Check Register Go to Activities Refund Processing Examine Check Register You may view the checks written by check number or by date You may highlight a check and press the Void or Reconcile Button to void the check or to reconcile it BE x Browse Check Register Check Number Date Number Date l Amount _ Account code l Reconciled voided 6 02 2000 7 48 0005 0245 01 Automated 1 6 02 2000 7 48 0005 0245 01 Automated 1 10 30 2000 11 61 0005 0051 01 Automated 2 11132000 14 17 0002 01268 10 Automated 44 27 2000 3 6 07 2000 13 54 0005 0174 01 Automated 3 11 27 2000 30 00 0002 0126 10 Automated 4 45 2001 17 17 0001 0008 00 Automated 5 45 2001 6 77 0001 0001 00 Automated 2732 6419 2000 71 60 0001 0200 00 Hand 7 05 2000 2733 3 01 2000 43 77 0005 0211 01 Automated ziz Check Tracking Number Record 1 of 9 To change information or insert new press the Change or Insert Button On the General Tab choose between Hand or Automated for Code amp Update Check Register x General Record Amount Date Mumber Reconciled oided T4662 2000 1 Customer Account 0005 0245 04 Related Charges and Payments Method Automated ED 22000 30 00 Automated 6022000 22 52 Sewer Sewer O ST Prior lest 4 Program Utilities 121 Enter the Amount of the check the Da
77. 222 Total 222 Touch lt ENTER gt accounts have NOT had their meter readings sent the the host computer yet Search Sub Menu Screens There are ten different ways to search for an account in the hand unit The S command takes you to the sub menu screens that list the search modes Once in the search sub menus you may enter the number of the desired search mode even if it isn t listed on the current sub menu screen For example you may enter an 8 which is find next unread meter while on the first search page even though that option will not be visible until you reach the second page On the first page if you press ENTER without having typed anything the second page will be shown O Nxt bk l addr 2 Name 3 Meter 4 Acct 5 Remark Search target 6 Rem ptr 7 Ser ptr 8 Unread 9 Sensus Search target _ 212 On the second page pressing ENTER without havingtyped anything will return you to the Meter Reading screen The ten commands possible from the search screen are book in the memory file specified service address specified customer name specified external meter number specified account number P ae wo II zZ He bh BH B B O PD DD 5 x Qa OQ OQ OQ ct specified remark string specified remark pointer specified service code pointer next unread meter specified internal Sensus pit probe meter number H D Q H D Q 5 H H H H H H Q
78. 37 43 0 1303 6 51 0001 0026 00 Charles Schoenberger 4901 Vales St 8 52 0 0296 1 46 0001 0027 00 Charles Shinypennies 4903 Water St 7 08 0 0246 1 23 Customer Detail Report 1 27 2003 4 20PM Social Security Driver s License 198 Customer Detail Report Hotville Water Company 0001 0004 00 Eugene Parmesano Billing Cycle A 01 01 2005 01 31 2003 Addresses Metered Services Account Opened 0001 0004 00 Route Closed Number Two Service Billing Address Eugene Parmesano 4704 Water St Hotville FL 33853 Other Address Eugene Parman 455 Saderlin Dr Corbin KY 40701 Metered Service Installed Load Vater 05 04 1999 1 Meter 1 Removed Label 966627 Meter 2 Size 5 3 Comment Reading Date Type Code 455 000 01 21 2001 New Hand 455 000 12 21 2000 New Hand 455 000 11 21 2000 New Hand 455 000 10 23 2000 New Hand 455 000 09 28 2000 New Hand 455 000 08 28 2000 New Hand 455 000 07 28 2000 New Hand 455 000 06 28 2000 New Hand 455 000 05 26 2000 New Hand 455 000 04 26 2000 New Hand Current Balance Water 6 9 PST 0 1 7 0 3 Total 08 Multiplier 1 Average Use 0 000 Current Use n a Used Reading Date 0 000 449 000 03 28 2000 0 000 446 000 02 28 2000 0 000 443 000 01 26 2000 0 000 436 000 12 26 1999 0 000 436 000 11 29 1999 0 000 436 000 10 27 1999 0 000 436 000 09 27 1999 0 000 436 000 08 91 1999 0 000 436 000 07 25 1999 6 000 436 000 06 25 1999 Transactions Detail Breakdown
79. 72000 _ New Automated 10000 cea 102 12017999 New Automated 20000 Guana 80 10 271999 New Automated nia Add Reading Edit Reading Kill Reading Notice that readings haven t changed although we now have it set to round readings The actual readings are never changed They represent primary data that should not be disturbed The consumption is simply calculated as if the readings were rounded 153 Look at the latest reading The consumption instead of being 14000 without rounding is now 10000 Here s how it is calculated The latest reading of 161 is rounded one place making it 160 The previous reading of 147 is rounded one place to 150 Had we selected round down it would have rounded to 140 The 150 reading subtracted from 160 yields 10 which is multiplied by the meter multiplier to 10000 Try some more readings yourself to see how easy it is Now let s do the same thing except we will round consumption one place instead of readings We could use both rounding types at once General Personal Notes Meters Transactions Selected Details Rates work Orders Record Meter 2 of 2 services Sequences etere toed Removed bun Averepo Use gt aster T CE ZEE 10011999 Yes 0 Water 0 18485 1000 Insert Meter Change Meter Delete Meter Memo 0 of 0 Service Memos Date Reading 1 of7 iat 3 28 2000
80. 9 IMS Add Account Number 0001 0002 00 0001 0002 00 5 05 99 pak Change Number One First User Index 2 Key 0001 0003 00 5 04 99 IMS Add Account Number 0001 0003 00 0001 0003 00 5 05 99 pak Change Number One First User Index 2 Key 0001 0004 00 5 05 99 pak Add Account Number 0001 0004 00 0001 0004 00 5 05 99 pak Add Number One First User Index 3 Ke 0001 0004 00 5 05 99 pak Change Number One First User Index 3 1 Key 0001 0004 00 1 27 00 pak Change Route First User Index Key 1 3 0001 0005 00 5 05 99 pak Add Account Number 0001 0005 00 0001 0005 00 5 05 99 pak Change Number One First User Index 3 Key 0001 0006 00 5 05 99 pak Add Account Number 0001 0006 00 0001 0006 00 5 05 99 pak Change Number One First User Index 3 Key 0001 0007 00 5 05 99 pak Add Account Number 0001 0007 00 0001 0007 00 5 05 99 pak Add Number One First User Index 3 Key 0001 0009 00 5 05 99 pak Add Account Number 0001 0009 00 0001 0009 00 5 05 99 pak Add Number One First User Index 3 Ke 0001 0010 00 5 05 99 pak Add Account Number 0001 0010 00 0001 0010 00 5 05 99 pak Add Number One First User Index 3 Key 0001 0011 00 5 05 99 pak Add Account Number 0001 0011 00 0001 0011 00 5 05 99 pak Add Number One First User Index 3 Capital Credits Report Run 8 27 01 Wet Water Company TEEM Capital Credits Report Page 1 Billing Period 1 01 2001 to 8 27 2001 Account Number Name Service Address Charges Percent Amount 0001 0001 00 Elisabeth Eaker 4700 Superior
81. Accounts This will renumber a group of accounts It is available to users with System Update or higher access It will not allow the renumbered accounts to span multiple books or overwrite an existing account You will be asked to confirm this process before continuing Please confirm E This process will renumber all accounts in the specified range starting at the specited new number and incrementing by the specitied value Although it will not overste exishhig accounts in the case of a number conflict itis strongly recommended that you have a cument backup of the file customer ub and that no other USES are processing or editing customer accounts at the time Are you sure you Want to continue Enter the Begining and Ending Accounts to Renumber the Beginning New Account Number and the Increment you want the numbers to increase by Renumber Account Options Sle Beginning 4ccount to Renumber a Ending 4ccount to Renumber Beginning New Account Number Increment in new account number sequence o0 Cancel Help 123 F3 will bring up a list of the accounts to choose from Press Select when you have the correct one highlighted 0001 0012 00 0001 0013 00 0001 001 4 00 0001 0015 00 0001 0016 00 0001 0017 00 0001 0018 00 0001 0019 00 0001 0020 00 0007 0021 00 0001 0022 00 0001 0023 00 0001 0024 00 0007 0025 00 e If you encounter an error the process will be aborted an
82. Add active accounts have a date in the Start Date field 4 All removed meters have a date in the Removed field 5 All other meters have a date in the Installed field 133 If the first item is not true report date is in the past the overall meter count will still be accurate if the other four items are true but the relative number of active and inactive meters may not be correct For example The requested report date is in the past The start date for a customer is after the report date and is therefore counted as active The previous customer for the meter had been closed prior to the report date and thus the meter belonged to an inactive account at the time of the report The result is an undercount of inactive meters and overcount of active meters Special Version of the Consumption Report Go to Reports Standard Reports Consumption Reports Highlight the report select Print Set Beginning and Ending Date the same Today Only Button will do this and No current readings checked The Special Consumption Report attempts to count as of the date requested and the date will affect the count Thus the value of the date opened and date closed fields Customers General Tab determine whether or not an account 1s counted as active inactive or not counted and the values of the date installed and date removed fields affect whether or not a meter is counted If the date removed is after the date requested for the report t
83. Announcement A TUTOR TA MemberLabels Mailing Labels for Members VIDEO THA MembershipCarnd Membership Cards IDEO TA MovwieList List of Mowes In Stock In Categorie VIDEO TRA NameBadges Name Badges for General Assembly EXTRA TA RelationalR eport Creating the Enrollment Report by U AY TUTOR THA Reporti Spaces By Cemetery CLREPURT THA Reporti Arrayed fields test PRHEADER TA StudentPhoneLis Student Phone List sorted by Stude Aw TUTOR TA StudentPhoneLis Student Phone List sorted by Name Aw TUTOR TA OE M Preview Report 8 Print Report tik Close P Help The user must purchase a copy for their own use if they want to create their own custom reports However it is not necessary for running custom reports created elsewhere Print Preview 148 When Print Report is selected it will search the current directory and list all report files found A report file will have an extension of TXR This is an ASCII text file that can be viewed with a generic text editor such as Notepad A report file may contain from zero to any number of individual reports The report file also contains information about the data dictionary The data dictionary defines all file names field names sizes and data types file keys and relationships between files If a report file contains multiple reports each report will show up as a line in the list of custom reports Tab to the Billing Date and fill that in each of the next boxes Du
84. COMMANDS Commands for the hand unit are entered either by pressing a single function key or by typing in a letter and pressing the ENTER key There are fifteen commands which may be used with the hand unit However some of these commands will bring up a sub menu with additional options so there are actually more than fifteen actions possible B Move backward to last account This command brings up the account that lies just before of the present account in the hand unit s internal list of accounts If you are already at the beginning of the internal list this command will wrap around to the last account in the list D Change the main screen display mode The first line of the Meter Reading screen can display one of four dif ferent pieces of data This command brings up a list of the four items so that you may select which one is to be displayed To make the selection type in the proper number at the New display mode prompt and press the ENTER key To leave the current display mode unchanged just press ENTER without having typed anything If you type in something that is not on the list the hand unit will ask the guestion again The valid choices are 0 Service address of the meter truncated to nineteen characters 1 Account number of this customer 2 Name of this customer truncated to nineteen characters II 214 3 Internal record number used by the unit to locate this account In addition to altering line
85. Delete L erie Export Import Close Work Order Reports Go to Reports Standard Reports Work Order Reports The Use All Ignore All Button is available on each different value of the user 1 and user 2 fields in the customer record for rate classes and work order types 139 Highlight the report to print Press the Change Button to make adjustments Press the Print Button to print The Work Crew Range is an alphabetic list of names in the Beginning and Ending fields Browse Work Order Analysis Report Formats Bee Title Report Title Last Used By IEOR Standard IMS 3 06 2004 z Report Title Record 1 of 1 Insert Change Delete C erie Export Import Close See a sample of this report Work Orders Go to Reports Standard Reports Work Orders Enter the Beginning and Ending Date Range Select the Beginning and Ending Order Numbers and the Print Order Press the Process and Print Button to print See a sample of this report Prepare to Print Work Orders Bee General Print Preview Date Range inning Order Number aT innin i Today Only This Week Peep ar lt lt This Month a TARN 2001 Last Month eara Order Account Number z Number P Include rejected work orders in results summary Processing Results Process and Print Process and Discard Cancel 140 Meter Sheets Go to Reports Standard Reports Meter Sheets Enter the Account Range and Prin
86. For this reason they are displayed in a fixed pitch font so the space occupied by each character including spaces will be uniform This will aid you in filling in the required information 29 Update Configuration PE x General index Keys Colors Payments Accounting Fund Transfer Print Preview Record Bank Header 1 BANK OF AMERICA Bank Header 2 Originator Name BAC Originator ID 01 223323 Destination Name Bank ofHotvile Destination ID 22 123343 Originator Bank ID s5 Purpose utiities Transaction Name Wet Water Co Cancel Originator Name This is the name of your city bank In the ACH file this is called the immediate origin name Originator ID This is the identification number of your bank Itis the ABA or usually the Federal Tax ID number 59 number of your city or utility company ACH immediate origin Destination Name This is the name of the destination bank Destination ID This is the destination ABA Transit number of the bank to which your file will be transmitted usually the head office This should include the check digit ACH immediate destination Originator Bank ID This is the ABA Transit number of your bank It may be the same as the Destination ID Purpose This is the purpose of the transfer It will appear in the transaction on the customer s bank statement It could be something like water bill Itis limited to 10 characters 30 Transac
87. IMS web site if you are connected to the Internet by clicking within the Building Permits Manager program under Help IMS Web Site Contents Index Search for Help On How to Use Help View User Manual IMS IMS Web Site About Utility Billing Windows has its own section for assistance with questions about Windows topics How to Use Help which is found within the program Use it by looking through the Contents the Index alphabetically or by using the Search for Help On capability to find the topic or keyword you need help with amp Windows Help OF x a e gt amp B Hide Back Forward Options Web Help To find a Help topic Index Sarees Le Search 1 In Help click one of the following Type in the keyword to find tabs I To browse through topics by category click the Contents tab To see a list of index entries click the Index tab and then doc files see documents gif files using as wallpaper either type a word or scroll icm files through the list pif files To search for words or phrases tot files that may be contained in a Help 1394 devices ports topic click the Search tab 16 bit DLC protocol 16 color display 2 Inthe left frame of the Help 2000 calendar settings window click the topic index entry 256 color display or phrase to display the 32 bit DLC protocol corresponding topic in the right 32 bit PC Card support frame disabling A Note e Click Web
88. List the 98 standard comments currently in the hand unit s memory Add change or delete a service memo Move to the previously displayed account Display query screen showing the hand unit s internal status Add change or delete a remark comment Display the search mode sub menu Display the title screen Change default direction of traverse ENTER Move forward to the next account same as F above rx aS II SGHNDOo VDE FP ey wow II 209 Rollover Screen When you enter a meter reading it is checked against the last known meter reading If the new reading is less than the old reading a series of warning beeps will sound and this screen will be brought up If you answer Y control will be passed back to the Meter Reading screen where the current account will be redisplayed I New reading is lower than old reading Do you want to re enter TE ACN a Ce If you answer N the hand unit will assume that a meter rollover or changeout has taken place The reading will be recorded for the current account without further questioning and the hand unit will move on to the next account High Reading and Low Reading Screens If the new reading is not a rollover it will be checked against a set of expected high and low readings which were downloaded from the host along with the rest of the account data If it is out side this range a series of w
89. Options il Ea l Backflow ee oe 7 E Bad Check Charge Credit Balance Cut On Charge Deposit House Visit Late Fee Ontott Charge What to Tally Billings Payments Beginning Date 1101101 Use Ending Date Use q rater Use Total Profit Use Custom Reports 147 Customer Detail Report Go to Reports Speciality Reports Customer Detail Report This report prints all of the same information as the report printed from the customer Record Tab in File Customers Change Button Record Tab Print Account Button except it may be printed for a range of customers It also has all of the same print options located on the Options Tab Users are advised to be careful to limit the range of customers and the number of months history because this is a very lengthy report typically running several pages per account See a sample of this report Go to Reports Custom Reports This feature allows running reports created by the Clarion Report Writer from Utility Billing If the Clarion Report Writer has been purchased it can be invoked from within Utility Billing to create a new report or modify an existing report Browse Custom Reports By Name By Description By File Name Report Description Diploma Example of using images on a detal EX TAA TA Diploma E sample of uzing images on a page ETRA TA EnrollCensus Census of Students Enrolled Ai TUTOR TA al MalingLabels Labels for Seminar
90. Prepare to Print Bills OR x I Skip closed accounts Billing Date I Skip overdue accounts _ I Skip direct debit accounts Due Date P Print direct debit accounts only Final Bill Only Late Date Reset Final Bill After Print General Messages Eorm Control Print Preview Billing Cycles Account Range Print Order TAE Route x Minimum Balance Endin ft foo006 0245 01 7 Maximum Balance I Late Notice I Skip zero balances M Sewer Only Cutoff Date IV Generate Exception Report Reset Sewer After Print IV Include all accounts in Exception Report Generate 9 Digit Zipcode Report IV Include rejected accounts in results summary Generate 5 Digit Zipcode Report Processing Results Process and Print Process and Discard Cancel On the General Tab fill in the Beginning and Ending accounts you want to print bill cards for and tab to the Print Order and select which order your cards should be printed in There is a drop down box that gives you several choices such as account number zip code etc Billing forms print the credit balance when applicable in the outstanding balance field Tab to the Minimum Balance and fill in an amount such as 01 which will print a bill for accounts that owe more than 01 cent If you leave the Minimum and Maximum Balance blank you will get a bill card for all accounts that owe money and that have a credit balance There is an option to Skip zero balance accounts if c
91. Rate Classes Vater 1 of 1 17 000 Fees Deposits Priority Service Final Bill No Charges No Readings Sewer Current Balance Charge Previous Bilings Payments Balance _ Water 73 00 42 42 30 58 PST 0 81 0 81 Late 6 00 3 00 3 00 CR 300 00 300 00 379 00 Prior Next amp Cancel 57 On the General Tab you may enter the account number The book number portion first 4 characters of customer account numbers may be alphanumeric contain letters and or numbers Book numbers may be any combination of letters and digits If the book is less than 4 characters it will be left justified with trailing blanks removed If it is numeric it will continue to be right justified with leading zeros Books such as A AB ABDE A100 24B are all valid Alphabetic and numeric books may be mixed although it is best to stick to one format or the other If they are mixed the alphabetic books will follow the numeric books when viewing customers in account number order An alphabetic last active book may be entered in Setup Configuration Index Keys Tab Last Active Book Only the first character is used If the last active book is alphabetic the active meter count will terminate when the first character of the account number is greater than the last active book regardless of the remaining characters of the book If the account number entered is not a full 10 d
92. SIT IRRIGATION Use 0003 01 79 00 Minimum refund check amount 0 00 s Include rejected accounts in results summary a Refunding Results Print Refund Report Cancel The tracking number of the deposit payment is included in this report However users should note this caveat The report consolidates all deposit amounts in a single field Ifa customer had more than one type of deposit and the deposits were paid in different transactions the tracking number shown would be for only one of the deposits On the Overpayments Tab decide if you want to refund overpayments The process setup window displays a billing cycle selection list One field Minimum overall credit balance for refund is displayed only if the user has checked the Refund overpayments box This limit applies only to the amount of credit balance in an account without regard to deposit Prepare and Print Refund Checks x General Overpayments Print Preview Minimum overall credit balance for refund 0 00 Refund Charges On Off Charge House Visit Use Bad Check Charge Use Other Use Cut On Charge Use Credit Balance Print Refund Report Cancel Refund and Apply 119 When the Refund overpayments checkbox is cleared and the Pay outstanding balance from deposit refund checkbox is checked the deposit amount is applied to outstanding balances but credit balances are not ad
93. St 550 33 1 9430 97 15 0001 0002 00 Lil Buster s 220 US 27 80 05 0 3064 15 32 0001 0003 00 Wacky World US 27 43 23 0 1504 i 52 0001 0004 00 Eugene Been 4704 Kingtown St 7 08 0 0246 1 23 0001 0005 00 Mercedes Spreeman 4710 Wales St 12 65 0 0446 2 23 0001 0006 00 Dennis Garcia 4711 Nowhere St 11 03 0 0384 1 92 0001 0007 00 Dennis Menace 4716 Wrong St 90 00 0 3152 15 66 0001 0008 00 Mellona Huntingwewillgo 4720 Water St 27 10 0 0943 472 0001 0009 00 Kathryn Vest 4719 Wales St 20 06 0 0695 3 49 0001 0010 00 Norma Jean 4727 Water St 19 92 0 0693 3 47 0001 0011 00 Joseph Princeofegypt 4746 Water St 131 39 0 4572 22 06 0001 0012 00 Kenneth MackTruck 4737 Water St 15 71 0 0547 2d 0001 0013 00 D J Properties 4745 Wales St 141 17 0 4913 24 56 0001 0014 00 Robert Koldcut 4752 Water St 36 60 0 1274 6 37 0001 0015 00 James Barkdog 4602 Water St 15 71 0 0547 2 73 0001 0016 00 William Barkdog 4801 Water St 20 06 0 0698 3 49 0001 0017 00 Mary Leepfrog 4811 Water St 45 00 0 1566 7 83 0001 0018 00 Ronnie Chompers 4612 Vater St 20 06 0 0698 3 49 0001 0019 00 John amp Diane Votsup 4821 Water St 15 71 0 0547 2 73 0001 0020 00 Michael Puzzled 4824 Water St 24 40 0 0649 4 25 0001 0021 00 Thelma Water 4034 Water St 17 89 0 0623 3 11 0001 0022 00 Chad tere 4939 Water St 0 00 0 0000 0 00 0001 0023 00 Edward Blablabla 4849 Water St 22 23 0 0774 3 87 0001 0024 00 Harry Dixiecup 4044 Water St 0 00 0 0000 0 00 0001 0025 00 Kelly Borrows 4890 Water St
94. T 4 NoUART Select Gon EON Maximum possible ports 4 Default Configuration Existing com ports 1 Text to transmit Transmit Cancel Consumption Report Go to Reports Standard Reports Consumption Report Once the readings are all entered press the Print Button to print the Consumption Report The breakdown reports do not include accounts that are closed have the No Charges Flag set or have the No Readings Flag set The report prints a breakdown summary of meter count and consumption by the user fields and by book To change information fill out the following information on all of the different reports The maximum value for dollar amounts in windows and reports is 999 999 99 Browse Consumption Report Formats PE x Title Report Title Last Used By Date Time Commercial 5 3 3 4 gc 202000 8 57AM Multifamily report park 6105 2000 10 35AM Sewer Comercial park 1041 2000 11 404M Sewer Residential park 1041 2000 11 354M Total Commercial Usage park 1 25 2000 1 46PM Total Customers park 11 29 2000 11 004M Total Water Usage park 1 29 2001 3 50PM Water 1 1 2 park 210 2000 8 52AM Water 2 park 210 2000 8 55AM Water 5 8 3 4 park 64 2000 _ 11 25AM__ f Report Title Record 1 of 10 Insert Change Delete erie Export Import Close 128 On the General Tab fill in the Report Title the Print Order only Stand
95. Uility Billine s stavied Press the Apply Button and then click on OK 17 Update Security Profile PE x General Record Profile Name supervisor Access Levels Te type Access o H _ File MENU Supervisor m C Customers ITEM Supervisor Customer Tabs MENU Supervisor General ITEM Supervisor 0 Personal ITEM Supervisor C Notes ITEM Supervisor _ Meters ITEM Supervisor Transactions ITEM Supervisor 0 Selected Details ITEM Supervisor _ Rates ITEM Supervisor 0 Work Orders ITEM Supervisor 0 Activities MENU Supervisor a Shange Access Level Change All Access Levels Select from one of the following levels of access No Access this means that the user has no access to the files indicated at all View Only the user is allowed to view the information only not add to or change it Data Entry this access level allows adding customers as well as meters work orders etc related to the customer Users at this level may only change work orders Update this access level allows adding and editing all customer related data but deletions are not allowed The Move Button on the customer browse is available only to users with this access or higher System Update users with this level or higher may add change or delete any customer related information An account cannot be copied over an existing inactive account unless the user
96. Units Upload Meter Readings On the General Tab fill out the Capacity Accounts and General Configuration information Get Upload List Jaa On the Com Port Tab fill out the information about the Com Port Press the Process Button to process the information and then press the Upload Button when you are finished with both tabs Get Upload List Pot status None peo Process 78 Process Meter Readings Go to Activities Meter Reading Entry Use Trakker 9440 Hand Units Process Meter Readings On the General Tab select whether to Skip Ignore Examine or Add each of the meters you have in the Metered Services box Process Upload List PE x General Metered Services Override Date Upload File Results Cancel Enter the Override Date the date to use in place of the unit s timestamp Enter the full name of the Upload File Press the Process Button Print Upload Reports Go to Activities Meter Reading Entry Use Trakker 9440 Hand Units Print Upload Reports On the General Tab select whether you want to print or skip each of the 8 reports by checking the box to print or leaving it blank to skip Make sure that you have a file path in the Upload File box This is where the IMS program finds that data file to upload the meter reading information to each of the accounts in our program You may also print the upload report at Reports Standard Reports Upload Report
97. Withdrawl T Ose Direct Withdrawal Bank Account Identification Prenote Required SSN Driver s License State and Number Telephone Numbers Number Et H Insert Number Change Number Delete Number Use Defaults Cancel Bank This is the Routing Transit number of the customer s bank 59 Type This is the type of bank account The options are D demand or C for a checking account and S for a savings account If anything other than those letters is entered the account will be assumed to be a checking demand account Account Identification This is the account number of the customer s account that will be debited at the bank specified Prenote Required If checked transactions for this customer will not cause a payment to be posted to the account All new direct debit accounts are usually set up initially as requiring a prenotification When prenotes are transmitted to the bank the dollar amount is zero and no debits or credits take place The transaction merely tests to see if all account and bank information is correct Once the account has been approved the prenote can be unchecked and subsequent transactions will actually take place In the Notes field use Change or Delete Number to edit or press Insert Number to add new notes phone numbers actually Fill out the Notes Number phone and Extension amp Update Phone General Record Motes m Number Extension C
98. a Screen E When the hand unit is first delivered or right Can t walk route yet after a new program has been loaded into it there as no accounts have are no accounts in it s memory files If you try been loaded to enter the meter reading mode by pressing the F1 Touch lt ENTER gt _ key from the Hookup screen this error screen A will appear It will remain for ten seconds or until you press the ENTER key When it vanishes the program returns control to the Hookup screen Identification pereen E Before entering the meter reading mode you NOT a password Any combination of letters num personal identifi bers and punctuation will be accepted If you cation code enter too many characters only the first eight aAa will be remembered by the unit The purpose of this question is only to help provide a record of who used the hand unit last If you wait twenty seconds without pressing ENTER the hand unit will assume that you have forgotten about it and it will return to the Hookup screen Likewise it will return to the Hookup screen if you press ENTER without having typed anything must identify yourself to the hand unit This is Please enter your Meter Reading Screen This is the most complex and often used of all lt lt lt lt lt LINE ONE gt gt gt gt gt the screens in the hand unit It s general format lt lt lt lt lt LINE TWO gt gt gt gt gt is as follows l
99. account will be debited for the amount of deposit applied to the balance reducing the amount refunded If the Cash Out account is empty the Cash In account will be used This makes it easier to reconcile the receipts reported by cash receipts reports with the general ledger cash account For example getting an accurate cash receipts report to balance with the cashier s drawer count requires only setting the From Deposit method to Ignore in the report setup window By utilizing a second cash account to handle deposit refunds the amounts transferred in the Cash In account will reflect the same activity as in the cash receipts report and can be balanced against the drawer totals Users who do not use this method of balancing may leave the Cash Out account blank and the original cash account Cash In will be used for deposit refunds as before The rules for combining transfers from Utility Billing v6 will enhance the usefulness of the Transfer Report When the Combine box Setup Lists Charge Names Change Button is checked for any of the accounts the identity of the charge category will be preserved 34 Beginning with this release the combine will be by charge name If the same revenue account is used for more than one service there will still be a separate transaction for each category If the Combine Box is checked on either the cash or receivable accounts they too will be broken down by charge name Combined transfers now have t
100. account in the list Pressing the ENTER key without having typed anything is the same as using the F command H Review the Help screens Issuing this command will bring up the first of many help screens You may then move sequentially forward and backward through the list of help screens using the function keys F2 and F3 When you have seen enough and are ready to leave press the ENTER key Pressing any keys other than these three will have no effect L Review the list of standard comments A list of ninety eight predefined comments may be loaded into the hand unit from the host computer Two more comments are added to this list by the hand unit itself Comment number zero which is actually a command to erase an existing comment from an account and comment number ninety nine also a com mand allowing you to type in your own remark for the current account Once you have entered the L command the first page of the comment list is displayed This page reminds you to use the F2 F3 and ENTER keys to move through the twenty five pages of comments that follow four comments per page Pressing any keys other than these three will have no effect Comment numbers are shown to the left of the comments themselves Although actually up to nineteen characters long only the first sixteen characters of each comment are displayed here to make room on the screen for the numbers Comments which have not been filled in by the host computer
101. ackward To make the selection type in the proper letter at the New direction prompt and press the ENTER key To leave the current vector unchanged just press ENTER without having typed anything If you type in something that is not either an F or B the hand unit will ask the question again F Assume forward as the default direction B Assume backward as the default direction II F1 Exit from the meter reading mode Using this key from the Meter Reading screen will return control to the Hookup screen F4 Record data on found meter When this function key is pressed the hand unit prepares itself to record information on a new meter that was not previously a part of the meter route You will be asked four questions to help identify the new meter The service address the name of the customer if known the type of meter water or gas and the meter s identification number After entering these four items a normal Meter Reading screen will be displayed for the new meter so that you may enter the meter reading After the meter reading has been entered the old current account will be shown again on your screen the old current account is the account that was showing when you first pressed the F4 key The information for the found meter is stored at the end of the hand unit s memory file just beyond the last legitimate account When the hand unit is uploaded the information for the found meters will appea
102. actions Selected Details Rates work Orders Record Meter 1 of 1 Service Type Meter t Meter 2 Load Removed J Dup Average Use Mutipier E 1 24 000 1 Water 1 a i Delete Meter Memo 0 of 0 Insert Meter f Service Memos Date j Reading 1 of 7 Reading Dale Type code Concumation FE 3324 000 1 21 2001 New Hand 17 000 al 3307 000 12 21 2000 13 000 3294 000 11 21 2000 New Hand 8 000 _Add Memo _Edit Memo _ Kill Memo 3286 000 10 23 2000 New Hand 12 000 Reading Status 3274 000 9 26 2000 New Hand 17 000 3257 000 8 28 2000 New Hand 30 000 3227 000 7 28 2000 New Hand na Consumed Add Reading Edit Reading Kill Reading To change a meter press the Change Meter Button You may enter the meter grid location 1 e front center back left quadrant which tells the meter reader where the meter is located on each site or a leak for the repair crew Update Meter EI General Record Type of Service METER OME METER SEQUENCE Load Label SS Installed Removed Size Grid Location Digits HA 001 none gt Multiplier Average Use Initial Reading Make h T T Duplicate Meter tlgnore Module Model commenta Cancel If a value is entered in the Digits field it specifies the maximum number of digits allowed in the integer portion of the meter reading Act
103. age is displayed for ten seconds or until you press the ENTER key After the final page has been shown control is returned to either the Meter Reading screen or the Hookup screen Like the query screens the title screens are designed to show information on the hand unit s operational setup However the query screens show data that is subject to frequent change while the title screens show information that is set by the user and then left alone On page one version and release identify which set of hand held programs are being used Page two shows the name of this particular unit represented as lt lt NAME gt gt in the diagram and the initials entered by you back on the Identification screen Page three gives the current date and time according to the hand unit s internal clock Note that the time is kept on a 24 hour military clock which is easier for computers to work with OT TITLE PAGE ONE Version 04 Release 5 304 Touch lt ENTER gt e TITLE PAGE TWO Unit lt lt NAME gt gt User lt lt lt ID gt gt gt Touch lt ENTER gt C TITLE PAGE THREE Date MM DD YY Time HH MM Touch lt ENTER gt C 238 PART TWO THE COMMANDS Commands for the hand unit are entered either by pressing a single function key or by typing in a letter and pressing the ENTER key There are fourteen commands which may be used with the hand unit However some of these com
104. ancel Work Order Types Go to Setup Lists Work Order Types On the main window press Insert to add new work order type information or highlight an existing record and press the Change Button to edit it Add the abbreviation and the full name Update Work Order Type RE READ METER Transaction Notes Go to Setup Lists Transaction Notes Browse List of Transaction Notes Comments PE EMER Emergency call charge LATE Late fee 40 On the Abbr Tab press Insert to add new transaction information or highlight an existing record and press the Change Button to edit it Add the Abbreviation and the full Charge Note name Update Transaction Note i General Record Charge Mote Abbr ang Full State Province Lists Go to Setup Lists State Province Lists If the lists have not been setup yet press the Insert Button and add the correct information you will be using To change existing information highlight it and press the Change Button Browse List of States aii x State Postal Abbr State Province Name CountryiNation Name Postal Abbr Alabama USA AL Alaska USA AK California USA CA Canada Canada Lis Connecticut USA CT Delaware USA DE Florida USA IFL Georgia USA GA lliniois USA IL Indiana USA O N lowa USA Kentuck US KY Louisianna USa LA State Name Record 1 of 29 Insert _ change Delete Clo
105. ancel On the Notes Tab you may fill in the comment box with erasure date and 4 different report comments 60 Update Account 0001 0001 00 Elisabeth Eaker Closed on 5 03 2001 PE x General Personal Notes Meters Transactions Selected Details Rates work Orders Record Phone 0 of 0 Route First User ndex Add Account Number pan 0001 00 i Prior T Next V OK Cancel The General History window takes care of itself when you enter an action on behalf of the customer Erase is the date when this record expires Enter in the types of Reports you want this comment included on Check the Instant Display box if you want this comment displayed immediately upon opening the account window The Record Tab shows when this comment was created To insert a new comment press the Insert Button The checkboxes in the Reports box are used to set which reports will allow printing the comment The comment will appear in the field list for the detail as Account Comment A Consumption checkbox and a Comment area is included allow comments in Current Balance Reports amp Update Comment Ea General Record Erase Reports Priority Service Cash Receipts i Billing Charges Instant Display Pu Comment On the Meters Tab you may fill in all sorts of information about the meter including the type of service meter id numbers amount of use etc 61 General Personal Notes Meters Trans
106. and then tab and fill in the last account such as 1 9999 Then tab to the beginning date and fill in the date that was used for the meter entry date To see the detail account by account make sure you have removed the check mark from the Print Summary pages only selection Print the report review it for consumption that looks too high or too low and check out meter readings to make sure they were properly entered Rollover The rollover algorithm works in the following manner The readings are first rounded according to settings If the latest reading is less than the previous reading 1 Replace all digits of the old reading with zeros 2 Append a 1 to the left of the result 3 Add this result to the latest reading The remaining steps occur whether rollover or not 4 Subtract previous from latest to get consumption 5 Multiply by multiplier Using this example the results would be Trakker 9440 Hand Units 195 Previous reading 6 latest reading 4 1 0 2 10 3 14 4 8 5 8000 Make Download List Go to Activities Meter Reading Entry Use Trakker 9440 Hand Units Make Download List Select the Beginning and Ending Accounts Choose to Use or Ignore on the Billing Cycles and Load or Skip on the Metered Services Select the file format and to overwrite or append the information if file exists already Enter the full name of the download file Once you Begin Processing data will appear in the bottom window Con
107. ard is currently available here the Metered Service and the Unusual Use Filters You may check the No Current Readings box and the Filter for Estimated Readings box The Billing Cycle box allows you to choose Use of Ignore Select a Normal Date Range Accounts may be included or excluded based on account type residential or commercial location inside or outside city limits user flag one and user flag two Selection on user flag one or two is available only if the flag has been assigned a name using Setup Configuration Index Keys Account Flags You may add meter size to the consumption report Edit Consumption Report Format IOJ Xx General List Fiters Detail Record Report Titl Billing Cycle 1 of 1 Commercial 5 8 3 4 Print Order Metered Service Account Number f Vater v Normal Date Range Unusual Use Filters Selected at run time Below Avy Above Av s Current System Date eee Minimum Used Maximum Used C Current System Month Prior System Month No current readings J Fitter for Estimated Readings j Final Bill Sewer I Disable Rounding Include I Include Exclude Exclude Include duplicate meters T Include voided readings F Account Type Location E raw Iha beween records I Residential Only Inside Only goo ee Commercial Only Outside Only Prior Next V Cancel The settings are controlled by checkboxes located o
108. arks and service memos is that remarks are made a permanent part of the account s record when they are uploaded whereas service memos appear on the upload reports and are then discarded Both are drawn from the same list of standard comments in the unit s memory files To exit from either of these screens without making changes to the account just press the ENTER key Note that using the R or M commands will set the display mode of line two in the Meter Enter change or delete a comment for this account Comment code _ Enter change or delete service memo for this account Service code Reading screen even if no changes were made to the account Query Page Screens The Q command calls up the query pages The first query page is displayed for ten seconds or until you press the ENTER key The second page is then displayed also for ten seconds or until ENTER is pressed Control then returns to either the Hookup screen or the Meter Reading screen Page one shows the current meter reading count while page two shows the upload count Be sure to note the difference between the words unloaded and uploaded in lines one and two of the second page Uploaded accounts have had their data trans mitted to the host computer one or more times since receiving their meter readings whereas unloaded Unread 222 Read 222 Total 222 Touch lt ENTER gt Unloaded 222 Uploaded
109. arning beeps will sound and the appropriate one of these two screens will be displayed In both cases answering with Y will cause the current account to be redisplayed so that a new meter reading may be entered Answering with N will allow the meter reading to be accepted and recorded the hand unit will then move on to the next account The default answer is N Display Mode Screens Entering the D command at the Meter Reading screen will bring up this two page sub menu The first page is concerned with what will be displayed on line one of the Meter Reading screen All of the choices along with the current mode are shown To change the display mode type in the new number and press ENTER To leave it unchanged just press ENTER without typing anything Typing in something other than a recognized mode will have no effect 0 Service address mode 1 Book account number mode 2 Customer name mode 3 Internal record number The default answer is N L Unusually low use Do you want to re enter the reading Y N _ _ Unusually high use Do you want to re enter the reading Y N 0 Addr 1 Acct 2 Name 3 Rec Current mode 2 New display mode _ IL N 0 Meter Number 1 Sensus I D Current mode 2 New display mode _ The second page which will appear after the query on the first page has been satisfie
110. ask FILE DRIVER TOPSPEED RECLAIM NAME wtaname PR E WTA BINDABLE Work order task By_Task KEY WTA Task DUP NOCASE OPT Task Key By Order KEY WTA WorkOrder DUP NOCASE OPT IWork Order Key WTA By_Task lt lt gt TAS By_ Task Update CASCADE Delete RESTRICT WTA By_Order lt lt gt ORD By_ID Update CASCADE Delete RESTRICT The double arrow is on the side of the many file in a many to one relationship So the single arrow points to the parent key and the double arrow to the child The Update and Delete indicate what happens when a parent is updated and deleted A blank means it is allowed and no action is taken Restrict means it is not allowed the user will get a warning message Cascade means all children will be deleted In the case of an update action if a key value in a parent is changed cascade means all children will be changed likewise 178 Large Screens Billing Forms Four Piece Laser 1 4242 oa am imat 12 U Ouro fox Hom PO to am Jania FL m Nehaturg War Orp 1TA wam Anak Ce ae ean m b Mee Elisabeth Eater aroa Superiar 3 Aiara FL Pie tun lha aud wih pone l Nethaturg War Oer Arroun MubheRill Datel Tue Dateli mni ITI wam net REENT TADI zoi awon mee a Ha nair asa Balance Fanward Waer PST Lil Cramp Food Sargs P O Bas 20190 Jactsamilke FL Wai Tima iun iha aih vih royrani O ta a t azo laa naa om H eterturg War Corp
111. at the beginning of the internal list this command will wrap around to the last account in the list D Change the main screen display mode The first line of the Meter Reading screen can display one of four dif ferent pieces of data This command brings up a list of the four items so that you may select which one is to be displayed To make the selection type in the proper number at the New display mode prompt and press the ENTER key To leave the current display mode unchanged just press ENTER without having typed anything If you type in something that is not on the list the hand unit will ask the guestion again The valid choices are 0 Service address of the meter truncated to nineteen characters 1 Account number of this customer 2 Name of this customer truncated to nineteen characters 3 Internal record number used by the unit to locate this account In addition to altering line one of the main screen you may also alter the data displayed in the meter number field on line three After the screen for line one is past a second screen presents choices for the meter number field There are only two items to select from here To change the current selection type in the new number and press ENTER Pressing ENTER without having type in anything will leave the current selection unchanged As with the first screen entering an out of bounds answer will cause the hand unit to ask the question again The valid choices are 0
112. ate before July 20th belongs to a prior cycle Note that multiple meter readings per period are allowed Consumption is figured on each pair of readings and summed up to get the period s total consumption figure 165 Update Billing Cycle cy General Record Biling Cycle Starting Month and Da Due Ei December of 21 3 fa fieseon Duration Late Monthly 30 days s i520 Prior ext 4 Cancel Due and Late Dates The due date and the late date are both computed as an offset from the start of the billing cycle The due date and late date for a particular cycle s charges are based upon the offset values in the billing cycle s Due and Late fields The counting starts at zero on the first day of the cycle For example a billing cycle which started on the 7th of the month and has values of 10 and 20 in the Due and Late fields would have it s charge come due on the 16th and be late on the 26th The 7th is the first day of the cycle the 8th is second day 9th is third and so on Due dates and late dates are stored in each individual customer record when standard charges are computed These values appear in the Due Date and Late Date fields of the main customer window Note that these fields are not updated by the Recompute Button Furthermore these fields are provided for reference purposes only when needed the dates are recomputed from the billing cycle file s current data It is possib
113. ation and the data files on a server at the location specified Note A change will take effect the next time Utility Billing is started It should not be changed while other workstations are running Utility Billing for obvious reasons System administrators may want to experiment with the remote vs local program setup because one method may not necessarily work better than the other It depends on factors such as the relative speed of the local workstation and the server and the speed of the link The remote data feature is present only on the main Utility Billing application UB EXE Other external utilities such as UBUTIL still require that the program and data reside in the same folder Bill Printing Format Layout for the Billing Form Late Notice Format Layout for the Late Notice Form Cutoff Notice Format Layout for the Cutoff Notice Form 22 Skip Overdue Penalty When checked this will skip the penalty See if late charges are needed when recomputing under the Transactions Tab in File Customers Focus in Customer Browse After updating a customer record or entering a manual payment focus is restored to the control specified in the configuration window Focus is not set to the browse listbox when the window was initially opened but instead after a payment was entered or after updating a record Focus means where you want the focus on the customer list or on the account number Most people prefer the customer k
114. atus Cancel Estimated meter readings from the Itron Meter Reader are formatted according to the number of digits specified for the meter They do not contain a fractional component resulting from division by the meter multiplier they are instead shortened to read in meter units usually 1000 gallons Go to Activities Meter Reading Entry Make Download List Go to Activities Meter Reading Entry Use Itron Hand Units Make Download List Customer names and addresses are mapped to upper case when creating the Itron download file Meter readings downloaded to the Itron Meter Reader are in integer format because it cannot accept fractional readings When a no read meter record is received reading is_all zeros an estimated reading is generated from the average consumption for the meter 81 Note that a reading of The estimated reading is computed as the previous zero is interpreted as a no read according to the Itron specifications but this is not the same as zero consumption latest reading same as previous reading reading plus the average consumption However the average consumption 1s adjusted by the multiplier usually 1000 Create Download List BEE General Account Range Billing Cycle 1 of 2 Scheduled Read Date i Overwrite existing file if any Endin foo03 o1 79 00 Download File W Show rejected accounts in results list Results Cancel When you have all the information fille
115. ay be manually overridden so as to include the inactive books or simply blank out the last active book Alphabetic book numbers are supported by Utility Billing including book numbers such as ABCD B123 etc But due to a technical database issue the last active book feature supports only numeric and single character alphabetic books This restriction may be lifted in a future release On the Colors Tab select the colors that you want for the different account listings 25 Choose which colors for the main customers and which for the transactions Click on each one to select a custom color and a box will pop up BE x Update Configuration General Index Keys Colors Payments Accounting Fund Transfer Print Preview Record Selected Normal Main Customer List Box Normal Normal Dormant Subtotal Total Total AG IV Mark Overdue Accounts in Main List Box OK Cancel Dormant Standard Foreground x Standard Colors ES nonNE gt Basic Colors ee E E he AE E E LTE g AE E E BEE Eee ee EEE Ef Custom Colors pp pe ep oe a a pp pe ee a Define Custom Colors E Mark Overdue Accounts in Main List Box When checked this allows overdue accounts to be highlighted with a color as well The color you choose for overdue customers will show under the Main Customer Listing Window in File Customers On the Payments Tab fill out the follow
116. ayments window the Payment box will be highlighted The amount due will be showing in that box If that is the amount paid hit enter and the payment has been applied to the account If they paid less than the amount due enter that amount and the payment will be distributed according to the payment order as set up in the Setup Lists Charge Names Payment Order If they paid more than the amount due enter the amount and the payment will be distributed to the current charges first then to the overpayment amount listed in the Overpayment Charge Category under Setup Configuration and then to the Payments Tab Any past due amounts will get the payments applied to them then the payments will be distributed to the current charges If the amount of the payment matches the current balance the payment is distributed according to the current balance If the amount of the payment matches the amount billed last time and the account has a current balance it will be distributed according to the 108 amounts billed If the payment doesn t match the current balance it will proceed to distribute in the previous current overpayment sequence Follow this order 1 If payment amount matches the current balance distribute to current balance 2 If payment amount matches neither 3 Distribute to previous balance 4 If any remaining distribute to current charges 5 If any remaining distribute to overpayment category Back on the Sli
117. ble in the new system so that it functions as in the old one the base at each level must be adjusted by the difference between the consumption charges at the break consumption In this example the first level computes a consumption charge of 5000 times 003 15 00 171 The second level computes a consumption charge for the same quantity of 5000 time 0025 12 50 To make the new system produce the same charge at both levels the base charge for the second level must be reduced by 15 00 12 50 2 50 With the base at the second level of 5 50 instead of 8 00 the charge computed by the new system will be the same as would have been computed on the old system In our original example the bill for a 10 00 gallon consumption would be 15 00 for the first 5000 gallons plus 12 50 for the next 5000 gallons plus the 5 50 base for a total of 33 00 This also works in an increasing rate table where higher consumption is punished Assume in our example that the rate above 5000 gallons is 004 per gallon The difference in charges at the break level of 5000 gallons is 5000 004 5000 003 5 00 This time the base charge at the second level would need to be increased by 5 00 to 13 00 to yield the same charge by both systems Prior to this the formula consisted of the following 1 A working consumption is computed by dividing the current consumption by the multiplier Multipliers less than 1 are treated as 1 The
118. cation Screen Before entering the meter reading mode you must identify yourself to the hand unit This is Please enter your NOT a password Any combination of letters num personal identifi bers and punctuation will be accepted If you cation code enter too many characters only the first eight will be remembered by the unit The purpose of this question is only to help provide a record of who used the hand unit last If you wait twenty seconds without pressing ENTER the hand unit will assume that you have forgotten about it and it will return to the Hookup screen Likewise it will return to the Hookup screen if you press ENTER without having typed anything Meter Reading Screen This is the most complex and often used of all lt lt lt lt lt LINE ONE gt gt gt gt gt the screens in the hand unit It s general format lt lt lt lt lt LINE TWO gt gt gt gt gt is as follows X lt NUMBER gt PT1 PT2 READING Line One This line will display either the service address account number customer name or the hand unit s internal record number pointer for this account The current setting of the display mode see the D command described below controls which of these four items is shown here When the address or customer name is on display remember that only the first nineteen characters are used by the hand unit Line two Displays either the remark or the service memo for
119. choose Prenote Accounts the routing information will be included with no transaction and no payments will be posted to accounts and no transfers will be made Obviously if you uncheck both boxes no accounts will be processed 114 If more than one ACH file is sent on the same day from UB or any other source the file sequence must be different Payroll s file sequence number is 1 so always use 2 or above The prefix number is 3 These are for bank purposes and can change from city to city SO we must make sure they are in before the file is created The settlement date is what you want the debit effective date to be Check with your bank for their criteria on this The ACH file will be created in the directory and with the name you specified and a report will print from Utility Billing For each account that is not flagged for Prenote the current balance of the account will be paid with payment distribution made according to the standard rules and configuration The payment distribution process is exactly the same as if you entered a manual payment by pressing the OK Button on the payment window The account will be marked as paid on the current date according to the computer clock not necessarily the Utility Billing system date A report will be printed after the transfer file is created that will list all accounts and the payment amount of each A field named Prefix is in the setup window The default value of this field is 1
120. cialty Reports Process and Print 142 Print Selected Upload Reports PE E3 General erint Preview Reports to Print I Unaltered Upload Report Standard Upload Report Unread Meters Report Found Meters Report Unusual Use Report Service Memo Report Consumption Report Rejected Readings Report Upload File Cancel The Specialty Reports have several parts which are the same in each report On the General Tab for each report fill in Beginning and Ending Account Range Once you hit the Process Results Button the Processing Results box will have information in it You can close the Print Preview and it will take you back to look at them if you like Most have a Print Order and Billing Cycles where you have to select Use or Ignore Some have a Beginning and Ending Date Range or 4 buttons Today This Week This Month Last Month from which to choose When you press one of these the dates will automatically be inserted for you Most will have the box to check to Show rejected accounts in the results summary All have the Process and Print Button which will finish up the report Priority Services Report Go to Reports Specialty Reports Priority Services Report This report includes a box which you may check for report specific comments if you want to include those in the report Press the Process and Print Button See a sample of this report 143 Priority Services Repor
121. d dictates what will be displayed in the meter number field of the Meter Reading screen All the choices and the current mode are shown To change the display mode for this field type in the new value and press ENTER To leave it unchanged just press ENTER The external meter identification number is the one that s normally printed on the meter casing Only some meters specially designed to be electronically read with the pit probe will have in internal meter number Furthermore the internal meter number normally can be read from a meter ONLY by use of the pit probe meter reading gun 0 External meter number 1 II II Internal Sensus pit probe meter number 210 Help Screens There are twenty help screens You may gain access to the first Help screen by entering H from either the Meter Reading or Hookup screens Once in the first help screen shows how to move around between the other help screens and how to get out of the help mode when you are finished Pressing any keys other than the Fl F2 or ENTER keys will have no effect while in the help mode Because of the limited screen size some of the explanations run across more than one screen To be sure that you ve seen all there is to see on a topic check the next screen using the F2 key for a continuation of the explanation All eighteen help screens are reproduced below F2 Move to the next help screen F3 Move to the prev
122. d Usage 4 Sewer Com SewCor Sewer Metered Usage 2 State Tax Sewer TaxS Sewer Current Charges 15 State Tax Vater TaxvV Water Current Charges 1 Water 11 2 Water3 Water Metered Usage 8 Water 1 Water2 Water Metered Usage 9 Rate Class Name Insert L change Delete Close To print the rate classes list go to Setup Lists Rate Classes Print See a sample of the list 36 Update Rate Class PE x General Meters Record Rate Class Name Full and Abbr Target Charge backflow 3 4 back Backflow Computation Method Order Proration Fiat Amount fi2 None Base Extra Surcharge Charge Limit 50 00 0 00 0 0000 0 00 V Optional Charge Repeal After Prior Next V Cancel Billing Cycles Go to Setup Lists Billing Cycles See details on Billing Cycles Billing cycles of semiannually and annually and all lengths by month up to one year are supported here Set the Billing Cycle Start date to the first date you will be using in the meter readings The year of a billing cycle is adjusted back one when the cycle month is greater than the current system month This eliminates the problem of determining the starting date of a billing cycle when the cycle straddles the year end The calculated due and late dates for a billing period are based on the actual number of days from the start of the billing period The program uses this date to determine which charges to
123. d charge names To insert new information click on the Insert Button Fill out the information on the General Tab the Record Tab simply shows who 1s the creator of the information To change existing information highlight the line to change and click on the Change Button 32 Caution after updating Browse Charge Names em Es with the latest release you MUST go to the charge Hame abbr Payment Order Display Order Category names setup window and Full Name Pay Order Disp Order Category 2 set the flag for any charge CREDIT SEAER CRSAR d 158 Standard m CREDIT TAX TAX CR Standard PAES JONNAN The i computer to print After data is converted the Standard default forall char IRRG APTS IRIS 9 3 Standard SARU JOP UP CEE Standard categories is to not print IRRG BHY COLLINS RR16 42 6 Standard hename whick meansthe Standard f RRG OCEAN FRONT IRRI2 e 23 Standard names must be preprinted Standard on the bill form Standard Standard SEVER APARTMENTS 4 Full Mame Record 1 of 26 Inzert Change Delete Close change Update Charge List a el ES General Record Charge Mame Full and Abbr Backriow Bk flow Payment Display Order Order 1 a3 V Print Mame Type of Charge i Standard Revenue Charge ie Non Refundable Fee i Retundable Fee Deposit Accounting Transter Cash In Account Combine Revenue 4ccount
124. d in on this window press the Process Button to process the download list Process Meter Readings Go to Activities Meter Reading Entry Use Itron Hand Units Process Meter Readings This is really processing the upload list You have the option to Skip Ignore Examine or Add on the Metered Services box There is an option of resequencing meters A checkbox labeled Allow Resequence was added to the window If this is checked a field labeled Sequence Increment will become visible This is the increment used if meters in a route are resequenced The first meter will begin with this sequence number and all subsequent meters will increase by this number The resequencing will take place only if the route resequenced field is set in the route header record in the to host file 82 The default increment is 10 This means the first sequence number in the route would be 10 or whatever increment set and each subsequent meter sequence number will increase by 10 or the whatever increment specified Process Upload List PE x General Metered Service 1 of 4 Reading Date service Prior fe 2212001 Allow Resequence Upload File Upload Report File hhreports3 Results New Reading Results Problems Cancel Print Upload Reports Go to Activities Meter Reading Entry Use Itron Hand Units Print Upload Reports The no read code field in the meter reading record of the Itron upload file is examined and
125. d tell you so If there are no errors a progress window will show Process Aborted x Renumbered account conflicts with esisting account number Check Zipcodes Go to Utilties Account Utilities Check Zipcodes This utility prints a list of active accounts with missing or invalid zipcodes Accounts with the No Charges and No Readings flags set are not included 124 Run 14 0142 Hotville Water Company Tear Utility Billing Accounts with Missing or Invalid Zipcodes Page 1 Account Number Customer Name Problem 0003 0933 00 Femando Gagnon Missing Zipcode UOUS U06U UD Robert Robinson E4i3E4 Invalid Zipcode 0003 0133 00 Kennith Clark 4114 Invaled Zipcode Set Rate Classes Go to Utilities Rate Class Utilities Set Rate Classes This utility allows you to Add Ignore or Remove rate classes Select your Account Range and then tab to the Rate Classes box Use your spacebar to select which option for each line of the rates shown Decide whether you want to show rejected accounts in the results list When finished press the Process Button Add or Remove Rate Classes PE x General Account Range Rate Classes 1 of 16 per Name E 0001 0001 00 Late Fee Ignore Endin Sewer Com Ignore 0001 0141 00 sewer 1 1 2 Ignore Sewer 5 8 X 3 4 Ignore Sewer Ignore Multi Family Ignore Water 2 Ignore V Show rejected accounts in results list Water 11 2 Ignore f 111 records processed 0 record
126. de even if it isn t listed on the current sub menu screen For example you may enter an 8 which is find next unread meter while on the first search page even though 6 Rem ptr 7 Ser ptr that option will not be visible until you reach the 8 Unread 9 Sensus second page On the first page if you press ENTER without Search target _ having typed anything the second page will be shown On the second page pressing ENTER without having typed anything will return you to the Meter Reading screen The ten commands possible from the search screen are 0 Next book in the memory file nd specified service address Find specified customer name Find specified external meter number Find specified account number ind specified remark string Find specified remark pointer nd specified service code pointer next unread meter Find specified internal Sensus pit probe meter number O00 ON OTS ODS II oe eee ees 5 225 Title Screens Using the T command will bring up the first of the three title pages Each page is displayed for ten seconds or until you press the ENTER key After the final page has been shown control is returned to either the Meter Reading screen or the Hookup screen Like the query screens the title screens are designed to show information on the hand unit s operational setup However the query screens show data that is subject to frequent change whi
127. ded to the refund amount On the Print Preview Tab check which Preview method and Initial Display you prefer On any one of these 3 tabs you may press the Print Refund Report when you have all the information filled out See a sample of this report Print Refund Checks Go to Activities Refund Processing Print Refund Checks This screen has the same information on it as the Print Pending Refund Checks Report above except for the addition of a couple of boxes to consider on the General Tab and an additional Summary Tab On the General Tab decide if you want to check the Generate Exception Report box Fill in the Starting Check Number You may substitute the service address for the billing address Prepare and Print Refund Checks x General overpayments Summary Print Preview Account Range Skip closed accounts Beginnin 0001 0001 00 IV Pay outstanding balance from deposit refund Endin ocot 0001 00 Minimum refund check amount 0 00 zl IV Generate Exception Report Starting Check IV Include rejected accounts in results summary 6 1 account processed 1 check printed 0001 0001 00 Refund from overpayment 6 77 Total from 1 item 6 77 0 00 3 Refund and Discard Cancel Fill out the Overpayments Tab On the Summary Tab simply assign a sub title name to the Summary Report Press the Refund and Apply Button on any one of these 4 tabs when finished See a sample of
128. ders it is indicated by a zero current reading Note that a zero reading is not the same as zero consumption A zero consumption means that the previous and latest meter readings are identical An actual zero meter reading could only exist if a brand new meter had no consumption If readings are entered by hand Activities Meter Reading Entry Manual Entry an estimated reading is requested by entering an E in lieu of a reading Meter readings are stored in the units as read Each meter may have a multiplier that is applied to the reading to get units of gallons or cubic feet or whatever is the base unit of measurement For example if a water meter is read in units of 1000 gallons it would have a multiplier of 1000 Average consumption however is stored in base units in this case gallons 155 This is what happens when a reading is estimated The last meter reading for the meter before the start of the current billing cycle is fetched from the meter history file This is used as the previous reading The average consumption for this meter is fetched from the meter status file The average is converted to meter units by dividing by the meter multiplier The result is then added to the previous reading to get the estimated latest reading At this point the estimated reading is in the meter units as indicated by the meter multiplier After this point an estimated reading is handled like an actual reading except for being f
129. dings into the program Manually entered meter readings are checked against the minimum and maximum limits set for the metered service It is not possible to enter a reading for an account outside the specified range When entering manual meter readings a specific account number may be entered at the Locate prompt to fetch an out of sequence account The account entered must qualify according to the account number range billing cycle and metered service parameters set up in the opening window If it does not qualify a message will be displayed with the reason the account cannot be fetched Eois Enter Meter Readings General Account Range TE Endin OO06 0245 01 Enter Readings Enter Readings 13 Accounts that do not qualify based on the billing cycle selections or have no meters for the metered service selected are not displayed When a reading is entered that is less than the previous reading either an entry error or meter rollover a warning window is displayed and the user must confirm that this reading should be accepted Such occurrences are also trapped by the low consumption warning window This test will be of use primarily when low consumption limits are disabled Manually entered estimated meter readings are formatted according to the number of digits specified for the meter They do not contain a fractional component resulting from division by the meter multiplier they are instead truncated to read
130. displayed account Display query screen showing the hand unit s internal status Add change or delete a remark comment Display the search mode sub menu Display the title screen Change default direction of traverse ENTER Move forward to the next account same as F above SGHNnDWDO ND BZrP Aaa sow I Rollover Screen SH gt h STI When you enter a meter reading it is checked New reading is lower against the last known meter reading If the new than old reading Do reading is less than the old reading a series of you want to re enter warning beeps will sound and this screen will be TES AGEN brought up If you answer Y control will be E passed back to the Meter Reading screen where the current account will be redisplayed If you answer N the hand unit will assume that a meter rollover or changeout has taken place The reading will be 222 recorded for the current account without further questioning and the hand unit will move on to the next account The default answer is N High Reading and Low Reading Screens If the new reading is not a rollover it will Unusually low use be checked against a set of expected high and low Do you want to re readings which were downloaded from the host along enter the reading with the rest of the account data If it is out Y N side this range a series of warning beeps will aE sound and the appropriate one
131. does not cause bills to be printed 170 How Metered Usage rate classes perform their computations When data is converted from IMS Utility Billing version 5 X the rate classes for rates based on consumption are adjusted for the differences between the calculation methods of the two systems This involves adjusting the base rate for all levels in the rate tables beyond the first level for the difference between the amount computed at the two adjacent levels at the break consumption In the old system consumption was computed by finding the level in the rate table that included the consumption then calculating the charge as the base charge plus the consumption times the rate at that level The new system uses a more flexible system in which the charge is computed for each level up to and including the level that includes the consumption If the per unit charge does not change at any level the two methods produce identical results But if the per unit charge changes with each level the two will produce different results Here is an example Assume a base charge of 8 00 003 per gallon up to 5 000 gallons and 0025 per gallon above 5 000 gallons Fora consumption of 10 000 gallons the old system would bill 10 000 gallons 0025 plus the 8 00 base for a charge of 33 00 The new system would bill 15 00 for the first 5000 gallons plus 12 50 for the next 5000 gallons plus the 8 00 base for a total of 35 50 To adjust a rate ta
132. e before meter readings are entered would for example cause the new readings to replace the ones from the previous period 169 Appendix B Differences From the DOS Utility Billing Version 5 X Part of ACH DIRECT DEBIT TECHNOTE in Help Technote 4 with program If you have recently updated from version 5 of Utility Billing to version 6 there are some operational differences In the previous generation of Utility Billing the ACH transfer file generation process was part of the bill printing operation Bills for the direct debit accounts would be printed at the same time the transfer file was created In the new Utility Billing the transfer file generation is a separate process on the payment entry menu where it logically belongs You can print bills for your direct debit customers the same time you print the others then generate the transfer file on whatever date you have arranged with the customer to make the withdrawal You could also elect to print bills for direct debit customers at a later time by checking the Skip direct debit accounts box You could also generate the transfer file before you print bills in which case the direct debit accounts will reflect the payment of the same day and have no current balance due If you do make sure the Skip zero balances option is not checked Such processing decisions are strictly in the user s domain The only important difference to remember is that creating the transfer file
133. e and then release On a drop list press the first character of your selection to go directly to it 12 Quick Tip Keys F1 brings up a Help menu for quick and easy explanation of terms If you are in a date field press F3 which is invaluable in IMS programs and will bring up a calendar in a date field or pop up list in many other fields Always try it if you need to select from a list to see if it is available this way Press the Escape Key to release it Right clicking on the Mouse Button will also display selections if available ul Mol Tul Ae th Fr Sa 8 4 10 14 12 13 Using the Clipboard This menu contains the standard Windows editing functions using the clipboard Itis active only when a document window is open Cut X Move the currently highlighted text to the Windows Clipboard Copy 4C Copy the currently highlighted text to the Windows Clipboard Paste V Copy the contents of the Windows Clipboard to the field where the cursor is currently located Reference Help Contents Your program has assistance under Help press F1 at any time to take you to this section or Help Contents or Index Contents has a better overview of the entire section It is filled with explanations of almost every function and key in the program Familiarize yourself with some of these items in there before beginning This makes using the program much simpler 13 IMS Web Site You may automatically link to the
134. e back Standard Use PST PSTS TaxS Tax Charge Categories Water Standard Sewer Standard PST Standard Late Standard Ser Non Refundable CutOff Standard House Standard Bkfl owu Non Refundable Dep Refundable BadChk Standard Tamper Standard CutOn Standard CR Standard Rate Classes Ignore Ignore Ignore Ignore Ignore Use Ignore Ignore Ignore Ignore Ignore Ignore Ignore Ignore Ignore Ignore Ignore Use Use Ignore Ignore Ignore Ignore Ignore Ignore Ignore Ignore Ignore Use Printed by IMS Billing Cycles A Use Printed by IMS Billing Cycles A Use 189 Refund Report Deposit Refunds Report Parameters Wet Water Company Standard 4 15 2001 5 52PM Printed by IMS Account Range 0001 0001 00 to 0001 0001 00 Charge Categories Billing Cycles Date Range 04 15 2001 to 04 15 2001 Dep Refundable Use A Use Print Order Summary Only No Types Codes New Use Hand Use Correction Use Automated Use NSF Rebill Use Late Print Use Work Order Use New Acct Use Notes Cashiers blank Use IMS Use FAST Use hlaster Use SWC Use pak Use EMERG Use LATE Use Current Balance Report Current Balance Report Parameters Wet Water Company Current Balance Report 9415 2001 5 53PM Printed by IMS Account Range 0001 0001 00 to 0001 0001 00 Overdue uate snes ___L inigwuens Mims Print Order Account Number Summary Only No Printed As Of Current Treatment of No Charges Accounts
135. e date Late Date Cutoff Date boxes will overwrite the dates that were used when computing the charges If these dates are left blank the same dates will be used that were set up in the Billing Cycle and used when computing charges you can see those dates on each customers account under File Customers Transactions Tab Billing Date Due Date and Late Date If you want to add a message to the bills such as Happy Holidays click on the Messages Tab and fill in the message in the Standard Message Box The Utility Billing system has a feature which allows you to see your reports on the screen before they print This is useful when you only want to see the information on the screen but it also gives you the opportunity to fine tune the appearance of reports you will be sending to the printer The print preview options on the report setup windows are fully functional The preview option designated as Standard Report Preview is the same preview as used in most other IMS applications It has the ability to print individual pages or ranges of pages of areport The old preview system which allows displaying multiple pages of a report at one time is still available with the Alternate Report Preview selection 149 When the Standard Report Preview option is selected the Initial Display options are now functional They allow setting the initial size of the preview display The print preview options may also be set globally using Setup Con
136. e device was approved a results field of 64 characters and a free form notes field of 3600 characters The letter history record includes the identity of the form letter sent an eight character short name the date the letter was sent and a 64 character notes field On the Letters Tab press the Change Button to edit a letter Device Will Be Added 4 03 00 Warning Letter enk 3 tines Press Insert to add a new one and the F3 Key for a pop up list of letters to choose from You may also add Notes Adding a LetterHist Record 4 03 2000 1 Sent 3 times already SERE 4 03 00 GEN 4 Nothing happened 64 On the Inspections Tab select an Inspector General Notes Date Inspected 4 03 2000 Inspected By GEN Dr Jones Status Approved C Rejected Results Nothing happened Cancel Help You may add more detail to the Inspection Record by pressing the Change Button Enter whether Approved or Rejected and the Results in a short note Press OK when finished with all of your selections Adjust Meter Readings When a meter is added to a customer account an initial meter reading is not automatically added A reading will be added if the Initial Reading field is not blank even if that value is zero To adjust readings in an account click on the Meters Tab and at the bottom of that page you will see the meter Reading history At the top of the page is the meter information such as m
137. e directed to tab to something that is what this means There are also Tabs that are folders with names These will always be capitalized so that you aren t confused by the two different definitions of the word tab DO NOT use the Enter Key The Enter Key is the same as clicking on OK and means you ve completed your entries and are ready to move on to something else Control If you don t have a good understanding of this concept you ll spend way too much time trying to get the program to do what you want it to do 10 You first see a screen where the cursor is flashing in a field That means that if you press a letter or number on your keyboard it will appear in this field Hit the Enter Key on your keyboard after filling in this field and the account will pop up on your screen However if you click within the other portion of the screen the control moves there Then when you press a letter the program takes you to the first occurrence of that letter in the list a Akang Fa 4700 Waaber Sa To move to a screen tab simply click on it That screen will be brought to the front Mouse vs Keyboard Throughout the manual the mouse commands are given for procedures e g Click on OK If you prefer to use keyboard commands you l want to pay attention to the underlined letters in options throughout the program For example to pull down the File menu you may click on File or you may press Alt F The
138. e for these fields are for categories or groups such that there are a limited number of different values and several customers will share the same category or group For example you could name one of them Service Type and in the field have values such as Residential Commercial etc Using a field in this manner opens up the power of being able to print reports based on this value On some of the reports you will have the option of specifying which of the values of this field you want to include or exclude and it will print a breakdown summary by each different field value To make such use practical the number of different values of the field should be limited to about 50 so they can all be listed on a single page It would be pointless to print a report breakdown by a field that has a different value for each customer The bill printing process may be limited to only those accounts with one of the user defined flags set including an option to clear the flag after the bills have been printed This is intended to support a procedure for printing final bills To set it up use Setup Configuration Index Keys Account Flags Flag One Name and set a value there such as Final Bill The customer record will display that flag When accounts are ready for final bills to be printed the flag can be set When ready to print final bills an option will appear as Final Bill only Also an option of Reset Final Bill after Print will appear If
139. e option to delete the rate is available only if there are no related records in the charge history file First Field on Payment Window Start with focus on Tracking check number or Payment amount paid when the Customer Window comes up When you focus on Tracking this will put the cursor in the tracking section of the payment entry screen 2 This section is typically used for the customer check number The Cash Receipts Report is designed to print receipts by date in either account number order or tracking order When printed in check number order if a user has a misapplied check then they can quickly locate that check number and see which account it was applied to Such as when the customer pays with check 101 and it is applied to account 1 10 rather than my account 1 11 The customer gets their next month s bill and sees that the payment has not been applied So they call and say that they paid on such and such date with check number 101 The person running a receipts report for the dates when the check probably came in through the mail sees check 101 was applied to 1 10 and fixes the accounts When you focus on Payment upon entering the payment entry window for an account the cursor will be blinking on the payment amount and if that is what the customer paid hit enter and the payment is applied with the date specified in the payment entry window If they paid more or less that what the payment amount says that amount
140. e special con sideration Since Sensus meter numbers are always eight characters long any search string that is not exactly eight characters long will be ignored same as pressing ENTER without having typed anything at all I Display the title screens There are three title screens all of which show information about the hand unit s internal conditions These screens are most useful to check information which is usually set once and then left alone such as the hand unit s internal clock vy Change the default direction of traverse After a reading has been successfully entered or when just ENTER has been pressed at the Meter Reading screen the hand unit advances to display the next account The direction of traverse that is which way the hand unit looks when next is specified is under user control This command brings up an editing screen where the default direction vector can be changed There are only two options forward or backward To make the selection type in the proper letter at the New direction prompt and press the ENTER key To leave the current vector unchanged just press ENTER without having typed anything If you type in something that is not either an F or B the hand unit will ask the question again F Assume forward as the default direction B Assume backward as the default direction F1 Exit from the meter reading mode Using this key from the Meter Reading screen will return cont
141. e things that Activities Payment _ Add Bill Entry Manual Entry does among the Declining balance update and discounts Customers are advised to use the Add Pay Button for simple things only The AddBill Button addes charges to the account Update Charge Transaction Ea General Record Type Source Method Reference New automated Check Date Trackin Motes an 5 2001 E Payment 1 of 13 Charge Mame Old Value Adjustment fe i Service Charge S S o jOniorf Charge o o House vist S S o Backflow S S Depost S S S Bad Check Charge Totals 329 77 23 00 23 00 0 00 32977 Cancel Click on OK for each screen until you are back to the main Customer window Then enter in the next account in the bottom account box hit enter and then click on the Transaction Tab for that customer Edit Tran Highlight the billing transaction and click on the Edit Tran Button You may also reverse a transaction by _ Reverse pressing the Reverse Button Transactions may be reversed or edited if they are in the current billing cycle as determined by the system date If the customer has no assigned billing cycle transaction editing or reversal is limited to the calendar month as determined by the system date 68 When data is converted from IMS Utility Billing version 5 X transactions are checked for a reasonable date and any that are out of range are discarded Users are advised to use t
142. ecific customer Use File Customers Change Button Rates Tab Change Rate to view a rate record General Record Source Fate Class Multiplier Start Date Close Date MASTER 1 INSIDE CTY fi Extra Percent Extra Charge Delay until nest period 0 0000 0 00 E Continuous Proration Status o E Use Ignore Cancel 162 A rate has fields for Start Date and Close Date a Delay until next period is checked no charge will be computed if the start date is after the end of the prior billing period If there is a date in the Close Date field no charge will be computed if the close date is before the beginning of the current billing period If Delay until next period is checked no charge will be computed if the close date is before the beginning of the prior billing period If the start date is within the current billing period then the charge for this rate will be prorated If the start date is within the prior billing cycle and Delay until next period is checked the charge will be prorated If the close date is within the current billing cycle the charge for this rate will be prorated If the close date is within the prior billing cycle and Delay until next period is checked the charge will be prorated If Continuous Proration is checked the charge for this rate will always be prorated Once we have determined what is to be prorated the date range of service is established and all of the prorate don t prorate dec
143. ecified rather than the consumption The Unusual Use Filters should be left blank and the No Current Readings box should be checked You may Filter for Estimated Readings or Disable rounding of meter readings and consumption When checked the consumption will then be based on the raw meter readings The multiplier will not be disabled In order for consumption to be computed the Beginning and Ending Date specified for the report must encompass a consecutive pair of meter readings usually a month apart A Beginning and Ending Date of the same value will yield no consumption anyhow because it cannot be measured Thus the column normally occupied by the consumption is used to show the number of inactive meters existing on that date The first count column is the total number of active and inactive meters and the second column with a heading of Inactive is the number of inactive meters The number of active meters may be determined by subtracting one from the other An inactive meter is defined as a meter that is not flagged as a duplicate and belongs to an account that was inactive as of the date specified for the report When the Consumption Report is generated customers with the No Charges Flag set are considered inactive This applies only to the special version of the report produced when the beginning and ending date are identical In this mode the report prints meter count instead of consumption 132 An account is deemed
144. er 10000 134 27292000 New Automated 10000 Add Memo Edit Memo Kill Memo 121 2101 2000 New Automated 10000 Fredric Status 110 1103 2000 New Automated 10000 SSFUEAIKIRIETE 102 12 0141999 New Automated 20000 l Cread 50 107 271999 New Automated nia Water Oof 1 Z 8 Add Reading Edit Reading Kill Reading Now compare the results of the two methods For the comparison we will use the meter reading pair of 134 and 147 The round nearest 1 of readings yields consumption of 20000 while rounding consumption yields 10000 Round readings 147 rounds to 150 and 134 rounds to 130 150 130 yields 20 times the meter multiplier of 1000 gives us 20000 gallons Round consumption 147 134 yields 13 13 rounded one place to the nearest yields 10 times the meter multiplier of 1000 results in 10000 Now to show that you really understand this figure out what the consumption would be if set to round readings AND consumption one place each 154 IMS Technote 2 Copyright 1999 Information Management Services Inc Estimated Meter Readings If a meter cannot be read you may have the Utility Billing System estimate a reading for you An estimated meter reading may be requested for both manually entered readings and handheld meter readers if the meter reader supports a method of requesting an estimate The method of requesting an estimate varies with the meter reading system In the case of the Itron rea
145. er Ignore Water Ignore water Ignore water Ignore back Ignore back Ignore PSTwW Ignore PSTW Ignore PSTS Ignore PSTS Ignore TaxS Ignore TaxS Ignore Taxi Ignore Taxi Ignore 195 Date To Date Summary Report Date To Date Summary Report Parameters Hotville Water Company August 26 1999 To August 26 2002 8 26 2002 4 30PM Account Range 00010003 00 to 0001 0030 00 Route Breakdown Route Breakdown Report Parameters Wet Water Company 4 16 2001 12 03PM Printed by IMS Water Inside Water Outside Sewer Inside Sewer Outside Total Account Range 0001 0001 00 to 0001 0246 00 Active accounts only 196 Year to date Summary Year To Date Summary Report Parameters Wet Water Company 46 2001 12 04PM Account Range 0001 0001 00 to 0002 0197 00 Profile Report Profile Report Parameters Wet Water Company 4 16 2001 12 06PM Printed by IMS Account Range 0001 0001 00 to 0001 0197 00 Accounts per Book Accounts per Billing Cycle Accounts per Rate Class Meters per Account Meter Sizes Accounts per Group Current and Late Balances Start each section on a new page Use multipliers to derive rate totals OO MRK 197 Customer Edit History Report Customer Edit History Report Wet Water Company 9416 2001 12 15PM Printed by IMS Account Date By Action Field Old Value New Value 0001 0001 00 10 23 00 pak Add Account Number 0001 0001 00 0001 0001 00 10 23 00 pak Add Route First User Index Key 3 0001 0002 00 5 04 9
146. essed 0 records edited 0001 0001 00 No suitable rate classes 0001 0002 00 No suitable rate classes 0001 0003 00 No suitable rate classes 0001 0004 00 No suitable rate classes 0001 0005 00 No suitable rate classes 0001 0006 00 No suitable rate classes 0001 0007 00 No suitable rate classes 0001 0008 00 No suitable rate classes Cancel Press the Process Button when finished Recompute Average Consumption Go to Utilities Meter and Reading Utilities Recompute Average Consumption The method of computing average consumption is a 12 month exponential moving average A 12 month moving average is simply the sum of monthly consumption for the last 12 months divided by 12 An exponential moving average is calculated by summing 11 12 of the previous average to 1 12 of the latest consumption The benefits of the exponential moving average include it is not as greatly disturbed by unusually high or low consumption it weights newer consumption values more than old and it is not influenced by the dropping of a divergent consumption at the oldest end of the averaging period Estimated readings are ignored because they were originally calculated from the average at that time Rollovers are also ignored While a rollover is theoretically valid there is also a possibility that it was an incorrect reading Ifan average consumption seems high after a recompute the individual readings should be examined fo
147. eter ID number date installed date removed etc REMEMBER all meters must have a meter ID number filled in To change a meter reading highlight the reading to be changed and Click on Edit Reading then tab to the reading and make the change and click on OK Once all readings have been adjusted for each account that needed adjusting you are ready to compute charges When a meter is deleted both meter numbers and the value and date of the last reading is logged All changes to any field are logged by field name 65 The method used is a 12 month exponential moving average the same as used in normal processing All procedures use the weighted method the newest consumptions are weighted greater than the older ones However there are several differences from the standard method estimated readings are ignored because they were originally calculated from the average at that time See Estimated Meter Readings Rollovers are also ignored While a rollover is theoretically valid there is also a possibility that it was an incorrect reading If an average consumption seems high after a recomputed on the Transaction Tab the individual readings should be examined for errors When a replacement meter is added to a customer account a new field titled Initial Reading will appear in the meter entry form This should be filled in with the initial reading when the meter was installed It will default to zero the usual case for a new meter
148. ew value and press ENTER To leave it unchanged just press ENTER The external meter identification number is the one that s normally printed on the meter casing Only some meters specially designed to be electronically read with the pit probe will have in internal meter number Furthermore the internal meter number normally can be read from a meter ONLY by use of the pit probe meter reading gun 0 External meter number 1 Internal Sensus pit probe meter number Help Screens There are twenty help screens You may gain access to the first Help screen by entering H from either the Meter Reading or Hookup screens Once in the first help screen shows how to move around between the other help screens and how to get out of the help mode when you are finished Pressing any keys other than the F1 F2 or ENTER keys will have no effect while in the help mode Because of the limited screen size some of the explanations run across more than one screen To be sure that you ve seen all there is to see on a topic check the next screen using the F2 key for a continuation of the explanation All eighteen help screens are reproduced below F2 Move to the next help Move to the previous help screen Leave help mode and return to Meter Reading or Hookup screen 223 screen IN HELP SCREENS D Display mode P Previous acct lt F2 gt next screen lt F3 gt prev screen lt ENTER gt q
149. ewer Residential park 1041 2000 114 354M Total Commercial Usage park 1 25 2000 1 46PM Total Customers park 11 29 2000 11 004M Total Water Usage park 1 29 2001 3 50PM Water 11 2 park 2 10 2000 8 52AM Water 2 park 2 10 2000 8 55AM Water 5 8 3 4 park 6414 2000 11 26AM_ f Report Title Record 3 of 10 Insert Change Delete L erie Export Import Close On the General Tab select a Title Print Order Metered Service and the Billing Cycle Status Use or Ignore Select a Normal Date Range the Below and Above Average Percent to include the Minimum and Maximum consumption or No current readings You may check the Filter for Estimated Readings and any or all of the boxes on the lower left hand side On the List Filters Tab choose from Use or Ignore in the Rate Class and the Route boxes To simplify you may press Ignore All or Use All on either box Edit Consumption Report Format Sewer 5 8 X 3 4 Sewer PST VYater On the Detail Tab choose the elements from the Data Field by highlighting them and pressing the Select Button The Position Button will change the position of the highlighted portion You may also use your mouse cursor to move it in the Printing Layout box The Reject Button will erase the highlighted portion 90 Edit Consumption Report Format Category FieldName Over_ Down Visible _ Address Address _ ServiceNotes
150. ey lookup field so they can just enter an account number and hit the Tab Key or Enter Key and be at that account The other choice of Main Customer List Box sets the highlight to the customer browse section so that you can scroll to an account Or you may press the Tab Key and go to the account number lookup area On the Index Keys Tab fill in the following fields Update Configuration PE E3 General Index Keys colors Payments Accounting Eund Transfer Print Preview Record Account Key One Format r Account Key Two Format r Account Flaqs Key One Name Key Iwo Name Flag One Name Last Active Book Route Number Two Final Bill C Alphabetic Alphabetic Flag Two Name Numeric Numeric Sewer Decimal Places Decimal Places Meter Index Keys Meter One Name Meter 1 A E3 e d 0 e d Meter Two Name Meter 2 Choose between Account Key One and Account Key Two Format alphabetic and numeric These user fields are very powerful because all preferences numeric has d Wee naded h decimal places to choose customer ata wull be indexed on the values n the fields allowing you to locate a customer by that value You could have a field represent something unique to the customer such as social security number 23 This would mean that every record would have a different value But there is a good reason why these fields should not be used for such purposes The intended us
151. figuration Print Preview Newly created reports will use the global settings Reports in which the preview options have already been set will retain the local settings See each of the Print Preview Buttons in the Glossary to explain how they ll affect your report If you want a separate message to go to accounts that are overdue fill that message in the Late Message box The program is designed to print the standard message on current accounts those that are not carrying a past due balance and a separate late message for those accounts that are past due To print the bills click on process and print this will print the bills to your computer screen then you must click on the button that has picture of a printer on it on the print preview screen to print the bills 150 APPENDIX A IMS Technote 1 Copyright 1999 Information Management Services Inc Rounding Rounding is a process of dropping digits from the right of a number to lower its precision For example Utility Billing may compute dollar amounts internally to many decimal places then round them to the nearest cent for display and printing Likewise meter readings and consumption may be rounded When setting up a metered service such as water gas etc Setup Lists Metered Services there are several important fields that determine how meter readings and consumption are rounded This document will explain what these fields mean and the effect they will ha
152. formula is Working Consumption Current Consumption Multiplier 2 Based on the working consumption the appropriate line of the Charge Table from the rate class file is read into memory 3 A Fixed Charge is computed from the Charge Table s Base and Extra columns The formula is Fixed Charge Base Extra Multiplier 1 172 4 A Consumption Charge is computed from the Flat and Per Unit Columns The formula is Consumption Charge Flat Working Consumption Per Unit 5 Then fixed charge and consumption charge are combined into a single value adjusted for the multiplier The formula is Total Charge Fixed Charge Consumption Charge Multiplier 6 A working charge limit is computed from the charge limit adjusted for the multiplier The formula is Working Charge Limit Charge Limit Multiplier 7 If the working charge limit is greater than zero then the total charge is tested against it If the total charge is less than or equal to the working charge limit then the total charge remains unchanged However if the total charge is greater than the working charge limit then the total charge is set equal to the working charge limit Examples For each of the following examples assume a Water Rate Class with no charge limit and a charge table set up as follows Low Limit to High Limit Base Extra Flat Per Unit Up to 6 3 00 2 00 0 50 6 0000 6andabove 5 00 4 00 0 25 2 0000 Example
153. from the customer record is copied to the payment transaction This allows determining whether the payment was late based on the late cutoff date that existed at the time of the payment rather than the current cycle date which may have changed However the late date was being recalculated when payment transactions were entered This could cause the late date applied to the payment transaction to change depending on the payment date 110 The due and late dates are not recalculated when transactions are entered in the customer transaction window This causes the late date from the last time charges were computed to be the basis for determining whether a payment was late The only thing that will cause the due and late dates to be recomputed in the customer edit procedure is to change the billing cycle The due and late dates will be recomputed only when the compute charges procedure is used Activities Charge Computation The calculated due and late dates should always agree with the date shown in the billing cycle window Applying Credit Balances Go to Activities Payment Entry This option should be used if you have an Overpayment Charge Category specified under Setup Configuration Payments Overpayment Charge Category and are using a category other than Water for overpayments such as Prepaid or Overpaid etc Prepare to Apply Credit Balances General Account Range Processing Order FEET Account Number
154. g takes time and can not be interrupted by page as with the help screens L Fa e 7 i M Memo While on route only Enter a service memo for the current record Will wrap around bd E Erase While walking route only T Title screens 3 pages of title data Erase current meter reading are shown then the program resumes eS P Previous acct F4 Enter data on a ki route only While walking route found meter After Show next account Show prev acct wea data is entered the Will wrap around ther fwd or back route is resumed F Forward While List Comments Screen The comment listing mode operates exactly like LIST COMMENTS the help mode described above All of the ninety lt F2 gt next screen eight standard comments are shown four per screen lt F3 gt prev screen along with the two special action codes 0 and 99 lt ENTER gt quit Due to the limits of screen size the comments are be truncated to sixteen characters in length so that the number of each comment may be shown on the left side of the screen Enter Remark and Enter Service Memo Screens MMMM The R and M commands allow you to add Enter change or comments from the standard comment list to an delete a comment account as well as erase existing comments The fo
155. g the program will determine if the payment was made before that date based on the payment entry date and then will not charge a late charge If the payment was made after the date then the account will be charged a late charge On your particular bill cards you have a billing period from to area that is filled in by the system These dates are reading dates so if you want that date to say from February 1 to March 1 you would want to enter all your meter readings with a date of February 1 and then all the next month s readings with the date of March 1 etc Proration Types Go to Setup Lists Proration Types See Proration for complete details on this process When charges are prorated for closed accounts the proration period for metered services is from the previous meter reading to the date the account was closed regardless of whether a new billing period has begun or not On the main window press Insert to add new proration information or highlight an existing record and press the Change Button to edit it Add the abbreviation and the full name and check the boxes Where to Apply to either ignore or prorate consumption charges and base charges Browse List of Proration Types Ae Ee Hame Jaber Method E HY PER Proration HYPE Standard ols Proration Mame Record 1 of 1 Insert change Delete Close Update Proration PO tartar a 9 3 ation Date F F LOK c
156. g the display order of each charge so that it matches the print order desired on the bill If there are gaps where nothing is to be printed a dummy charge category may be used as a placeholder by assigning it a display order matching the position to be left blank Any such charges must not have the Print Name box checked Setup Lists Charge Names When bills are printed any charge category for which there are no charges and does not have the Print Name box checked will be printed as a blank space maintaining the print position of subsequent charges This feature applies only to the Staggered Tractor Forms 1 2 3 and 4 and the Two Piece Tractor Form 2 Users of these forms should check the display order of charges to be sure bills will not be affected after this release is installed The bottom line to remember as far as this change is concerned is that unused charges that are not checked to print the name will occupy the print position according to their display order whether there are any charges or not All non zero charges flagged for printing the charge name will print on certain bill forms This applies only to Staggered Tractor 1 Staggered Tractor 2 Staggered Tractor 3 Staggered Tractor 4 Two Piece Tractor 2 Staggered Tractor 5 Staggered Tractor 6 and Four Piece Laser 5 94 Process and Print Print Billing Forms Go to Activities Billing Notices Print Billing Forms You may Process and Print on any tab
157. ght be 20 Rounding is a process of dropping digits from the left of a number to lower its precision For example Utility Billing may compute dollar amounts internally to many decimal places then round them to the nearest cent for display and printing Likewise meter readings and consumption may be rounded 204 Index ACH Direct Deposit ACH Direct Deposit Appendix A Appendix B Backflow Badger Hand Units Checks Check Register Com Port Consumption Credit balance Customer Custom Reports Deposits EZRoute Hand Units Forms Glossary Inspectors Intermec Trakker 9440 instructions vl v2 v3 Invensys Hand units Itron Hand Units Large screens Late fee Login Overpayments Parent Child relationships Payments Prenote Priority Service Proration Rate class Readings Receipts Resequence Rounding Sewer Specialty Reports Standard Reports Water Zipcode 205 206 PLEASE VIEW THIS SECTION AT 100 INTERMET 9440 TRAKKER DOCUMENTATION Variation 1 This documentation 1S intended to accompany the Intermec 9440 Trakker unit and the IMS Hand Held Meter Reading software package version 55 Copyright C 1995 By Information management Services Inc All rights reserved Reproduction without permission is prohibited Part One the Screens A description of each of the important screens used in the hand unit Part two the Commands Descripti
158. go to accounts that are overdue fill that message in the Late Accounts Message box There is also a section for Zero Credit Balance Message as well as a Footer for the bottom of the billing form and a Note section Prepare to Print Bills lel x General Messages Eorm Control Print Preview Standard Message x Use Standard Message Use Standard Message NoteHeader Note 2 Process and Print Process and Discard Cancel The program is designed to print the Standard Message on current accounts those that are not carrying a past due balance and a separate Late Message for those accounts that are past due Notes 2 is for Letter Laser 4 notes field 97 On the Form Control Tab the basic formats are Four Piece Laser Staggered Tractor Two Piece Tractor and Letter Laser There are different variations of the four main forms On any one of the 4 main tabs you may press the Process and Print Button to print the bills This will print the bills to your computer screen Then you must click on the button with the picture of the printer on the print preview screen to print the bills Four Fiece Laser 1 Staggered Tractor 1 Staggered Tractor 2 Staggered Tractor 3 wo Piece Tractor 1 Staggered Tractor 4 Two Piece Tractor 2 Letter Size Laser 1 Two Piece Tractor 3 Two Piece Tractor 4 staggered Tractor 5 Tractor means it is for a tractor printer with perforated edges on the forms Four Piece Laser I Th
159. h contains the amount due including the currently scheduled payment and any previously scheduled payments not received Replaced by Four Piece Laser 2 above Staggered Tractor 5 This has the capability of printing meter readings and consumption for a second metered service Staggered Tractor 6 This is a replacement for the PAR form of Utility Billing version 5 It is a customer specific form with special provisions that would not be useful to others It differs slightly from the form of version 5 such as it does not print dollar signs on the amounts and the stagger is on the other half of the form pair The printer should be aligned on the second half of the page rather than the first Staggered Tractor 7 It is identical to form 4 Staggered Tractor 3 except it does not print the postal permit information and return service request This has the capability of printing meter readings and consumption for a second metered service Two Piece Tractor I prints prior payments only if not zero This has the capability of printing meter readings and consumption for a second metered service Seea sample of this form 101 Two Piece Tractor 2 prints meter readings on the same line as the corresponding charge The metered services should be first in display order to prevent misalignment in the event of zero charge amounts for other charge categories This has the capability of printing meter readings and consumption for a second metered
160. hat have been overpaid or paid in advance by an account customer to the new charges that were just computed Make Fund Transfer File Go to Activities Payment Entry Make Fund Transfer File See Differences from the DOS 5 X Utility Billing System The IMS Utility Billing system supports accepting utility bill payments via direct debit using the NACHA file format standard Direct debit is a system whereby a file containing a list of customers including their bank number account number and amount owed are transmitted to a bank and in turn the various customer accounts are debited for the amount of their utility bill and the utility s bank account is credited with the total amount The payment is applied to the customer account at the time the file is created and a report is printed listing the transactions This is very similar to the bill printing process You put in the account range and choose to skip or not to skip closed accounts Also you can choose to generate exception report and include rejected accounts in the summary window The direct debit procedure that creates an ACH transfer file skips accounts with a credit balance whether or not the user has specified a minimum balance in the setup window The ACH download list is cleared when the user exits from the window From the main menu select File Activities Payment Entry 113 Select the range of account numbers and billing cycles A file sequence number supports sending m
161. he charge name as description even for cash and receivable amounts Metered Services Go to Setup Lists Metered Services Any value greater than 99 will not print on utility bills This is to allow meters that post charges to the same category as another meter that already print on the bill When the display order is 100 or greater the readings for any meters using that service will not print on bills The consumption of the non printing meters will not be added to that of any other meters but charges will be included in those for the category it is billed to The rounding method for meter readings and consumption rounds left from the decimal point Rounding right is still used for fractional values such as money Rounding right for integer values which meter readings typically are serves no purpose For example rounding the number 1234 right any number of places still results in 1234 See how Rounding functions To avoid unexpected results users are advised to read this document before setting up rounding on their system Browse Metered Services Pit Name abbr Display Order Aber Method High Limit Low Lint Disp Order f FIRE LINE FL Continuous None None 3 IRRIGATION Continuous None None 2 SUBMETER SUB Continuous None None 100 WATER WE Continuous None None 1 z Name Record 1 of 4 Insert L change _ Delete Close 35 To add new info
162. he meter is counted Likewise if the date installed is after the requested date the meter is not counted The date started and date closed fields similarly affect whether or not an account is counted Even if the report is run for the current date there may be minor differences in the count if a future date was entered in a closed or removed field by mistake See a sample of these two reports Adjustments to Customer Accounts should be made prior to printing bills 134 General Notes Print Preview Date Range Beginnin Today Only 27972001 This Week This Month Last Month Account Range TAES Endin Endin 0003 01 79 00 fan 9 2001 I Print summary pages only V Show rejected accounts in results summary Processing Results Account Meters Reads Consumed Notes Process and Print Process and Discard Cancel Billing Reports Go to Reports Standard Reports Billing Reports This report includes a breakdown by book in the report summary page This report will show you what billing charges have been added to each account and you should check this for accuracy It prints a meter summary block for each meter for the account when this field is selected Highlight the report to print Press the Change Button to make adjustments Press the Print Button to print BE x Browse Billing Report Formats Title Report Title Last Used By
163. he right and the search starts over This process 217 continues until a match is found or until the search mask cannot be shifted any further For an example consider the following list of addresses note that the last account s address has been truncated to nineteen characters Acct Saacs Address 12 2 1 99 Ridgecrest Rd LZ 5 101 Palmetto Court Record 12 7 5 is the current 12 7 5 110 Palmetto Court account the one being shown 12 9 1921 Palm Tree St on the Meter Reading screen 12 10 77 Orange Tree Rd 12 12 Apt 9 Grapefruit R If you enter Palm as your search string the hand unit will construct a search mask that is four characters wide and begin its search with account 12 9 the account immediately following the current account After it has searched to the end of the list account 12 12 gone back to the beginning account 12 2 1 and reached the current account again 12 7 5 it will shift the search mask one character to the right and start over again This process will continue until it finally finds a match in step five A diagram of this search as described in our example is shown on the next page Step one search fails Step two search fails again 12 2 1 99 R idgecrest Rd 12 2 1 9 9 Rildgecrest Rd 12 5 101 Palmetto Court 12 5 1 01 P almetto Court L215 Bee Palmetto Court TZS lle PJalmetto Court 12 9 1921 Palm Tree St 12 9 1 921 Palm T
164. he utilities in the version 5 program to clean up any data file corruption before converting the data for version 6 It will check that the program was configured for a particular service such as gas or electric billing before converting rate classes Fix all accounts that may need adjusting Ifa meter reading was incorrectly entered Click on the Meter Tab and edit the reading refer to Meter Tab above Then click on the Transaction Tab and click on the Recompute Button this will recompute the billing transaction for that customer using the new meter reading If everything looks right click on OK There is a Tracking field available when adding billing transactions as well as payment transactions Press the Add Bill Add Pay or Recompute Button While normally used for check numbers in payment transactions it may be used for whatever desired in billing transactions The field size available is 10 characters alphanumeric The scrollbar for transactions Notes will appear only when the number of transaction notes exceeds the drop list capacity of 30 On the Selected Details Tab you may enter information about checks and process with some buttons like Add Edit Void Reconcile and Kill Check General Personal Notes Meters Transactions Selected Details Rates Work Orders Record Fee Deposit 1 of 3 Fee Deposit Summary ee ee Ce Co oe Service C ha rq Check Register Date Amount Reconciled vode fF
165. hecked no bill will generate for those accounts with a zero balance When Late Notice box is checked the forms printed will be considered late notices and the customer fields affected will be the late notice printed date and the reprint late notice flag rather than the bill printed date and the reprint bill flag Then tab to the Cycle and use the space bar to Use or Ignore which cycles you will be generating a bill for Then tab to the Skip closed accounts option this is usually checked off so a bill does not generate for closed accounts 95 Check off the other options if you are going to print a set of bills separately for overdue late accounts and accounts that are utilizing the direct debit feature if this has been set up through the Setup Configuration Fund Transfer option See ACH Direct Debit The additional options on the billing notices section can screen out some of these options such as the Skip closed overdue and direct debit accounts The Skip direct debit checkbox is mutually exclusive with the Print direct debit only checkbox for obvious reasons With these two controls users may print all direct debit accounts in a separate bill run There are also Print Final Bill and Print Sewer only Reset Final Bill and Reset Sewer After Print and Generate 9 or 5 Digit Zipcode Report On all billing forms the zipcode prints on the same line as the previous line which is normally the city state line Many cities will choose to sk
166. heir program located on d g or f or some other drive 8 Click OK when you ve entered the desired location It will ask you if you want to make backup copies and will backup the program files that the update replaces into the same directory into a new folder called BACKUP After this simply follow the instructions and it installs the update for you Copying file CAMS WUBAUB EXE After it is complete you will be given the opportunity to view the release documentation This is a document containing information and explanation about what is new to this version of the Utility Billing including last minute changes since the manual was printed The release documentation for new releases can always be viewed at the IMS website http www ims florida com The site will always have the latest release information The release notes can also be viewed once the program is installed under Help Contents Release Notes Updating from email Your CSR will send you updates in the email if you request this method of updating When you receive the emailed files for example ub6151 exe w02 w03 save them immediately into the directory that your program is running in See the Windows update installation instructions above to see how this is done Once you have saved all files you receive in the email from IMS then you may go into My Computer by right clicking on it and choosing Explore From there you simply locate the exe file
167. hen this screen is visible the enter meter readings hand unit is ready to be hooked to the computer for 7 uploading and downloading of account data Valid Zra commands from this screen are F1 Enter the meter reading mode Begin displaying the help screens List the 98 standard comments currently in the hand unit s memory Display query screen showing the hand unit s internal status Display the title screen PIO E m 220 Reminder Screen Or sao From several places within the program if you Not understood Use type in something that is not recognized as a com H to consult with mand this screen will appear It s purpose is to the help screens remind you of the Help screens and show you how Touch lt ENTER gt _ to gain access to them Like most of the minor screens in the hand unit this one will vanish after only ten seconds or when the ENTER key is pressed No Data Screen When the hand unit is first delivered or right Can t walk route yet after a new program has been loaded into it there as no accounts have are no accounts in it s memory files If you try been loaded to enter the meter reading mode by pressing the F1 Touch lt ENTER gt _ key from the Hookup screen this error screen will appear It will remain for ten seconds or until you press the ENTER key When it vanishes the program returns control to the Hookup screen Tdentifi
168. identification number After entering these four items a normal Meter Reading screen will be displayed for the new meter so that you may enter the meter reading After the meter reading has been entered the old current account will be shown again on your screen the old current account is the account that was showing when you first pressed the F4 key The information for the found meter is stored at the end of the hand unit s memory file just beyond the last legitimate account When the hand unit is uploaded the information for the found meters will appear on the bottom of the control reports Found meters are not automatically entered into the host com puter s memory they must be entered by hand based on the information in the upload reports This is to prevent a meter that has been found more than once from creating duplicate entries in the host computer
169. igit number or has any punctuation the decode algorithm will revert to the previous methods When the address box is selected and there are no current addresses for the account the address edit window will automatically open The service and billing checkboxes will be set to checked since that is the most likely condition Select the Cycle Start and Close Date any Flags and if you need to update the Address press the Change Insert Address Button 58 amp Update Address x General Reoord Motes Service Address Carrier Route e Biling Address Full customer name Title First Mame Last Mame and Suffix Detail address line cio Full street address Lot Number Direction Street Hame ang City State Abbreviation Zipcode Mark whether this is a Service or Billing Address or both Enter any Notes Carrier Route Number Parcel Number and all the Customer address fields Press OK when finished On the Personal Tab see ACH Direct Debit Fund Transfer for details on this In the upper left corner of the window is a box labeled Direct Withdrawal This box will not appear if you have not set up the fields in the configuration file as described above When you check the Use Direct Withdrawal box the other fields in the box will be enabled The fields are explained below Update Account k Bee General Personal Notes Meters Transactions Selected Details Rates work Orders Record m Direct
170. in meter units usually 1000 gallons Select which accounts you will be entering the readings for i e 1 1 will get you the first account in Book 1 whereas 1 9999 will get you the last reading in Book 1 and then tab to the cycles and use your space bar to either use or ignore each cycle you will be entering readings for Then tab over to the next field which is status of metered service and tab past that to date This date you can change to put a date on the readings you are about to enter so if you want all your meter readings to have a date of March 1 fill that in there A meter cannot be added to an account without specifying a metered service Then click on Enter Readings The first account will come up with the cursor blinking on the far right of the Enter Readings box in the Reading section Type in the reading and hit Enter this will advance you to the next account Add in all readings for all book accounts Enter Meter Readings by Account x General Account Cycle 0001 0001 00 A Addresses Service Billing Elisabeth Eaker 4700 Superior St Anywhere FL 33333 Reason for Skipping If Any Meter 1 of 1 Previous Current Reading Date Reading Prior Next V Cancel Once the readings are all entered go to Standard Reports Consumption Report and print it Select the correct report to use and press Print fill in the accounts to run the report for 1 1 will get you the first account
171. inactive if it has a date in the date closed field that is prior to the date specified for the report Accounts that have a date opened after the date of the report are counted as active This may sound incorrect at first thought because if the account had not yet been opened at the date of the report then it shouldn t be counted The reason such accounts are included They would typically be accounts that physically existed at the report date but under another customer name and or account number If the original account identity is still in the database its meter s will have been flagged as duplicates and therefore not counted To not count the current incarnation of the account because it did not exist as of the report date would in such cases result in understating the number of meters that existed at the date of the report If the installed and removed dates in the meter records are properly filled out then there will be no overcounts resulting from counting accounts started after the report date Ifa meter has a value in the Installed field after the date specified it is not counted If a meter has a value in the Removed field that is before the date specified it likewise will not be counted The meter count produced by the report will be accurate to the extent that the data is accurate It will be 100 accurate if 1 The report date requested is the current date 2 All closed accounts have a date in the Closed Date field 3
172. information into the host computer R Add change or delete a remark This command does two things Merely entering this command will change the display mode used by line two of the Meter Reading screen from Memo to 240 Remark This change 1s automatic even if no memo number is entered The second action of this command is to allow you to enter a number from the standard comment list at the Remark code prompt This number will then be displayed next to the letter R on line three of the Meter Reading screen and the comment itself will appear on line two of the screen that is it will be shown there until you switch to the Memo display mode If the account already had a remark number it will be replaced by the new number Typing in something that is not a valid comment number or just pres sing ENTER without typing anything will return you to the Meter Reading screen without changing the account If the number entered was a 99 you will be asked to type in a comment Whatever you type in will then be displayed as the new remark for that account Please note it is possible to type in as many characters as you want but only the first nineteen will be kept The main difference between remarks and service memos is in how they are treated by the host computer Service memos are printed on the reports but are not otherwise saved in any way Remarks are made a permanent part of the account s header record S
173. ing fields 26 Update Configuration PE E3 General index Keys Colors Payments Accounting Eunga Transfer Print Preview Record Overpayment Charge Category First field on Payment Window REEE E shail sable Lis Tracking check number JV Use Special Annual Prepayment Discount Annual Discount Details Beginning Month and Da 4 0 rs Ending Month and Da 0 Percent 0 000000 Discount Category Overpayment Charge Category If this field is not blank the charge category shown will be used whenever an overpayment is entered If the field is blank you can open a window listing all charge categories by pressing the standard Hot Key F3 while the cursor is in the field It works best if the charge category selected is a dummy category that is not used for billing any charges When an overpayment is entered any excess over what is owed in any category is placed in the overpayment charge category If a payment is made on an account that has a zero or credit balance the entire payment will be distributed to the overpayment charge category Itis important to understand that an overpayment is not revenue A payment transaction will be created for an overpayment but no entry will be made for billing in the overpayment category When a charge category is deleted If a related record exists in the rate file the user will be notified and allowed to also delete the associated rate Th
174. ious help screen ENTER Leave help mode and return to Meter Reading or Hookup screen IN HELP SCREENS D Display mode To re display the lt F2 gt next screen lt F3 gt prev screen lt ENTER gt quit 3 Se el Fl Enter exit mode for walking route From main screen use this to begin walk ing the route If already walking the route this returns to the main screen B Backward While walking route only Show last account Will wrap around E Erase While walking route only Erase current meter reading F Forward While walking route only Show next account Will wrap around search the account list for Searching takes time and can not be interrupted While walking route only Allows user to determine what data will be shown on top line of acct screen Choices are address acct name amp rec Also choose type of meter to be shown in line three Internal or external Help screens List amp describe the commands needed to use this unit L List comments Comments shown page by page as with the elp screens O Old Reading While on route only Display old reading instead of comment T Title screens 3 pages of title data are shown then the program resumes
175. ip accounts with a credit balance or not print a bill card for them so if the minimum is filled in with a 0 the credit balance accounts will not print You can do that in Skip credit balance by checking on that box Normally you would want to SKIP closed accounts too A checkbox is in the bill print setup window that allows printing only direct debit accounts This checkbox is mutually exclusive with the checkbox immediately above Skip direct debit accounts for obvious reasons With these two controls users may print all direct debit accounts in a separate bill run Tab to the Billing Date and fill that in Each of the next boxes Due Date Late Date Cutoff Date will overwrite the dates that were used when computing the charges 96 If these dates are left blank the same dates will be used that were set up in the Billing Cycle and used when computing charges you can see those dates on each customers account under File Customers Change Button then on the Transactions Tab Billing Date Due Date and Late Date Include All Accounts in Exception Report allows the footer page of the report to show the total dollar amount billed Checking the Include rejected accounts box decides how extensive the action descriptions will be On the Messages Tab if you want to add a message to the bills such as Happy Holidays click on the Messages Tab and fill in the message in the Standard Message Box If you want a separate message to
176. is entered for the payment amount and hit enter and it is applied and disbursed in the order specified under Setup Lists Charge Names Payment Order Use Special Annual Prepayment Discount When checked a set of fields become visible They are Beginning Month and Day of the discount the Ending Month and Day of the discount the Percent of the discount and the Discount Category where the discount gets applied On the Accounting Tab fill in the following fields 28 Update Configuration a x General index Keys Colors Payments Accounting Euna Transfer Brint Preview Record Method C None C Cash V Always update accounting month and year to match current UB system date Cancel Method This means the method of accounting either None Cash or Accrual Always update accounting This makes sure that the accounting date and the system date link up or are matched On the Fund Transfer Tab the fields you see are the system wide values needed Different banks require different formats for one or two header records that precede the standard ACH records Bank Header 1 and Bank Header 2 These are optional depending on the requirements of your bank They are the first and second contents of a record transmitted before file header Ifa field is left blank a record will not be generated If either of these fields are required they must be exactly as specified by your bank including blank spaces
177. is is a general purpose replacement for the Staggered Tractor I postcard form It prints four forms on a 8 1 2 x 11 sheet Each form measures 4 1 4 x 5 1 2 with the printed area measuring 4 x 5 This form requires that the customer specific information be preprinted on the form The expected preprinted titles boxes lines and shading print on the alignment mask only and may be used as a master layout template for the preprinted forms See a sample of this form A special version of this form is Four Piece Laser 2 This form is for a specific customer and replaces form Staggered Tractor 4 It prints on the same size paper as Laser I but does not require preprinting because all customer information is printed at the same time Both forms require a laser printer than can handle the 98 minimum 80 pound stock required for postcards The stock should be perforated for separation of the four part form and for the return stub This has the capability of printing meter readings and consumption for a second metered service See a sample of this form Four Piece Laser 3 This is based on Four Piece Laser 5 with some positioning changes This form complies with U S Postal Service regulations Four Piece Laser 4 This form is intended for laser printers printing on blank perforated card stock The perforation lines print only on the alignment mask The image is vertically shorter by 0 05 inches to provide room for paper size and perforatio
178. isions have been made the actual proration computation is relatively simple A ratio calculated as the number of days of service divided by the number of days in the cycle No proration would be represented by a ratio of one The normal charge is then multiplied by this ratio If consumption is being prorated then the consumption would be multiplied by the ratio before computing charges The myriad of proration options provided to the user makes it impractical to cover in detail how the proration is calculated For those that want to explore in more detail the actual program code for the proration function is included in the program under the Proration Technote 163 IMS Technote 4 Copyright 1999 Information Management Services Inc Billing Cycles The billing cycle file is designed around the assumption that a typical cycle of activity begins with meter readings being entered followed by charge computations bill printing and payment entry Therefore if your organization s schedule of activities calls for meters to be read on but not before the 20th of each month then your billing cycle should be set up to start on the 20th If you bill only a portion of your accounts at a time each cycle should begin on the first day meters are read for that cycle Starting and Ending Dates Browse Billing Cycle File Cycle starting Day Length Gf Cycle i CA December 24 Monthly 3 30 days an ee eee Monthly 30 days
179. ithout for this account making changes to the account just press the ENTER Service code key Note that using the R or M commands will N set the display mode of line two in the Meter Reading screen even if no changes were made to the account Query Page Screens The Q command calls up the query pages The Unread 222 first query page is displayed for ten seconds or Read 222 until you press the ENTER key The second page is Total 222 then displayed also for ten seconds or until ENTER Touch lt ENTER gt is pressed Control then returns to either the Hookup screen or the Meter Reading screen Page one shows the current meter reading count E while page two shows the upload count Be sure to Unloaded 222 note the difference between the words unloaded Uploaded 222 and uploaded in lines one and two of the second Total 222 page Uploaded accounts have had their data trans Touch lt ENTER gt _ mitted to the host computer one or more times Since receiving their meter readings whereas unloaded accounts have NOT had their meter readings sent the the host computer yet Search Sub Menu Screens There are ten different ways to search for an O Nxt bk l addr account in the hand unit The S command takes you 2 Name 3 Meter to the sub menu screens that list the search modes 4 Acct 5 Remark Once in the search sub menus you may enter the Search target number of the desired search mo
180. ixed Charge Base Extra Multiplier 1 Fixed Charge 5 4 10 1 Fixed Charge 41 4 Compute Consumption Charge Consumption Charge Flat Working Consumption Per Unit Consumption Charge 0 25 8 2 Consumption Charge 16 25 5 Compute Total Charge Total Charge Fixed Charge Consumption Charge Multiplier Total Charge 41 16 25 10 Total Charge 203 5 Since there is no Charge Limit steps 6 and 7 do not apply The total water charge for this account is 203 50 176 Utility Billing Declining Balances and how they work an example There is one Rate Class Water and the computation method is Declining Balance The set rate base is 40 billed monthly and the payment amount comes off the declining balance The 40 charge does not add to the declining balance it is just there to print on the charge card and show customers that a payment is due They have no meters so a metered service is set up but not used There is a charge name of Auto Bill which is used each month to compute the monthly 40 charge At the beginning of the year January 1 they use the Utilities Rate Class Utilities Set Declining Balances and Payments The yearly rate is 480 and the payments are 40 Once you run that utility on each customer you can go to the File Customers pick a customer and go to the Rates Tab The declining balance shows as the customer balance and the payment amount set up for that c
181. k if a new customer had an account that had been closed earlier the recommended procedure is to search for the social security number before adding the account The active dormant customer count displayed at the lower right corner of the customer browse window includes a count of meters The counting is done in the background when Utility Billing is first started The count could take several minutes with a large database This process also builds a list of values for the user one and user two fields Any reports that allow selecting on the user fields should not be run until the count is complete because the list may not be complete The user is advised of the progress of the count If the customer browse is displayed the display in the lower left corner will include the percent completion of the count If the main menu is displayed a stopwatch will be displayed in the center of the screen instead of the IMS logo The logo will be restored when the count is complete The definition of a dormant customer is one that has a date closed or has the no charges or the no readings flag set An active meter does not have the duplicate flag set a date removed or is related to another active metered service For the inactive meter count to be accurate users who keep closed accounts in the database should flag the meters for these accounts as duplicates Otherwise the same meter may be counted several times once for the currently active account and
182. lagged as an estimate The only effect on subsequent processing is that the average consumption will not be updated by an estimated reading Let s go through it again this time with some numbers An account has a water meter with a multiplier of 1000 and an average consumption of 7707 This means the average consumption is 7707 gallons The previous reading was 1273 This is the reading from the meter To convert to gallons multiply it by the meter multiplier to get 1273000 But the readings you see when you look at the account will be in the meter units as indicated by the multiplier Thus the last reading will show as 1273 If you request an estimated reading it will take the average use of 7707 divide it by the meter multiplier to get 7 707 which is truncated to 7 This is then added to the last reading of 1273 giving an estimated reading of 1280 156 In the above example why is the average use in meter units truncated from 7 707 to 7 Why not round it up Sure we could do that but what s the point An estimate is an estimate which implies that it is not expected to be accurate Attempting to improve its accuracy by further manipulation is futile because the result would be Statistically insignificant Whatever amount the estimated value is under or over will be corrected by the next actual reading 157 IMS Technote 3 Copyright 1999 Information Management Services Inc Proration Proration in the context of U
183. le the title screens show information that is set by the user and then left alone On page one version and release identify which set of hand held programs are being used Page two shows the name of this particular unit represented as lt lt NAME gt gt in the diagram and the initials entered by you back on the Identification screen Page three gives the current date and time according to the hand unit s internal clock Note that the time is kept on a 24 hour military clock which is easier for computers to work with Default Direction Screen Entering the V command at the Meter Reading screen will bring up this sub menu There are only two choices both of which are shown To change the default direction vector type in the new letter and press ENTER To leave it unchanged press ENTER When ENTER is used at the Meter Reading screen TITLE PAGE ONE Version 04 Release 5 304 Touch lt ENTER gt TITLE PAGE TWO Unit lt lt NAME gt gt User lt lt lt ID gt gt gt Touch lt ENTER gt _ EM MI TITLE PAGE THREE Date MM DD YY Time HH MM Touch lt ENTER gt F Forward B Backward Current mode 2 New direction ed to go to the next account the default direction vector determines which direction next is you forward or backward through the account list direction vector is set Note that the explicit F and B keys will always take regardless
184. le to have a Late offset that stretches beyond the end of the current cycle That simply means that the current cycle s charges are not 166 delinquent until after the next cycle has started For example Consider a billing cycle that started on August 25th and has offsets of 20 for Due and 45 for Late This would yield a due date of September 13th and a late date of October 8th Remember August has 31 days while September has only 30 days This overlapping billing cycle condition does not cause a problem as long as the starting day and offsets to the due and late dates are not changed If the cycle dates are changed other issues are created because of the fact that cycle dates are always computed dynamically Some of these are discussed in the next topic Overlapping Billing Cycles The month and day in the billing cycle file was originally intended to be the beginning date of the first billing cycle in the year If the cycle were monthly this month would always be set to January If bimonthly or quarterly it would be set to the start of the first cycle of the year For example if customers are billed quarterly in March June September and December it should be set to a date in March The system does not expect this be changed each month That is why the year of the cycle is not stored It is displayed but that is merely calculated from the cycle start date and the system date Billing period dates incl
185. ll appear in windows and reports under that name You will want to insert general information data into their particular files before adding businesses The second step is to set the Security information for the program typically with one supervisor having access to everything and then customizing a profile for the various users under the supervisor Next Configuration Options will govern how your program functions After that Lists to choose the setup for the forms to be printed Depending on your form selections you may then have to select printing options for the forms System Date Security 15 Getting Organized System Date 15 Security 15 Configuration Setup 20 List Setup 31 Change System Date Go to Setup Change System Date Set the default date and the Accounting Date Click on OK amp Update Date Ea General Current real world date is 2 20 2001 Utility Biling default date is RNR Accounting Date Month Year February 2001 If the accounting date is not set correctly using Setup Change System Date another utility will set the accounting period for transactions from the transaction date It operates only on untransferred transactions with a missing or invalid accounting year This allows users to correct failure of transactions to transfer to General Ledger because of a missing or invalid accounting period Security Profiles Go to Setup Security Security Profiles This is where
186. low four comments per page Pressing any keys other than these three will have no effect Comment numbers are shown to the left of the comments themselves Although actually up to nineteen characters long only the first sixteen characters of each comment are displayed here to make room on the screen for the numbers Comments which have not been filled in by the host computer will be blank M Add change or delete a service code This command does two things Merely entering this command will change the display mode used by line two of the Meter Reading screen from Remark to Memo This change is automatic even if no memo number is entered The second action of this command is to allow you to enter a number from the standard comment list at the Service code prompt This number will then be displayed next to the letter M on line three of the Meter Reading screen and the comment itself will appear on line two of the screen that is it will be shown there until you switch to the Remark display mode If the account already had a service memo number it will be replaced by the new number Typing in something that is not a valid comment number or just pressing ENTER without typing anything will return you to the Meter Reading screen without changing the account The main difference between remarks and service memos is in how they are treated by the host computer Service memos are printed on the reports but are not otherwi
187. mands will bring up a sub menu with additional options so there are actually more than fourteen actions possible B Move backward to last account This command brings up the account that lies just before of the present account in the hand unit s internal list of accounts If you are already at the beginning of the internal list this command will wrap around to the last account in the list D Change the Line One display mode The first line of the Meter Reading screen can display one of four dif ferent pieces of data This command brings up a list of the four items so that you may select which one is to be displayed To make the selection type in the proper number at the New display mode prompt and press the ENTER key To leave the current display mode unchanged just press ENTER without having typed anything If you type in something that is not on the list the hand unit will ask the guestion again The valid choices are 0 Service address of the meter truncated to nineteen characters Account number of this customer Name of this customer truncated to nineteen characters Internal record number used by the unit to locate this account II 1 2 3 E Erase the current meter reading Using this command will cause any meter reading you have entered for this account to vanish Some internal counters are changed when a meter reading is erased To best see these changes examine the Query screen both before and
188. n either the General or List Filters tab Only one of a checkbox pair may be checked For example if Residential Only is checked then Commercial Only cannot be checked If both checkboxes of a pair are unchecked the attribute will be ignored and all accounts that qualify otherwise will be included in the report When finished click on the List Filters Tab On the List Filters Tab the Use All or Ignore All Button is available for Rate Classes Route Numbers and Service Classes 129 Edit Consumption Report Format PE E General List Fiters Detail Record Rate Class 1 of 16 Route 1 of 16 Number Two 1 of 5 Ignore Charge Name Status f User One Status Ignore Ignore Blank lgnore 1 2 3 Ignore Ignore Water 1 Ignore Ignore Vater 5 8 x 3 4 Ignore Ignore Vater 5 8 X 3 4 Com Ignore Ignore backflow 3 4 Use PST Vater Ignore PST Sewer Ignore Use All Ignore All lgnore Ignore Ignore Use All Ignore All Use All Ignore All Prior Next V On the Detail Tab browse and select fields for inclusion in the report To add it press the Select Button and it will add it to the large text box The Reject Button will take it back out With the Position Button you may then click and drag the dark blue portion that appears in the text box to where you want it The numbers in the Do
189. n when the menu is pulled down you may click on your choice or press the letter that is underlined in your choice Any time there 1s some information that could be looked up on a calendar or in the business codes for example you ll click on your right Mouse Button to see it But you can also press F3 11 Using the scroll bars Scroll bars are found at the right edge and bottom edge of the screen when the information for the screen won t all fit on at once You may click on the up and down arrow keys to move incrementally through the display or drag the box up or down to move more quickly Customize the Window When you have one screen open go to Window on the same menu bar This is the only way to customize your display information Tile Standard Tile Horizontal Tile Vertical Cascade Arrange Icons Restore Application Defaults Restore Window Defaults w 1 Browse Customers Change whatever settings you like Moving a window There are times when you may need to move a window to another location on your desktop To do this click on the title bar of the window and drag it to the new location Then release the Mouse Button Resizing a window Occasionally you may want to resize a window so you can see more of its contents To do this click on the window Then point to a corner or border of the window the cursor will become a double headed arrow Drag the mouse until the window is the desired siz
190. n amount such as 01 which will print a bill for accounts that owe more than 01 cent Prepare to Print Bills x J Skip closed accounts Billing Date J Skip overdue accounts J Skip direct debit accounts Due Date IV Print direct debit accounts only J Final Bill Only Late Date Reset Final Bill After Print Sewer Only Cutoff Date General Messages Form Control Print Preview Account Range Print Order iling EE Route Minimum Balance A Se Endin T y 0006 024501 Maximum Balance I Skip zero balances IV Late Notice 5 Reset Sewer After Print Generate Exception Report Generate 9 Digit Zipcode Report Include rejected accounts in results summary Generate 5 Digit Zipcode Report Processing Results Process and Print Process and Discard Cancel Reprinting 104 If you leave the Minimum Balance blank you will print bills for all customers whether they are late have a current charge zero balance or a credit balance It is used for cities that do not print bills out for people who have a minimum current balance of less than 5 00 Checking the Include rejected accounts box will decide how extensive the action description will be On the Message Tab if you want to add a message to the bills such as Happy Holidays click on the Messages Tab and fill in the message in the Standard Message Box For more details see Billing Forms On the Form Control Tab find the following
191. n location variations It has the same layout as the standard form four Piece Laser 1 with the following differences all of the boxes and titles print as in the alignment mask for form 1 except shading is not used ATO4 Waler Si A notes box is available for printing boilerplate text on the left side of the form The organization name and address is printed on the top right of the form The text is entered using Activities Billing Notices Print Billing Forms Messages Tab Note 2 The text prints on the return stub portion of the bill above the address box It is available only for this form 99 The message area at the bottom left of the form allows moving the service address up so that a minimum of 5 8 is clear at the bottom for the full width of the card This complies with postal regulations There is a horizontal clearance of 1 8 between the address box and the address text The address text box is at the bottom of the card and the Please return text and summary boxes are above the address box Four Piece Laser 5 This form is identical to Four Piece Laser 3 except that the summary box at the bottom of the return stub was moved up 9 mm 0 3594 to allow room for the Postnet barcode applied by theUnited States Postal Service The charge name and amounts are text controls in order to support leaving blank lines for preprinted charge names There is support for a second metered service on this form There i
192. n which the meters are to be read on the route A sequential number will be generated and placed in the interface file as the sequence number eliminating the need for the second meter number One important fact to note however is that the second meter number will still determine the order of the meters in the interface file The order will be billing cycle book number second meter number If the second meter number field is left blank the order will be billing cycle book number account number Also support was added for multiple books in the same interface file The book number loaded into the file is set for each account loaded 84 There is no support for resequencing routes in the field to allow leaving the second meter numbers blank since the second meter number is used to perform the resequencing operation The Route ID field contains only the book number of the account The remaining six characters will be blank Make Download List Go to Activities Meter Reading Entry Use EZRoute Hand Units Make Download List The meter number meter number field 1 1s downloaded to the EZ Route file so it will display on line 4 of the hand unit This system will not download an account that has no meters When the download file is created if the Label field contains a Z and the Module field is not empty the Module field will be placed in the ID Expected field of the import file and the meter number will be put in the Utility field
193. nal Account number 9 Remark string 19 Remark pointer 2 Service memo pointer 2 When the hand unit searches for a match it masks off a field that is the same size as the search string you entered subject to the maximum sizes listed above It then begins its search with the account immediately following the current account and proceeds to the end of the list If no match was found it starts the search at the beginning of the list and searches until it has come back to the current account If still no match was found the search mask is shifted one character to the right and the search starts over This process continues until a match is found or until the search mask cannot be shifted any further For an example consider the following list of addresses note that the last account s address has been truncated to nineteen characters II oo Acct Seke gt Address 12 2 1 99 Ridgecrest Rd 12 5 101 Palmetto Court Record 12 7 5 is the current 12 7 5 110 Palmetto Court account the one being shown 12 9 1921 Palm Tree St on the Meter Reading screen 12 10 77 Orange Tree Rd 12 12 Apt 9 Grapefruit R If you enter Palm as your search string the hand unit will construct a search mask that is four characters wide and begin its search with account 12 9 the account immediately following the current account After it has searched to the end of the list account 12 12 gone back to the beginning
194. nates who has responsibility for completion of the Work Order Enter any messages or special instructions in the Comments box Copy 11 The Record Tab is simply a record of all activity for this customer with the option to print out the past history by pressing the Print Account Button It will not print the Social Security Number of the customer Press the Print Account Button for further details On the General Tab select the Address Metered Services and Transaction History Options you want printed Prepare to Print the Account Data Op x General Erint Preview Account Options Metered Services Options a iene E eae ee Spence Nee e a 7 Include Billing Address I Include Meter Reading History MM Include Other Addresses Transaction History Options 104 M Include Current Balance W Include Monthly Summary i Include Individual Transactions M Include Comments W Include Parcel Number T Include Social Security Cancel On the Print Preview Tab select the Preview Method and Initial Display Copy Move Customer Go to Customers Highlight the account to copy and press the Copy Button On the General Tab the option exists to delete the meter reading history from the old account when copying moving accounts The option to delete all reading history from the old account is available only if the option to copy all readings to the new account is set Fill in the areas you want On the Addresses Tab
195. ndard Reports Specialty Reports Custom Reports Print Preview N N p_ e IN RR 74 80 83 85 86 88 9 93 103 104 105 112 _ GN p GN NO p NO J A NO j EAN J p_i QO Customers 51 HOW TO USE UTILITY BILLING Once the initial setup has been done with your CSR all items under Setup Lists rate classes have been reviewed for accuracy charge names have been set up and given a payment order and display order and the other items have been filled in and customer data has been entered you are ready to begin using the program These steps outline the billing cycle Set the Billing Cycle Start Date Enter meter readings Print Consumption Report Adjust meter readings Charge Computations Apply credit balances Print Billing Summary Adjust customer account Load bill cards Setup the printer Print billing forms Payment entry Run Receipts Report Additional Technote Topics relating to the program should be reviewed and the Release Notes for the program located under Help Contents Release Notes will detail changes made to each version along with additions to the program and we recommend printing these out and saving for quick reference Here is the area to put in detailed information about each customer You may edit changes at a later time if you wish to Browse Customers Go to File Customers You may set the security access individually for
196. nect to the hand unit by pressing that button Once you have information in the fields you may begin processing amp Make Download List Ei Account Range Billing Cycles Metered Services Endin 0006 0245 04 lf File Exists i Overyrite f Append File Format Standard r Download File 1 bytes long 751 records dfast 901 accounts processed T48 accounts accepted 751 meters to be read ooroo o0 weer Jooo1 0002 00 wter Fassa 000 0003 00 Water 628981 co 0001 0004 00 O6b627 0001 0005 00 4478415 OOO O connect Hand Unit Cancel Download Account Data Go to Activities Meter Reading Entry Use Trakker 9440 Hand Units Download Account Data On the General Tab fill out the capacity accounts and general configuration information 76 Send Download List On the Com Port Tab fill out the information about the Com Port The previously used com port is automatically selected and initialized at the parameters last used if the port is available Press the Download Button when you are finished with both tabs awry The Query Button brings up a list of what occurred during the transmission Press it to update the list after each transmission Send Download List Staus None fso gera Available SClERL ONT GOTL Bican Tf Upload Meter Readings Go to Activities Meter Reading Entry Use Trakker 9440 Hand
197. ng Payments ACH Direct Debit Accrue Interest U INO lo IA IA DN Nr o AIS a a o IO A A U N aoe GN a AIS IS RRR O O joo OO Sl ls IS U _ So A C N _ NO p N Refunds Program Utilities Standard Reports Specialty Reports Custom Reports Print Preview Appendix A Rounding Estimated Meter Readings Proration Billing Cycles Appendix B Differences From the DOS Utility Billing 5 x Metered Usage rate classes Declining Balances Parent Child Relationship Rules Large Screens Glossary Index Trakker 9440 Instructions variations 1 3 p N NO NO J p m NO A ry i QO N m _ GN A N J p ON oS ON O _ C ON J J QO 199 O 204 NO D 206 Welcome Getting Started Welcome System Requirements Installation of Updates Windows Basics for 95 98 NT Users Windows 95 98 NT Internet Users Windows Skills You ll Need INO 100 IA IGN ION Nn This manual is best viewed at 100 magnification for detail on some of the smaller screens Welcome to Utility Billing Utility Billing is designed to be used by both public and private utilities It is easy enough to be used for small systems with only a few hundred accounts yet powerful enough to handle large systems with many thousands of accounts and systems
198. nge System Date will take place only at the local workstation Other stations will not be affected When in this mode users will be notified that the date change is local only When the station that changed the date locally is next started the system date will revert to its last system wide setting It is strongly recommended that the Calendar Control setting not be left in the Local update position To temporarily change the date locally the recommended procedure is to change the Calendar Control setting to Local update change the system date to that desired then change the Calendar Control setting back to the normal option See the detailed list of forms 21 While the system date is set locally all Utility Billing functions performed at that workstation will use the local system date Data File Path Where the data is coming from 1 e C IMS UB Typically all of the IMS programs and the program data run out of the same data file path such as g UB BUT there are cases when some users with offsite location may have Utility Billing running on a separate workstation in a remote location and still looking at the data on the server in the main location The configuration window contains a field for the path to the remote data This field is available only to users with Supervisor access If this is left blank Utility Billing will function as before If a value is placed in the field the programs may be loaded on the local workst
199. nic From Deposit Interest Credit Card and From Credit Cash will act as the default method but can be changed on each individual record Then tab to the date and enter the Payment Date you want on the entries you are about to make Press the Locate Accounts Button and then click on the white box in the bottom left corner put in the account number such as 1 1020 and hit the Enter Key or highlight the account and double click on it This will bring you into the payment entry box for account 1 1020 107 General Notes Payment Type Code Method r Account Identity New J Hana Cash 0001 0001 00 Elisabeth Eaker a at 4700 Superior St Anywhere FL 33333 Reason for Skipping If Any Payment Breakdown In Balance Payments Balance Value Resutt 0 00 Water 42 42 30 58 30 58 Sewer PST __ 0 61 0 81 0 81 Late 3 00 3 00 3 00 Serv Cutoff TEP 1 Payment p 00 Bkflow E Tendered 0 00 Total 46 23 0 00 332 77 0 00 332 77 Change 0 00 Prior Next V Open Drawer Print Receipt Print Endorse T Cancel The focus of the cursor will be on Tracking if configuration is set to focus on tracking under Setup Configuration Go to the Payments Tab and click on the Tracking box where you will enter the check number for the payment tab to the Payment box If you have your configuration set to Payment then when you enter the p
200. nsaction dates and the prevailing billing cycle settings The problem occurs when a payment is made during the overlap period the time from the start of the next billing period to the late date of the prior billing period and charges have not yet been computed for the new period According to the billing cycle settings and the current system date the current billing period begin date may be after the most recent charges were computed If so the current charges are no longer considered current and are lumped in with whatever prior period charges that may have 168 existed This makes it impossible to distribute the payment correctly because the current charges are now combined with the previous charges Beginning with version 6 15 the original design was abandoned in favor of requiring that the billing cycle be set to the current month each billing period This allows the current billing period to remain open even past the date at which the next period will start as long as the month in the billing cycle file remains the same This design requires regular update of the billing cycle file while the original one required no changes unless the day of the month changed The billing cycle should be advanced just before meter readings are entered and charges computed Once this takes place the charges previously computed will no longer be current It is very important to manage the billing cycle file Failure to advance the billing cycl
201. ntered was a 99 you will be asked to type in a comment Whatever you type in will then be displayed as the new remark for that account Please note it is possible to type in as many characters as you want but only the first nineteen will be kept The main difference between remarks and service memos is in how they are treated by the host computer Service memos are printed on the reports but are not otherwise saved in any way Remarks are made a permanent part of the account s header record S Display the search sub menu and select a target to search for This command has a two page sub menu of nine different things that you may search for Type in the number of the item that you wish to be the target and press ENTER Typing in something not on the list will return you to the Meter Reading screen The nine search targets are listed on the next page 0 Look for first account in next book 1 Search for a particular service address 2 Search for a particular customer name 3 Search for a particular external meter number 4 Search for a particular account number 5 Search for a particular remark string 6 Search for a particular remark pointer 7 Search for a particular service memo pointer 8 Look for the next record without a meter reading 9 Search for a particular internal meter number If you select search options one through seven or nine you will next be asked to type in the search string
202. nvensys Hand Units See the other Hand Units above for the same details Create Download List EX General Account Range Billing Cycle 1 of 1 Scheduled Read Date En Endin 0006 024501 V Overwrite existing file if any Download File V Show rejected accounts in results list Results Cancel 8 The record layout of the transfer file same for import and export is as follows AccountNumber String 12 ServiceAddress String 40 LastName String 15 FirstName String 15 MeterID String 16 MeterSerial String 16 MeterLocation String 1 MeterType String 1 PreviousRead String 10 LoLimit String 10 HiLimit String 10 MXUID String 10 MXUType String 1 MeterReading String 10 ReadType String 1 ReadDate String 6 MMDDYY ReadTime String 4 HHMM NoteNumber String 2 Crif String 2 Make Download List Go to Activities Meter Reading Entry Use Invensys Hand Units Make Download List The interface will substitute the first meter number for the second meter number if the second meter number field is blank or filled with zeros This system will not download an account that has no meters The Label field is in the Meter Type field in the interface file If there 1s no value in the Label field a blank space will be placed in the download file instead of a null There is no imaginable situation where a non zero reading would be coupled with a blank read type nevertheless the procedure
203. o 0 of 0 Read 1 of7 Service Memos ate a ee E 51 4 25 2000 gt SEO New prees 000 134 272972000 New Automated 13000 Add Memo Edit Memo Kill Memo 121 2 01 2000 New Automated 11000 Reading Status 110 1 03 2000 New Automated 8000 Service Meters 102 12011999 New Automated 22000 80 10 271999 New Automated na Consumed Add Reading Edit Reading Kill Reading Now let s look at some practical examples of the effects of rounding Below is an account with no rounding for water The meter is read in 1000 gallon units and the readings are thus in 1000 gallon units The consumption shown is in gallons and is simply the result of subtracting the previous reading from the latest and multiplying by the meter multiplier Now let s go back to the metered services window for water and set it to round readings to the nearest 1 place General Personal Notes Meters Transactions Selected Details Rates work Orders Record Meter 2 of 2 EP Fe a a 10 01 1999 re 66702 Insert Meter Change Meter Delete Meter Memo 0 of 0 Reading 1 of 7 Service Memos Date a E e Type E 4 25 2000 Automated x 3 28 2000 New Automated 0000 134 2 29 2000 New Automated 10000 Add Memo Edit Memo _ Kill Memo 121 21 2000 New Automated 10000 Reading Status 110 103
204. on most often in data fields such as customer names addresses and comments Each of the major screens and most of the minor screens of the hand unit are described below Accompanying each screen description is a list of valid commands if any and actions that may be used while on that screen 2345678901234567890 Hookup Screen This is the initial screen of the program It Ready for cable hook is usually the first screen to appear when the hand up or use Fl key to unit is turned on When this screen is visible the enter meter readings hand unit is ready to be hooked to the computer for 7 uploading and downloading of account data Valid al commands from this screen are Fl Enter the meter reading mode Begin displaying the help screens List the 98 standard comments currently in the hand unit s memory Display query screen showing the hand unit s internal status Display the title screen II FARO FF 233 Reminder Screen From several places within the program if you Not understood Use type in something that is not recognized as a com H to consult with mand this screen will appear It s purpose is to the help screens remind you of the Help screens and show you how Touch lt ENTER gt _ to gain access to them Like most of the minor aA screens in the hand unit this one will vanish after only ten seconds or when the ENTER key is pressed No Dat
205. one of the main screen you may also alter the data displayed in the meter number field on line three After the screen for line one is past a second screen presents choices for the meter number field There are only two items to select from here To change the current selection type in the new number and press ENTER Pressing ENTER without having type in anything will leave the current selection unchanged As with the first screen entering an out of bounds answer will cause the hand unit to ask the question again The valid choices are 0 External meter number 1 Internal Sensus pit probe meter number Before making the selection it is helpful to understand the differences between these meter number types The external meter number is the identifi cation number actually stamped or otherwise indicated on the meter case It is the number most often thought of and used when people say meter number Every meter has an external number By contrast only certain types of meter have an internal number Internal numbers are stored electronically within the meter and are used by some automatic meter reading equipment like the Sensus pit probe gun It is usually not stamped or marked on the outside of the meter In fact it usually cannot even be detected without special equipment Not all accounts will have an internal meter number E Erase the current meter reading Using this command will cause any meter reading you have entered f
206. ons and definitions of each item and option found in the command set PART ONE THE SCREENS The Intermec 9440 hand unit has a 4x20 display window While this is better than other units of 1 equal price it means that only eighty characters 2 can be displayed at once To further complicate 6 matters displaying a character in the last 20th 4 column can cause screen wrap just like a normal aama terminal display the character stays in the last column but the cursor moves to the f 2345678901234567890 first column of the next line down Thus in some cases we actually have only nineteen characters available if we don t want the cursor to wrap to the next line You will notice this limitation most often in data fields such as customer names addresses and comments Each of the major screens and most of the minor screens of the hand unit are described below Accompanying each screen description is a list of valid commands if any and actions that may be used while on that screen Hookup Screen This is the initial screen of the program It Ready for cable hook is usually the first screen to appear when the hand up or use Fl key to unit is turned on When this screen is visible the enter meter readings hand unit is ready to be hooked to the computer for B uploading and downloading of account data Valid commands from this screen are F1 Enter the meter reading mode H Begin dis
207. or this account to vanish Some internal counters are changed when a meter reading is erased To best see these changes examine the Query screen both before and after erasing a meter reading If the account had no meter reading this com mand will have no effect F Move forward to next account This command brings up the account that lies just after of the present ac count in the hand unit s internal list of accounts If you are already at the very end of the internal list this command will wrap around to the first account in the list Pressing the ENTER key without having typed anything is the same as using the F command H Review the Help screens Issuing this command will bring up the first of many help screens You may then move sequentially forward and backward through the list of help screens using the function keys F2 and F3 When you have seen enough and are ready to leave press the ENTER key Pressing any keys other than these three will have no effect L Review the list of standard comments A list of ninety eight predefined comments may be loaded into the hand unit from the host computer Two more comments are added to this list by the hand unit itself Comment number zero which is actually a command to erase an existing comment from an account and comment number ninety nine also a com mand allowing you to type in your own remark for the current account Once you have entered the L command the first
208. ore than one file on the same date to the ACH fund transfer window Before a fund transfer process may be started there must be a file name in the Transfer File field This is to prevent processing the fund transfers before encountering an error when attempting to create the file The Minimum Balance must be 0 to prevent the Direct Debit file from containing credit amounts The Prenote and Approved checkboxes function separately but may both be checked Prepare to Create Fund Transfer File PE E3 Biling Cycles Transfer File Existing file will be overwritten Label Status f A Use F include Prenote Accounts IV Include Approved Accounts File Sequence f 1 Prefix Ei E Settlement Date 30501 General Account Range Processing Order SEE Account Number j Minimum Balance Endin 0006 0245 01 3 Maximum Balance Skip closed accounts IV Generate Exception Report Include rejected accounts in results summary Processing Results Process and Update Process and Discard Cancel Remember that if the name is the same as the last time a file was created the previous file will be overwritten This is not usually a problem because each file should be transmitted the day it is generated The ACH enable flag and ACH prenote flags will be transferred If you want to generate a file to test all prenote accounts check the Include Prenote Accounts Box and uncheck the Include Approved Accounts Box If you
209. ormation Delete items such as addresses phone numbers etc Copy latest meter reading New destination account side only Copy only the latest reading not the full history Delete Full meter history When moving copying accounts the option exists to delete the meter reading history from the old account Previously there was only an option to copy or not copy readings to the new account The option to delete all reading history from the old account is available only if the option to copy all readings to the new account is set Set Duplicate meter flag Set this flag on meters Meters which are flagged as a duplicate now display with a D following the meter number when browsing using File Customers Note that an account will be listed once for each meter number just as for each address The D flag will appear only by the meter that is the duplicate When browsing in some other order such as account number the meter number displayed is the first meter added to the account whether it is a duplicate or not If you want to keep the following items then check them Keep transaction history Keep fee deposit history Keep check register 56 Keep notes comments The New Destination Account side has the same items to check except the first 3 have Copy instead of Erase or Delete Ifyou choose Copy latest meter reading you cannot also Copy the full meter history You have to choose one or the other To edit information about a c
210. ouch lt ENTER gt been fully processed After receiving the meter reading data parsing it and locating the target account a confirmation screen will appear This screen normally goes by The account has been quickly enough so that it isn t visible except by found reading entry careful observation It is normally used only by is in progress IMS during troubleshooting operations If the transmission was successful but no account with a matching internal meter number could be found this not in list error screen will be printed This meter is not in Generally this error will occur only when the host the list You must computer has failed to provide the proper internal provide the I D meter number for the target account The proper Touch lt ENTER gt long range solution is to amend the host computer s data so that the account can be located in the future However until that is done the meter readings for this account will have to be entered by hand without aid from the pit probe gun Note that a reading entered by way of the pit probe is treated just like a hand entered reading after it is in the account s data field The customary consumption checks for high low and rollover are performed If anything questionable is found in the data the appropriate warning screen will be displayed and confirmation from the user may be required before the next meter can be read PART TWO THE
211. p Printing Tab choose the correct Com Port Parity Baud Rate Stop Bits and the Data Bit Receipt Printing Options are always Standard General Slip Printing Com Port List Parit Baud Rate Receipt Printing Options Port Staus None s600 Receipt Format gt 1 Available Stop Bits Data Bits Standard r j 2 Available ft bit 6 bits J C Do not auto print No UART Print when payment is accepted 4__ NoUART Print after updating data files Cash Drawer Opening Options SCIELO EG Maximum possible ports 4 5 Default Configuration Existing T eee Do not auto print Open when payment is accepted Endorsement Text C Open after updating data files Receipt has been validated Drawer Release Codes AD Validation Open Codes DF DF Validation Close Codes AF AF Ej Test Drawer Test Open Test Close Test Endorse Locate Accounts Cancel Choose your Cash Drawer Opening Options and your Validation Open and Close Codes You may test your Drawer or Test Validation Open Close functions and Test Endorse by pressing the appropriate buttons Then press the Locate Accounts Button to take you to the accounts Late Payments Go to File Customers Highlight a customer press the Change Button to go into the account and select the Transactions Tab A late payment is defined here as a 109 payment made before charges are computed for the next billing
212. page of the comment list is displayed This page reminds you to use the F2 F3 and ENTER keys to move through the twenty five pages of comments that follow four comments per page Pressing any keys other than these three will have no effect Comment numbers are shown to the left of the comments themselves Although actually up to nineteen characters long only the first sixteen characters of each comment are displayed here to make room on the screen for the numbers Comments which have not been filled in by the host computer will be blank 215 M Add change or delete a service code This command does two things Merely entering this command will change the display mode used by line two of the Meter Reading screen from Remark to Memo This change is automatic even if no memo number is entered The second action of this command is to allow you to enter a number from the standard comment list at the Service code prompt This number will then be displayed next to the letter M on line three of the Meter Reading screen and the comment itself will appear on line two of the screen that is it will be shown there until you switch to the Remark display mode If the account already had a service memo number it will be replaced by the new number Typing in something that is not a valid comment number or just pressing ENTER without typing anything will return you to the Meter Reading screen without changing the account
213. playing the help screens L List the 98 standard comments currently in the hand unit s memory Q Display query screen showing the hand unit s internal status 207 T Display the title screen Reminder Screen From several places within the program if you Not understood Use type in something that is not recognized as a com H to consult with mand this screen will appear It s purpose is to the help screens remind you of the Help screens and show you how Touch lt ENTER gt _ to gain access to them Like most of the minor aA screens in the hand unit this one will vanish after only ten seconds or when the ENTER key is pressed No Data Screen Oar aoa When the hand unit is first delivered or right Can t walk route yet after a new program has been loaded into it there as no accounts have are no accounts in it s memory files If you try been loaded to enter the meter reading mode by pressing the F1 Touch lt ENTER gt _ key from the Hookup screen this error screen od will appear It will remain for ten seconds or until you press the ENTER key When it vanishes the program returns control to the Hookup screen PEGCM LA TLCat On pereen Before entering the meter reading mode you must identify yourself to the hand unit This is Please enter your NOT a password Any combination of letters num personal identifi bers and punctuation will be accepted If you cation
214. pute Total Charge Total Charge Fixed Charge Consumption Charge Multiplier Total Charge 21 5 5 10 Total Charge 76 Since there is no Charge Limit steps 6 and 7 do not apply The total water charge for this account is 76 00 Example Three For an account with a consumption of 8 and a multiplier of 1 the water charge would be computed as follows 1 Compute Working Consumption Working Consumption Current Consumption Multiplier Working Consumption 8 1 Working Consumption 8 2 Consumption of 8 uses second line of Charge Table 3 Compute Fixed Charge Fixed Charge Base Extra Multiplier 1 Fixed Charge 5 4 1 1 Fixed Charge 5 4 Compute Consumption Charge Consumption Charge Flat Working Consumption Per Unit Consumption Charge 0 25 8 2 Consumption Charge 16 25 5 Compute Total Charge Total Charge Fixed Charge Consumption Charge Multiplier Total Charge 5 16 25 1 Total Charge 21 25 175 Since there is no Charge Limit steps 6 and 7 do not apply The total water charge for this account is 21 25 Example Four For an account with a Consumption of 80 anda multiplier of 10 the water charge would be computed as follows 1 Compute Working Consumption Working Consumption Current Consumption Multiplier Working Consumption 80 10 Working Consumption 8 2 Consumption of 8 uses second line of Charge Table 3 Compute Fixed Charge F
215. r 49 Inspectors Go to Setup Lists Inspectors This should be setup before printing letters and labels and is only accessible with Supervisor access The Inspector file should contain all the companies or individuals that are licensed to inspect backflow preventer devices Each inspector is identified by an eight character short name To add new inspectors press the Insert Button or highlight the inspector and press the Change or Delete Button to edit the inspector amp Browsing Inspectors x Inspector Code Key 23 Clueless Street Nowhereville 123 456 7990 Spector aadi Dr Jones nowhere nowhereville nothing af Insert Change Delete Close Help Changing a Inspect Record x General Code E o Hame Inspector Gadget 00 Street 123 Clueless Steet 00000 City Nowherevile O00000 Fhone 123 456 7890 License asdjfie21 235d License Expires 10 22 2003 Cancel Help Enter the Code Name Street City Phone number License number and the date the License Expires Press OK when finished 50 Day to Day Use How to Use Utility Billing Customers Meter Reading Rollover Trakker 9440 Hand Units Itron Hand Units EZRoute Hand Units Badger Dialog Hand Units Invensys Hand Units Run Consumption Report Charge Computations Billing Notices Late Notices Reprinting Entering Payments ACH Direct Debit Accrue Interest Refunds Program Utilities Sta
216. r errors 126 It will perform this process for the entire database It will take a lot of time to process and should be done when the Utility Billing system is not in use otherwise Processing Records Recomputing Averages a 6 Completed Purge Data Files There are 9 Purge utilities Purge Exception Reports Go to Utilities Purge Data Files Purge Exception Reports This utility will purge obsolete exception reports It will ask for a date which will be the most recent report date to purge The default date will be the last day of the year 3 years ago For example if the current year is 2002 it will default to December 31 1999 The date can be changed to any date desired The process will delete all exception reports dated the specified date or earlier The other purge utilities follow the same procedures Exception Reports Names and Addresses Check Register Charge Flags Charge History Current Balance Meter Readings Phone Numbers Work Orders Com Ports Jest Com Port Go to Utilities Test Com Port Choose which Com Port you will be using Transmit Standard Reports 127 Select the appropriate Parity Baud Rate Stop Bits and Data Bits determined by what your computer is set to Press the Transmit Button when you are finished entering the data Test Com Port ai oa x General Com Port List Parit Baud Rate E oe Meo 1 Availabe __ Data Bits foe E bits No UAR
217. r on the bottom of the control reports Found meters are not automatically entered into the host com puter s memory they must be entered by hand based on the information in the upload reports This is to prevent a meter that has been found more than once from creating duplicate entries in the host computer 232 INTERMET 9440 TRAKKER DOCUMENTATION Variation 3 This documentation 1S intended to accompany the Intermec 9440 Trakker unit and the IMS Hand Held Meter Reading software package version 4 Copyright C 1998 By Information Management Services Inc All rights reserved Reproduction without permission is prohibited Part One the Screens A description of each of the important screens used in the hand unit Part Two the Commands Descriptions and definitions of each item and option found in the command set PART ONE THE SCREENS The Intermec 9440 hand unit has a 4x20 display window While this is better than other units of 1 equal price it means that only eighty characters 2 can be displayed at once To further complicate 3 matters displaying a character in the last 20th 4 column can cause screen wrap just like a normal terminal display the character stays in the last column but the cursor moves to the first column of the next line down Thus in some cases we actually have only nineteen characters available if we don t want the cursor to wrap to the next line You will notice this limitati
218. r this account main difference between remarks and service memos Comment code is that remarks are made a permanent part of the Aaaa account s record when they are uploaded whereas service memos appear on the upload reports and are D then discarded Both are drawn from the same list Enter change or To exit from either of these screens without for this account making changes to the account just press the ENTER Service code _ wow Wyn a _ l key Note that using the R or M commands will EE _ set the display mode of line two in the Meter Reading screen even if no changes were made to the account of standard comments in the unit s memory files delete service memo Query Page Screens The Q command calls up the guery pages The Unread 222 first query page is displayed for ten seconds or Read 222 until you press the ENTER key The second page is Total 222 then displayed also for ten seconds or until ENTER Touch lt ENTER gt is pressed Control then returns to either the el Hookup screen or the Meter Reading screen Page one shows the current meter reading count while page two shows the upload count Be sure to Unloaded 222 and uploaded in lines one and two of the second Total 222 page Uploaded accounts have had their data trans Touch lt ENTER gt i j mitted to the host computer one or more times since E receiving their meter readings whereas unloaded
219. rder Check Number Include Reconciled Checks Yes Include Voided Checks Yes Exception Report Exception Report Parameters Bill Printing Wet Water Company 4 15 2001 6 05PM Printed by IMS Original report generated by IMS on 11 02 1999 at 2 29PM 193 Priority Services Report Priority Services Report Parameters Wet Water Company 4 16 2001 11 58AM Printed by IMS Account Range 00041 0001 00 to 0001 0001 00 Billing Cycles A Use Print Order Account Number Use Comments Yes Dormant Accounts Report Dormant Accounts Report Parameters Wet Water Company 4716 2001 11 59AM Printed by IMS Account Range O0001 0001 00 to 0001 0001 00 Print Order Account Number 194 Bills per Zipcode Report Bill Count by Zipcode Parameters Wet Water Company 4 16 2001 12 01PM Printed by IMS Account Range O0001 0001 00 to 0002 0197 00 Billing Cycles A Use Date Range 03 01 2001 to 03 31 2001 Rate Class Breakdown Rate Class Breakdown Report Parameters Wet Water Company R162001 12 02PM Printed by IMS Account Range 0001 0001 00 to 0001 0246 00 Billing Cycles Rate Classes Rate Exemptions Minimum Consumption 100 A Use Late Ignore Late Ignore Maximum Consumption 50000 SewCom Ignore SewClom Ignore inliet Sew1 5 Ignore Sew 6 Ignore Ignore Uae ba Sen5 3 Ignore Sen5 3 Ignore Sewer Ignore Sewer Ignore Multi Ignore Multi Ignore Water4 Ignore Water4 Ignore Waters Ignore Waters Ignore Water2 Ignore Water2 Ignore Wat
220. re for the Billing Cycle Press the Process and Print Button to finish A checkbox will allow skipping vacant accounts Activities Print Mailing Labels Skip Vacant Accounts A vacant account is defined here as an account that does not have a Close Date but has the No Charges box checked Print Mailing Labels AE x General print Preview Account Range Print Order Beginnin Account Number 0001 0001 00 Endin Label Type 0006 024501 Bacrossw border Address to Use Service IV Show rejected accounts in results summary i Process and Discard Cancel Form Letters Go to Setup Lists To use this new facility support Letter and Inspector files should be set up first The letters file may contain any number of form letters that may be printed from time to time The letter printing process includes a mail merge facility whereby field values from various data files are substituted for dollar codes at print time The substitution variables currently include about 35 40 choices amp Select variable x variable Hame MIEREA Curent Date MEDD A DATI Current Date MM DO r r DATZ Curent Date MMMMMM DO rrr DATS Curent Time TIME Cancel 45 Pressing the F3 Key will bring up all of the choices above Enter your own text and click OK when finished You may always go back and edit a letter by highlighting the letter and selecting the Change Button
221. ree St 12 10 O range Tree Rd 12 10 ap Or ange Tree Rd 12 12 JApt 9 Grapefruit R 12 12 A pt 9 Grapefruit R Step three more failure Step five success at last ooo 12 2 1 99 Rid gecrest Rd 12 2 1 99 R idge crest Rd T2 5 10 1 Pa lmetto Court 12 5 101 Palm etto Court 12 7 5 11 0 Pa lmetto Court 12 7 5 110 Palmetto Court 12 9 i Plalm Tree St 12 9 1921 Paljm Tree St 12 10 77 Ora nge Tree Rd 12 10 77 O rang e Tree Rd 12 12 fale 9 Grapefruit R 12 12 Apt 9 G rapefruit R L L I In step five the hand unit searches from account 12 9 to the end of the list then starts over with account 12 2 1 at the beginning of the list When it reaches account 12 5 it has found its match As a second example consider typing Palm instead of Palm note the blank ieee aaah 99 Ri dgecr est Rd space In this case the search window 12 5 101 Plalmet to Court would have been five characters wide not 12 EES 110 Plalmet to Court four and success would not have come 12 9 1921 Palm Tree St until step six with account 12 9 as 12 10 77 Or ange Tree Rd shown at right Also remember that if 12 12 Apt k Crap Oera R either PALM or palm had been typed in the search would have failed completely 218 Search modes zero and eight next book and unread meters operate in a basically similar fashion but the search string is devised by the hand unit itself not typed in by the user Search mode nine also has on
222. rint Order During Use SewCom Use Summary Only No M OFF Use Sewt 5 Use Work Crew Range All M ON Use Seng Use Normal Use Sewer Use Read2 Use Multi Use Visit Use Water Use Waters Use Water2 Use Water Use water Use back Use PSTW Use PSTS Use TaxS Use Tax Use 191 Work Order Work Order Wet Water Company 4 15 2001 5 59PM Printed by IMS Type Premises visit Number Assigned To Jim Beam Opened 04 15 2001 Trackina Account 0001 0001 00 Location Elisabeth Eaker 4700 Superior St Anywhere FL 33333 This record was created on 4 15 2001 at 5 58PM by IMS hee not been edited since en 1 meter at this location Type Grid Location Meter 1 Meter 2 Load Water 0 none 1 1 Comments Notes Going to customers residence to turn off meter but they pay the balance due instead Meter Sheets Account Number Customer Name Average Previous New MeterNumber Service Address Use Reading Reading 0001 0002 00 Lil Buster s 220 F625949 US 27 21 1628 0001 0003 00 Wacky World 626981 US 27 12 576 0001 0004 00 Eugene Been 966627 4704 Kingtown St 0 455 0001 0005 00 Mercedes Spreeman 4476415 4710 Wales St 5 607 0001 0006 00 Dennis Garcia R225690 4711 Nowhere St 4 747 192 Check Register Check Register Report Parameters Wet Water Company 4 15 2001 6 04PM Printed by IMS Account Range 0001 0001 00 to 0001 0002 00 Billing Cycles Date Range 03 01 2001 to 03 31 2004 A Use Print O
223. rmation click on the Insert Button To change existing information highlight the line you want to change and click on the Change Button Update Metered Service Be General Record pe me Hame Full and Abbr rl Round Readings High Limit Weriftication TE pei Method ro me Method ol None Mone H Units of measure Full and Abbr ells ills Gallons sal Round Consumption Low Limit Verification Beadincnmethed Sates pes mc _ ol Continuous a o None tone J Prior Next 4 Cancel Rate Classes Go to Setup Lists Rate Classes For more details see How Meter Usage Rate Classes Perform The surcharge field in all rate classes functions as an out of city surcharge If the customer is coded as outside city limits File Customers Change Rates Location the charge computed for that rate will be increased by the percentage specified in the surcharge field If the customer is coded as inside city limits the surcharge will not be applied Browse Rate Class Name Abbreviation Computation Order C A Target Charge E AE backflow 3 4 back Backflow Flat Amount aL Late Fee Late Late Fee Overdue Amount zi Multi Family Multi Vater Metered Usage 6 PST Sewer PSTS PST Current Charges 14 PST Vater PST PST Current Charges 13 Sewer Sewer Sewer Metered Usage 5 sewer 1 1 2 Sew 5 Sewer Metered Usage 3 Sewer 5 6 X 3 4 Sew5 3 Sewer Metere
224. rocessed 0001 0008 00 Cancel Print Pending Refund Checks Report Go to Activities Refund Processing Print Pending Refund Checks Report On the General Tab fill out the Beginning and Ending Dates Decide how to handle closed accounts and outstanding balances from the deposit refund Choose Use or Ignore for the Billing Cycles and Refund Flags Select what amount you want to be the Minimum Refund Amount and whether to Include rejected accounts in the results summary You may substitute the service address for the billing address The field Minimum refund check amount sets the cutoff for printing a check A refund check amount for any customer consists of the total amount of deposits less the outstanding balance if Pay outstanding balance from deposit refund is checked plus any credit balance if Refund overpayments is checked If this amount is less than or equal to the Minimum refund check amount the refund will be processed but no check will be printed Be aware that the customer record will show that the full deposit amount was refunded and there will be no accounting for the residual refund amount for which no check was printed Prepare and Print Refund Checks x General overpayments Print Preview Account Range V Skip closed accounts Billing Cycles Refund Flags Beginnin boo 0001 00 8 IV Pay outstanding balance from deposit refund Use DEPOSIT VVATER Use Endin B Use DEPO
225. rogram Manager and highlight the Utility Billing icon and right click with your mouse on the icon Select File Properties and click on the Shortcut Tab The line you want to look for will be labeled as Target There you will be able to view the directory you need to place the update into Once you have determined which directory to install into you are ready to start the installation process Left click on Start Select Run from the File menu and then Browse selecting the exe file on the diskette in Drive A and double click on the exe file to begin the installation The program will start installing and you will see a blue screen and then a welcome screen It will ask you which directory you want to install the files into Make sure it is exactly where it needs to be as the data for the program is located in the same directory as the program files see above on how to locate your directory Select Destination Directory Utility Biling will be installed into the following directory Ifyou would like to install it into a different directo drive use the browse list below Destination Directory CIMSSUBY foo gt ins il E c In Windows 95 98 NT the default is C Program Files UB You may not want this directory so TYPE IN the location to the directory you found the program in using the directions above Windows 95 98 NT Internet Users The examples show c drive but most users will have t
226. rol to the Hookup screen F4 Record data on found meter When this function key is pressed the hand unit prepares itself to record information on a new meter that was not previously a part of the meter route You will be asked four guestions to help identify the new meter The service address the name of the customer if known the type of meter water or gas and the meter s identification number After entering these four items a normal Meter Reading screen will be displayed for the new meter so that you may enter the meter reading After the meter reading has been entered the old current account will be shown again on your screen the old current account is the account that was showing when you first pressed the F4 key The information for the found meter is stored at the end of the hand unit s memory file just beyond the last legitimate account When the hand unit is uploaded the information for the found meters will appear on the bottom of the control reports Found meters are not automatically entered into the host com puter s memory they must be entered by hand based on the information in the upload reports This is to prevent a meter that has been found more than once from creating duplicate entries in the host computer 219 INTERMET 9440 TRAKKER DOCUMENTATION Variation2 This documentation 1S intended to accompany the Intermec 9440 Trakker unit and the IMS Hand Held Meter Reading software package
227. rom the standard comment list at the Remark code prompt This number will then be displayed next to the letter R on line three of the Meter Reading screen and the comment itself will appear on line two of the screen that is it will be shown there until you switch to the Memo display mode If the account already had a remark number it will be replaced by the new number Typing in something that is not a valid comment number or just pres sing ENTER without typing anything will return you to the Meter Reading screen without changing the account If the number entered was a 99 you will be asked to type in a comment Whatever you type in will then be displayed as the new remark for that account Please note it is possible to type in as many characters as you want but only the first nineteen will be kept The main difference between remarks and service memos is in how they are treated by the host computer Service memos are printed on the reports but are not otherwise saved in any way Remarks are made a permanent part of the account s header record 229 S Display the search sub menu and select a target to search for This command has a two page sub menu of nine different things that you may search for Type in the number of the item that you wish to be the target and press ENTER Typing in something not on the list will return you to the Meter Reading screen The nine search targets are Look for first account in
228. ruct a search mask that is four characters wide and begin its search with account 12 9 the account immediately following the current account After it has searched to the end of the list account 12 12 gone back to the beginning account 12 2 1 and reached the current account again 12 7 5 it will shift the search mask one character to the right and start over again This process will continue until it finally finds a match in step five Step one search fails Step two search fails again Eee gL EE ae Rd 12 2 1 9 9 Rildgecrest Rd T2 5 101 Palmetto Court 12 5 1 01 P almetto Court LZS i Palmetto Court L2 S v P almetto Court 12 9 1921 Palm Tree St Lag 921 Palm Tree St 12 10 O range Tree Rd 12 10 ale Or ange Tree Rd 12 12 Apt 9 Grapefruit R 12 12 Alpt 9 Grapefruit R LO I L Step three more failure otep Live Success at bast PD ol Rid gecrest Rd 12 2 1 99 Rjidge crest Rd 12 5 sof mial Pa lmetto Court 12 5 101 Palm etto Court ed ee 0 Pa lmetto Court 12 7 5 110 Palm etto Court 12 9 T Plalm Tree St 12 9 1921 Paljm Tree St 12 10 Ora nge Tree Rd 12 10 77 O rang e Tree Rd 12 12 neht 9 9 Grapefruit R 12 12 Apt 9 G rapefruit R In step five the hand unit searches from account 12 9 to the end of the list then starts over with account 12 2 1 at the beginning of the list When it reaches account 12 5 it has found its match As a second example
229. s PS Print Selected Upload Reports v a a E a a a fiapps ub thhreports3 tps On the Preview Tab select the preview method and the initial display Press the Process Button when finished with these two tabs Configure Hand Unit Go to Activities Meter Reading Entry Use Trakker 9440 Hand Units Configure Hand Unit Download the standard list of comments and service memos into the hand unit on the General Tab by filling in all the fields of information Enter any comments in the Default Comments box When you are finished press the Send List Button to send the information to the hand unit Send Comments List a ee eee Number Comment 4 hello there O2 J o o o O Itron Hand Units 80 On the Com Port Tab fill in the Com Port information that your computer will be using Go to Activities Meter Reading Entry Use Trakker 9440 Hand Units Load Program by entering the Program File Name on the General Tab On the Com Port Tab fill out the fields of information as well Press the Install Program Button when you are finished Send Comments List Ex General Com Port Com Port List Parit Baud Rate Port Staus Unknown f Unknown a able a Stop Bits Data Bits Prinown I oninown il i yo UJAR 4 No UART Timeout sec Retry Limit Select Com Port z A Maximum possible ports 4 Default Configuration Existing com ports 2 Query Send List Bert St
230. s been computed for the account then the next step is to see if it was based on a prorated rate If arate class is associated with this charge name and if there is proration specified for the rate class then the next step is to see if this rate is used by the customer 161 This is necessary because several rate classes may share a single charge category Use File Customers Change Button Rates Tab to view a list of rates for the customer If the rate is active set to Use it can be assumed that the proration for a partial month was done in the prior month If we go through this for each charge in the prior period and find none that used proration then proration will be required this time General Personal Notes Meters Transactions Selected Details Rates wiork Orders Record Rate Class 1 of 6 ATER 3 4 INSIDE CT x1 SWR COMINSIDE 3 4 x1 0 0000 0 00 TAX xt 0 0000 0 00 Use SERVICE CHARGE xt 0 0000 0 00 0 00 Use _ LATE FEE x1 0 0000 0 00 Use COMM GARBAGE OFFICE x1 0 0000 0 00 0 00 Use zi Insert Rate Change Rate Delete Rate Type Location Residential Inside City Limits C Commercial Outside City Limits C Other The decision of whether or not to prorate is also influenced by qualifications put on the rate as it relates to a particular customer A rate is defined here as an instance of a rate class and charge category as applied to a sp
231. s edited Account Notes 0001 0001 00 No editing needed for account 0001 0001 00 0001 0002 00 No editing needed for account 0001 0002 00 0001 0003 00 No editing needed for account 0001 0003 00 0001 0004 00 No editing needed for account 0001 0004 00 0001 0005 00 No editing needed for account 0001 0005 00 0001 0006 00 No editing needed for account 0001 0006 00 0001 0007 00 No editing needed for account 0001 0007 00 0001 0008 00 No editing needed for account 0001 0005 00 z Cancel Set Declining Balances amp Payments Go to Utilities Race Class Utilities Set Declining Balances amp Payments Select the Beginning and Ending Account Range Enter the New Balance and New Payment Amounts Tab to the Updating Treatment and select from New Balance Adds New Balance replaces 125 You may also check the Adjust for credit balances box Tab to the Rate Classes and highlight which one you want to adjust Select from gnore and Update by using your spacebar in the Status column If you want rejected accounts to show check that box Set Declining Balance and Payment Amounts PE x General Account Range New Balance New Payment Rate Classes 0 of 0 ESEA 0 00 0 00 0001 0001 00 Updating Treatment EZEREN New balance adds to old 0001 0111 00 C New balance replaces old IV Adjust for credit balances V Show rejected accounts in results list zl 111 records proc
232. s no Balance Due Staggered Tractor I see Four Piece Laser I above See a sample of this form A checkbox Omit Due Date on Stub will alter the way form 2 Staggered Tractor 1 prints When checked the due date field on the stub part of the bill right hand side will be left blank This is to support a specific customer that uses this field for the amount paid filled in by the customer This checkbox functions only on the Staggered Tractor 1 form and does not appear on any other forms Prepare to Print Bills i x General Messages Form Control Print Preview Printing Format 745 Billing Forms Serer micemm 7 Form Account 4 0001 0001 00 0001 0002 00 3 0001 0003 00_ 4 0001 0004 00 5 0001 0005 00 6 0001 0006 00 7z 0001 0007 00 8 0001 0008 00 Omit Due Date on Stub g 0001 0009 00 _10__ 0001 0010 00 11 0001 0011 00 12 0001 0012 00 13 0001 0013 00_ 14 0001 0014 00 15 0001 0015 00 16 0001 0016 00 17 0001 0017 00 18 0001 0018 00 7 Print Alignment Mask eprint forms 1 through 744 Process and Print Process and Discard Cancel 100 Staggered Tractor 2 Staggered Tractor 3 This has the capability of printing meter readings and consumption for a second metered service The second set of readings prints to the left of the first set Staggered Tractor 4 This shows the YTD Amount Due field on the lower right hand panel of the form whic
233. s used when computing charges for any rates that have no start date On the General Tab fill in the Beginning and Ending account numbers you want to use to compute charges Then tab to the Insertion Treatment You have 3 choices Select Add and it will add charges to the customer file and is generally the choice you would make Select Replace when you are recomputing charges for a group of customers or Skip for the third choice Then tab to the Billing Date field and fill in what you want to use for the billing date Tab to Billing Cycle and using the space bar Use or Ignore the cycle you will be using in your compute charges 1 e cycle A M or Q Then tab to the Rate Class field and using the Group Processing Individual Processing 92 space bar Compute Set or Ignore which rates you will be computing charges for A quicker way if all are the same is to use either Compute All or Ignore All Buttons This way if you only want to compute late charges you would use the Ignore All Button then highlight the Late Fee and use your space bar to Compute that rate Only that rate would compute for the selected accounts Click on Group Processing to begin computing The box at the bottom will show which accounts had charges computed and which accounts did not and any reason they were skipped When that is finished click on the Cancel Button to take you back to the main screen Individual Processing will go through each file individually
234. scard Refund and Apply Refund and Discard Revise Print Preview Buttons 201 Group Processing Button For processing multiple accounts at one time Individual Processing Button For processing one account at a time Import Button Imports information from outside source Locate Accounts Button This button takes you to the main list of accounts in the Customer Window so that you may select which ones you would like to use Next Button Next item in a series Prior Button The previous or prior item in a series Process and Print Button Processes the information and prints it Process and Discard Button Processes the information but does not permanently apply to account Refund and Apply Button Refunds payment and applies to the account Refund and Discard Button Refunds payment back to account and goes back to same screen without printing or applying it permanently Revise Button Changes the List box layout This means print this report Colors Consumption 202 This means exit without printing the report This button is to zoom in on a page of the report Page press the Up Down Arrows to go to the page you want to view Down press the Up Down Arrows to show how many pages you want to view in a column on the screen Across press the Right Left Arrows to show how many pages you want to view in a row across the screen Query Button Sends a query to the handheld unit
235. se 41 New Customer Defaults Go to Setup Lists New Customer Defaults This information will be visible under File Customer once you enter it On the General Tab enter the full Default Data Name and its abbreviation Then enter the City State and Zipcode Select a Billing Cycle There are 5 flags you may set here Update New Customer Defaults On the Meters Tab enter or edit the default Status Use or gnore the Size and the Multiplier Update New Customer Defaults On the Charges Tab you can enter the Amount of each individual charge 42 Update New Customer Defaults x General Meters Charges Rates Record Service Charge On Off Charge House Visit Backflow Deposit l Prior lt gt Next V On the Rates Tab you can edit or insert new rate class information Select Type and Location Press Change or Insert Enter the Source Rate Class the Multiplier the Extra Percent and the Extra Charge Update New Customer Defaults PE E3 General Meters Charges Rates Record Rates Rate Class Name Mut _ EdraPa EdraFes Balance State Tax Sewer State Tax Water x Ei E aE a Insert Rate Change Rate Delete Rate Type Jo r aE e 1a Residential Inside City Limits C Commercial Outside City Limits Other gt Prior lt gt Next V amp Update Initial Rate Classes x
236. se saved in any way Remarks are made a permanent part of the account s header record P Move to the previously displayed account This command is similar to but not the same as the B command The B command allows you to move sequentially through the list of accounts in the order that they are stored in the hand unit The P command takes you directly back to the account that was being viewed right before the current account For example while viewing account 12 5 you used a search command The search skipped over many intermediate accounts and took you to account 12 32 If you now use the F or B commands they will take you to accounts 12 33 or 12 31 but if you use the P command it will return you to 12 5 QO Query the hand unit s internal condition counters The query pages display two different sets of internal counters The first query page shows the count of read versus unread meters The second page shows the count of accounts that have been uploaded versus accounts that have not yet been uploaded Accounts that have not yet been uploaded are referred to as unloaded accounts for brevity on the hand unit s display screen When the meter reading of an already uploaded account is changed either by erasing the current reading or by entering a new meter reading the account is removed from the uploaded list and restored to the unloaded list This is to show that another upload is needed in order to get the latest meter
237. stalled or Last Inspected Before field letters will be sent only for meters for which the most recent of the date installed or date last approved inspected is earlier than the date entered For an inspection to be considered it must be approved 48 If there are multiple inspections for the device only the most recent will be considered The third control Last Letter Sent can be used to filter who gets a letter based on the last letter sent The value entered here would be the short name of a particular form letter If this field is not blank letters will be sent only to those that last received the form letter you specified If there are multiple letters for the device only the most recent one will be considered For example if you sent a letter to all who had a device that had not been inspected in a year and wanted to send a follow up letter to all who received the first letter but have not returned a satisfactory inspection report you could use a combination of the three controls to make this happen In this case the third control would have the short name of the letter that was sent before The second Date and third Letter controls work as independent filters If nothing is entered it will be ignored and letters will be sent to all that qualify otherwise Select Letter To Print x tik Close 7 Help Both of the letter printing programs automatically update the letter history for each account that receives a lette
238. t see the R command described later the number you entered will be displayed immediately behind the R Otherwise the R will be followed by blanks The service memo pointer PT2 on the diagram above appears and behaves almost exactly like the remark pointer except that it uses the letters M and m in place of R and r The M command described later is used to con trol the service memo Line four The first letter on this line tells what kind of meter is being read W water and G gas If you have already entered a meter reading for this account it will be displayed next bracketed by parenthesis If no reading has yet been entered the word none will be displayed At this point you may enter a meter reading of up to eight digits or one of the following command letters Entering an unrecognized command has no effect This screen s command list has fifteen entries as shown on the next page Fl Exit the meter reading mode and go back to the Hookup screen F4 Enter the data for a found meter ENTER Move forward to the next account same as F below Move back to the previous account Switch the display mode for line one Erase the current meter reading no effect if no reading Move forward to the next account same as ENTER above Begin displaying the help screens List the 98 standard comments currently in the hand unit s memory Add change or delete a service memo Mo
239. t Be E General Print Preview Account Range Print Order Beginnin Account Number 0001 0001 00 Endin 0006 0245 01 IV Use report specific comment Biling Cycles V Show rejected accounts in results summary 901 records processed 0 records to be printed 0001 0001 00 Life support flag not set 0001 0002 00 Life support flag not set 0001 0003 00 Life support flag not set 0001 0004 00 Life support flag not set 0001 0005 00 Life support flag not set 0001 0006 00 Life support flag not set 0001 0007 00 Life support flag not set 0001 0008 00 Life support flag not set Process and Discard Cancel Dormant Accounts Report Go to Reports Specialty Reports Dormant Accounts Report for the required information to fill out Press the Process and Print Button See a sample of this report Bills per Zipcode Report Go to Reports Specialty Reports Bills per Zipcode Report On the General Tab this report asks you to choose a 5 or 9 digit zipcode Press the Process and Print Button See a sample of this report Rate Class Breakdown Go to Reports Specialty Reports Rate Class Breakdown This is a generic report that can be used by all customers The name of the report is based entirely on the name assigned to the User Key 2 under Setup Configuration Ifthe key name is left blank the system will assign it a name of Number Two the report will not appear on the menu
240. t NUMBER gt PTL Be READING Line One This line will display either the service address account number customer name or the hand unit s internal record number pointer for this account The current setting of the display mode see the D command described below controls which of these four items is shown here When the address or customer name is on display remember that only the first nineteen characters are used by the hand unit Line two Displays either the remark or the service memo for this account To determine which of these two items is currently being shown look at the pointer labels shown on line three To switch between remarks and service memos use the R and M commands described below Line three This line has three different pieces of information The meter number the remark pointer and the memo pointer The meter number rep resented as lt NUMBER gt in the diagram above is shown on the lefthand side of the line The remark and memo pointers represented as PT1 and PT2 on the diagram occupy the right side of the line 234 The remark pointer appears as the letter R followed by either blanks or a one or two digit number If the R is an upper case letter capital R then the current remark is being displayed on line two If its a lower case letter little r then line two is showing the current service memo in place of the remark If you have changed the remark for this accoun
241. t Order Where there is no meter or no meter reading those accounts are simply skipped Meter sheets may be printed in either account number or service address order Choose Use or Ignore for the Billing Cycle Press the Process and Print Button to print See a sample of this report Print Meter Sheets Bee General erint Preview Account Range Print Order Beginnin Account Number 0001 0001 00 Endin 0001 0001 00 Biling Cycles I Show rejected accounts in results summary 1 record processed 1 record to be printed rl Process and Discard _Cancel_ Check Register Go to Reports Standard Reports Check Register Enter the Beginning and Ending Account and Date Range Select the Print Order whether to Use or Ignore on the Billing Cycles and whether or not to include voided and reconciled checks Press the Process and Print Button to print See a sample of this report Check Register Report PE x General Print Preview Account Range Date Range Print Order Beginnin Beginnin shall Onl Feheck Number 0001 0001 00 3 01 2001 This Week This Month IV Include Reconciled Checks Endin Endin IV Include voided Checks 0001 0002 00 21 2001 Last Month Billing Cycles IV Show rejected checks in results summary 1 checks processed 0 checkss to be printed Account number of 0001 0008 00 is outside the chosen range Process and Discard _Cancel_
242. t account to be redisplayed so that a meter reading may be entered Answering with will allow the meter reading to be accepted recorded the hand unit will then move on to next account Display Mode Screen Entering the D command at the Meter Reading screen will bring up this sub menu The default answer is NT All of the choices along with the currently active mode are displayed new mode unchanged anything number and press ENTER Aa WN e Il II Help Screens There are eighteen help screens You may gain access to the first Help screen by entering H from either the Meter Reading or Hookup screens Once in the first help screen shows how to move around between the other help screens any help mode across more on a topic explanation keys other than the F1 than one screen F2 F3 AAAA IN HELP SCREENS lt F2 gt next screen lt F3 gt prev screen lt ENTER gt quit es Fl Enter exit mode for walking route From main screen use this to begin walk Ga ing the route If already walking the route this returns to the main screen and how to get out o Because of the limited screen size check the next screen All eighteen help screens are reproduced below Move to the next help screen Move to the previous help screen Leave help mode and return to Meter Reading or Hookup screen
243. t of applying payments or credits to a different category than billed For each charge category it fetches the ending current balance in the category for the account It then reads all billing and payment transactions for the category in reverse last first order For each transaction it calculates and saves the balance as it stood after the transaction Reversed transactions are ignored When all transactions have been processed the beginning when the account was added balance should be zero If it is not zero the next process is executed Starting with a balance of zero in the charge category the transactions are read again this time in chronological first to last order After each transaction the forward balance is compared to the backward balance saved in the first pass If they differ and if the transaction date is within the date range specified it prints the transaction that caused the balance to be incorrect It then adjusts the forward balance to match the backward balance and continues to read transactions in case there is more than one occurrence If a rollback date 1s specified for a current balance report it reflects the balance at the end of the specified date rather than the beginning of the day end of previous day The summary page of the this report includes columns for debit and credit balance by book See a sample of this report Current Deposits Report Go to Reports Standard Reports Current Deposits
244. t out to that length If the Old Read label is missing then the only other two possibilities are the comment remark or service memo To determine which one of these two 208 items is currently being displayed look at the pointer labels shown on line three described below To switch between remarks and service memos use the R and M commands described below Line three This line has three different pieces of information The meter number the remark pointer and the memo pointer The meter number rep resented as lt NUMBER gt in the diagram above is shown on the lefthand side of the line The remark and memo pointers represented as PT1 and PT2 on the diagram occupy the right side of the line There are two possible meter numbers that may be displayed The external meter identification number the one that is normally printed on the meter casing and the internal Sensus pit probe meter number The internal meter number normally can be read from a meter only by use of the pit probe meter reading gun If the normal meter number is being displayed it will be pre fixed with a M If the prefix is S then it is the Sensus pit probe meter number that is on display The remark pointer appears as the letter R followed by either blanks or a one or two digit number If the R is an upper case letter capital R then the current remark is being displayed on line two If its a lower case letter little r then line
245. te date in the billing cycle to a different day each month will not be able to use this method Note that the determining factor 1s the number of days from the start of the cycle to the late date not the day of the month The cycle month is determined by the date of billing transactions and the late date is calculated as an offset in days from the start of the cycle A payment will be deemed as late even if it pays the outstanding balance but was made after the late date for the cycle The outstanding balance calculations used in this process include only standard charges impact fees and deposits are not included The last late date is also displayed in the customer record on the transactions tab File Customers Change Transactions Last Late You will need to choose theBeginning and Ending Dates whether to Skip closed accounts and to Set or Clear Flags for the refunds Choose Use or Ignore for the Billing Cycles and Deposits Enter the date of the last billing Press the Filter and Apply Button The Refund will show up in the Refund column The check date will be added to the stub portion of the deposit refund check form Press Cancel when finished 117 Flag Deposit Refunds General Account Range Billing Cycles Deposits atte Last Pad E oog o0 00 044 5 2000 j Endin oom 0111 00 Charge Fitter Skip closed accounta Action Set Flag Clear Flag OnOff Charge Ti 111 accounts p
246. te of the check the check Number the date Reconciled and Voided and the Customer Account Number for which the check was written Enter the amount of the Deposit and Overpay Refunds Reconcile Outstanding Checks Go to Activities Refund Processing Reconcile Outstanding Checks You may choose to reconcile a check here instead of through the Check Register Enter the Earliest Latest and Reconcile Dates Reconcile Refund Checks PE x General Reconciled Earliest Date Latest Date Reconcile Date 45 2001 Outstanding Checks Reconciled Checks Nameer Pete Amourt Accout h code Sumber Dete kamot ENANS 3 11 27 2000 4 0005 017401 an 5 2001 0001 0001 00 A raea 2733 8 01 2000 43 77 0005 0211 01 Automated Total from 4 checks 81 25 Total from 2 checks 41 61 Seek Check Number Seek Check Number Unreconcile Reconcile Highlight the check or seek the check if you know the check number by entering it in the box on the lower left hand corner Press the Reconcile Button To unreconcile a check tab to the Reconciled Tab and highlight the check Press the Unreconcile Button Press the Close Button when finished Change Zipcodes Go to Utilities Account Utilities Change Zipcodes This changes all occurrences of a zipcode to a new zipcode 122 Old Zip Code New ip Code Cancel Help Renumber Accounts Go to Utilities Account Utilities Renumber
247. ted amount greater than the standard Beginning Date This and the Ending Date define the time period over which the charge is prorated It can be based on the date charges were last computed or the date of the previous meter reading Ending Date This is the companion to Beginning Date It may be set independently but logically it would be set to Current Date if Beginning Date is set to Last Computation Date or to Latest Meter Reading Date if Beginning Date is set to Prior meter reading date Length of Period This defines what is used as the base period for the proration computation The options are to use a fixed thirty day month or the actual number of days in the current billing period Where to Apply This defines what charges the proration process will be performed upon The two checkboxes may be set independently Typically proration is used to adjust a base charge per month for a service to that for a period greater or less than the standard period The Base Charges checkbox enables or disables proration of base charges Proration of consumption charges is less common because a consumption based charge is inherently self prorating Nevertheless if Consumption Charges is checked the proration will apply to the consumption charges 159 Metered Service This field will appear only if you selected meter reading date in either the Beginning Date or Ending Date options In such cases the proration type must be related to
248. this account To determine which of these two items is currently being shown look at the pointer labels shown on line three To switch between remarks and service memos use the R and M commands described below Line three This line has three different pieces of information The meter number the remark pointer and the memo pointer The meter number rep resented as lt NUMBER gt in the diagram above is shown on the lefthand side of the 221 line The remark and memo pointers represented as PT1 and PT2 on the diagram occupy the right side of the line There are two possible meter numbers that may be displayed The external meter identification number the one that is normally printed on the meter casing and the internal Sensus pit probe meter number The internal meter number normally can be read from a meter only by use of the pit probe meter reading gun If the normal meter number is being displayed it will be pre fixed with a M If the prefix is S then it is the Sensus pit probe meter number that is on display The remark pointer appears as the letter R followed by either blanks or a one or two digit number If the R is an upper case letter capital R then the current remark is being displayed on line two If its a lower case letter little r then line two is showing the current service memo in place of the remark If you have changed the remark for this account see the R command described later
249. tility Billing refers to the adjustment of charges for a period of time different than the normal period For example if a customer is billed at a rate of 30 per month for some service but used it for only 20 days the prorated charge might be 20 This document will explain how to set up a proration method and describe how it works Proration Type Setup You may create any number of independent proration types Use Setup Lists Proration Types to see a list of proration types in your system Press the Insert Button if there are none listed or the Change Button to view an existing proration type General Record Proration Name Full and Abbr Method PAMO Standard v Allow Super Proration Beginning Date Ending Date Length of Period C Current Date Latest meter reading date Last Computation Date Prior meter reading date C Assume Fixed Thirty day Months Use Current Period s Actual Length Ahere to Apply Metered Service M Base Charges Water Consumption Charges Prior Next V Cancel Proration Name Assign a long and short name to the proration type if you are adding a new one Method You have three options Standard Extrapolation and Below Minimum Let s start with the simplest Standard 158 Allow Super Proration If this is checked extrapolation is allowed if the proration period is greater than the standard period This would result in a prora
250. tion Name This is the name of the originator of the transaction that will appear on the customer s bank statement This is usually the same as the Originator Name but while 23 characters are allowed for the Originator Name only 10 characters are allowed for this field A second field is provided in case you need to abbreviate On the Print Preview Tab fill in the following fields Update Configuration PE x General index Keys Colors Payments Accounting Euna Transfer Print Preview Record Preview Method Standard Report Preview C Auxiliary Report Preview No Report Preview Initial Display Zoom to fit Height t Zoom to fit Width Zoomto Custom Size Cancel Preview Method Select Standard to preview your report or list as Auxiliary or No are no longer available Initial Display When you choose Standard you have the option to zoom to fit height and width or a custom size zoom On the Records Tab there is no information for the user to fill out This is the record of the initial creation of this record showing editing information about it Update Configuration PE x General Index Keys Colors Payments Accounting Eund Transfer Print Preview Record This record was created on 3 07 2000 at 11 494M by unknown It has been edited 20 times since then The last editing was performed on 12 3 2000 at 10 58AM by GLORIA TH Cancel List Setup 31 Charge Names
251. ts are moved or stay with the original account when accounts are moved On the Old Source and New Destination Account sides find Bm E Vacate Move an Account General Address m Old Source Account Account Close Date Cycle Start Date ee e l 403 2002 Flags Delete personal information No Charges No Readings New Destination Account Account Cycle Start Date ocot 0001 01 a 2 Flags IV Copy personal information vo Si see I Copy latest meter reading Copy full meter history P Set Duplicate meter flag C Keep transaction history C Keep fee deposit history C Keep check register Close Date J Delete full meter history Set Duplicate meter tag Keep transaction history Keep fee deposit history Keep check register I Set Service Name Vacant Set Billing Name Vacant Set Billing Address Service Address Erase Other Addresses I Set Service Name Vacant I Set Billing Name Vacant Set Billing Address Service Address IV Copy Other Addresses New account will be created Set service name vacant Change the service address name to vacant Set Billing name vacant Change the billing name to vacant 55 Set Billing address service address Make billing the same as the service address Erase other addresses kill all but service and billing addresses Delete personal inf
252. ts as Previous Balance on this form is the balance at the start of the current billing cycle It has a tear off bottom portion to be used as a payment stub There are two boiler plate notes each with a capacity of 256 characters One prints as a footer centered across the bottom of the form and can be up to two lines The other prints on the lower right corner of the form and can be up to four lines Lines will not be combined This has the capability of printing meter readings and consumption for a second metered service See a sample of this form Letter Size Laser 2 amp 3 They are similar to the Letter Laser I layout with the following exceptions They have a charge capacity of 16 categories versus 11 for Letter Laser 1 The note text is printed as a centered header near the top of the form Only the first line of the organization name and address are printed at the top of the form These two forms have the capability of printing meter readings and consumption for a second metered service Laser Size2 See a sample of this form Letter Size Laser 3 includes a usage history box containing usage by metered service for the prior month and the same month one year ago The font size of the footer text is 8 point to allow more text in the box The cutoff data for the prior one day before the start of the current cycle Laser 3 See a sample of this form Letter Size Laser 4 This is a copy of an older version of the Letter Laser 1 form
253. tton is pressed for an account for which a payment has already been entered for the current system date This is intented to minimize errors of entering the same payment twice Note that this test is not made when scrolling between accounts using the Prior and Next buttons after an account is selected When entering payments the payment Type Code or Method may be changed for individual accounts using a hot key Alt key the underlined character in this case T C or M The up and down arrow keys may be used to select the desired option from the list After the selection is made the cursor will return to the specified initial field either tracking or payment amount After entering manual payments the customer browse box is positioned to the last account accessed 106 Enter Payments x General siip Printing Default Values Type Code Method 7 Hana z Cash bd YEY Date fi 31 2001 Locate Accounts Cancel On the General Tab the highlight will be on Type Choose from 3 types New Correction or NSF Rebill Select a type then tab to Code Choose from these 5 Automated Late Frint Work Order Mew Acct Hand is payments that are entered by Hand which is the default Choose from Hand Automated Late Print Work Order or New Acct Tab to Method and select Cash if the majority of payments to be entered are cash payments or check if they are payments made by check Choose also from Electro
254. ttons take you through all of the users so you can quickly edit them all if you like Change Your Own Password Go to Setup Security Change Your Own Password To change your password upon login to the program the system will recognize who is using it and will allow a pop up screen with your name and password to come up Update Current Password z General Recora User Mame george Fassworgd washington Simply erase the old password by backspacing highlighting the word and then deleting or highlighting and typing in the new one Click OK when done to save it Once you have passwords established the system will ask you for the information upon entry into the program Configuration Setup 20 Please Log In User Hame Fass org Utility Billing has the IMS menu system which allows running all installed IMS programs from a single login bypassing individual program logins and splash screens Go to Setup Configuration The maximum value for dollar amounts in windows and reports is 999 999 99 Fill in your city s information on the General Tab and the other 7 different tabs On the General Tab fill in the following fields Mailing Address Line 1 2 and 3 of your mailing address and zipcode Calendar Control Determine how or 1f the system date is kept current manually automatic or upon system startup Local Update when this option is set changes to the system date using Setup Cha
255. two is showing the current service memo in place of the remark If you have changed the remark for this account see the R command described later the number you entered will be displayed immediately behind the R Otherwise the R will be followed by blanks The service memo pointer PT2 on the diagram above appears and behaves almost exactly like the remark pointer except that it uses the letters M and m in place of R and r The M command described later is used to con trol the service memo Line four The first letter on this line tells what kind of meter is being read W water and G gas If you have already entered a meter reading for this account it will be displayed next bracketed by parenthesis If no reading has yet been entered the word none will be displayed At this point you may enter a meter reading of up to eight digits or one of the following command letters Entering an unrecognized command has no effect You may also activate the pit probe s automatic meter reading process This screen s command list has fifteen options as listed below Fl Exit the meter reading mode and go back to the Hookup screen Enter the data for a found meter Move back to the previous account Switch the display mode for line one Erase the current meter reading no effect if no reading Move forward to the next account same as ENTER below Begin displaying the help screens
256. ually all meter readings are integers but the system also allows for fractional readings should that ever be needed If the reading has fewer digits than the specified digits no change is made If the reading has more digits than the specified maximum the reading is truncated on the left to the number of digits specified 62 For example If the digits for the meter is set to 4 and a reading of 12345 is entered the reading will be interpreted as 2345 Ifthe digits field is left blank the full reading entered will be used To add a backflow preventer device to a meter find in the left area a field labeled Device Press the Insert Key Enter Key double click right click or F3 Key to pop up the device window Once a device has been added its name will display and any of the aforementioned keys except the Insert Key may be used to view or update it On the General Tab fill in the fields for the device including Name of the device Type Size Manufacturer Model Number Serial Number and Date Installed Device Will Be Added E General Letters Inspections Name Backflow Preventer Type Size Manufacturer P Model Number fo Serial Humber Po Date Installed Cancel Help This window is also used to view the inspection history and history of letters sent The inspection history record contains the date the inspection was made the identity of the inspector keyed to the inspector file whether or not th
257. uding cycle begin date end date due and late dates are always computed dynamically from the current billing cycle dates for the cycle This in turn determines the billing period for all meter readings charges and payments When the beginning day of the billing cycle is changed the beginning date of all previous cycles is also changed When the late date for a cycle is changed each month it also affects the late date for all previous billing periods 167 If the late date extends past the start date of the next cycle cycle overlap potential problems are created If the late date for a cycle is changed to earlier in the month than that for the previous billing period late charges would be computed even though the payment date was before the late date for the prior billing period To prevent this each time a charge is added the current late date is stored in the charge history file along with the other information about the charge This is the date used to determine if a payment was made late rather than the late date computed for the current billing cycle because the dates may have been changed for the next billing period Another problem caused by overlapping billing periods is in payment distribution When a partial payment is made on an account the payment is distributed first to the prior period charges then to charges in the current billing period The billing period boundaries are calculated dynamically from the charge tra
258. uit Fl Enter exit mode for walking route From main screen use this to begin walk ing the route If already walking the route this returns to the main screen B Backward While walking route only Show last account Will wrap around E Erase While walking route only Erase current meter reading F Forward While walking route only Show next account Will wrap around While walking route only Allows user to determine what data will be shown on top line of acct screen Choices are address acct name amp rec Also choose type of meter to be shown in line three Internal or external Help screens List amp describe the commands needed to use this unit List comments Comments shown page by page as with the help screens M Memo While on route only Enter a service memo for the current record While walking route Show prev acct wea ther fwd or back Q Query Display count of read unread meters and number of previous uploads R Remark While on route only Enter a comment for the cur rent record S Search While walking route This menu allows user to select a topic to search the account list for Searching takes time and can not be interrupted
259. used to flag an estimated reading rather than a zero reading A value of 00 is expected when a reading was made and anything else is assumed a no read The following codes are interpreted and expanded as indicated below and added to the upload report notes AN animal BM blocked meter CL can t locate CR car on meter DM damaged meter FM fogged meter LG locked gate MR meter return OT other WT water EZRoute Hand Units 83 You may also print the upload report at Reports Standard Reports Upload Reports Select which report to print and press the Process Button Use EZRoute Hand Units Go to Activities Meter Reading Entry Use EZRoute Hand Units The EZRoute Meter Reader interface supports the R900 walk by radio modules To enable enter a Z must be capital in the Label field of the meter record and put the module number not the meter number in the Module field The meter reading date will be uploaded Meter is assumed to be the meter number and meter 2 1s the sequence number As aconvenience for users that don t want to be bothered with entering sequence numbers for meters a sequential number will be generated during the download process Detail explanation Two meter number fields are provided for each meter The actual titles of these two fields are user defined The first is typically the actual physical meter ID number The second is typically a sequence number which defines the order i
260. ustomer If the customer had a leftover amount due or a credit balance this balance column will reflect that balance added to or subtracted from the 480 if you selected that option in the utility Most customers will be at a zero balance by the end of the year with only few with a credit balance After the utility is run do the normal monthly billing of 40 Activities Compute Charges and then those bills will get printed on them you will see the 480 for balance or whatever amount is their current auto bill balance and the charge amount of 40 They use the Staggered Tractor 4 print routine which lists out all the information such as auto bill amount and monthly payment If you take the data one step further and make a payment you will see the General screen balance showing the charge of 40 and the payment of 40 you can also look at the Rates Tab and see the 480 balance is now 440 177 Parent Child Relationship Rules June 2001 All of the IMS program databases have parent child relationships It is generally bad practice to allow a database to accumulate orphans which are child records whose parent has been deleted Parent deletions can be done in one of two ways depending on the individual situation either you delete all children when the parent is deleted cascade or deny if the parent has any children The relationships and dependencies are shown as in the excerpt from the data dictionary summary below WT
261. ustomer select File Customers select a customer and press the Delete or Change Button A drop list shows in the two user defined entry fields in the customer update form When adding or changing a customer the value may be selected from the list of previously used values or a new one entered Since the user fields may also be named by the user they will appear on your screen as named not necessarily User Key One for example Enter the User Key 1 and 2 information The date shown in the Fees Deposits is the date of the last payment of the deposit or fee If either of the customer user key fields are not used its tab and its column no longer appear in the customer browse window and its entry field no longer appears in the customer entry form If either is set to blank using Setup Configuration User Keys its name will display as User One or User Two as appropriate but will still be considered disabled and will not display in the customer browse and entry form Update Account 0001 0001 00 Elisabeth Eaker Closed on 5 03 2001 General Personel Notes Meters Transactions Selected Details Rates Work Orders Record Account Route Number Two Cycle Due Date Start Date Close Date al 7 El 212112001 5037 999 570372001 Addresses Flags Service Billing Elisabeth Eaker 4700 Superior St Anywhere FL 33333 Insert Address Change Address Delete Address Reading Status
262. uted as if there were no proration The most common cause of a need for proration is a recently added account or a recently closed account 160 So the first step of the proration process is to fetch the date the account was added if any and the date the account was closed if any The second step is to determine the beginning and ending dates of the current billing cycle and the previous billing cycle If the account was added between the beginning and ending date of the current billing cycle then proration will be required Likewise if the account was closed between the beginning and ending date of the current billing cycle proration will be required There is also the possibility that the account was added in the prior billing cycle but no charges were computed for it Such accounts would require proration For such a condition to exist the account must have been added between the start of the prior billing cycle and the end of the prior billing cycle If an account qualifies the charge history is then read for the account to see if any standard charges were computed since the account was added A standard charge is defined as a non refundable charge such as water sewer garbage etc Use Setup Lists Charge Names to view the charge names in your system Note that the rightmost column in the listbox shows the category The options for category are Standard Non Refundable Fee and Refundable Fee If a standard charge ha
263. ve Update Metered Service General Record Service Name Full and Abbr Round Readings High Limit Yerification Vater Vater Method Places Method Threshold In zj fo Pp rit 400 Units of measure Full and Abbr eal ercentage Gallons Gals Round Consumption Low Limit verification 5 Method Places M hreshold Reading method Order Places Continuous a oa fo a Nearest vj i Percentage 100 Prior Next V f i Cancel Note first that there are two separate rounding boxes one for readings and one for consumption Either or both may be used and each has a definite effect on the final consumption amount billed Meter readings may be rounded before computing consumption then the consumption may be rounded 151 There are three basic methods of rounding down nearest and up Rounding down means truncate to the next lowest step Rounding up means increasing to the next highest step The nearest method will round to the next lower step if the reading or consumption is less than halfway between the two adjacent steps and to the next higher step if halfway between the steps or higher The steps referred to in the previous paragraph are determined by the places field It refers to the number of decimal places to round In simple mathematical terms the rounding process moves the decimal point the specified number of places to the left discards the fractional part then moves
264. ve to the previously displayed account Display query screen showing the hand unit s internal status Add change or delete a remark comment Display the search mode sub menu Display the title screen HnNnWDovse Fr aA How II Rollover Screen When you enter a meter reading it is checked New reading is lower against the last known meter reading If the new than old reading Do reading is less than the old reading a series of you want to re enter warning beeps will sound and this screen will be it Y N brought up If you answer Y control will be passed back to the Meter Reading screen where the current account will be redisplayed If you answer N the hand unit will assume that a meter rollover or changeout has taken place The reading will be recorded for the current account without further questioning and the hand unit will move on to the next account The default answer is N High Reading and Low Reading Screens If the new reading is not a rollover it will Unusually low use be checked against a set of expected high and low Do you want to re readings which were downloaded from the host along enter the reading with the rest of the account data If it is out Y N _ side this range a series of warning beeps will 235 sound and the appropriate one of these two screens will be displayed the new NY and the In both cases answering with Y will cause curren
265. version 55 Copyright C 1998 By Information Management Services Inc All rights reserved Reproduction without permission is prohibited Part One the Screens A description of each of the important screens used in the hand unit Part Two the Commands Descriptions and definitions of each item and option found in the command set PART ONE THE SCREENS The Intermec 9440 hand unit has a 4x20 display window While this is better than other units of 12345678901234567890 equal price it means that only eighty characters 2 can be displayed at once To further complicate matters displaying a character in the last 20th 4 column can cause screen wrap just like a normal terminal display the character stays in the last column but the cursor moves to the first column of the next line down Thus in some cases we actually have only nineteen characters available if we don t want the cursor to wrap to the next line You will notice this limitation most often in data fields such as customer names addresses and comments Each of the major screens and most of the minor screens of the hand unit are described below Accompanying each screen description is a list of valid commands if any and actions that may be used while on that screen Hookup Screen a This is the initial screen of the program It Ready for cable hook is usually the first screen to appear when the hand up or use Fl key to unit is turned on W
266. vice supported by Windows The new IMS demo and option control system works for existing users who have a license file containing installed options when version 6 168 is installed If there is no license file then certain options will not be installed on all systems The Demo program expires 30 days after it 1s first used This is where it all begins The original program will be installed by your Customer Support Representative CSR You will need to periodically install updates as new information is added to the program As long as your update is saved and installed into the correct directory it will be used by the original program When installing TYPE in the directory ex C UB or D IMS UB or G UB you want the program to go otherwise it tends to default to a directory that it creates below the main directory C UB Utility Billing This means the program will not be installed into the original UB directory and consequently not work You also do not want it installed into C Program Files Utility Billing the Microsoft Windows default directory if that is not the original Utility Billing directory This will not allow the update to work in the right directory either Put the updates where the original program is located Start Windows if you ve not already done so Insert the Update disk into drive A or drive B You first need to find where your Utility Billing program is installed Find the icon on your main screen P
267. will apply the blank read type test first so that all records with a blank read type will be interpreted as no reading Run Consumption Report 88 Process Meter Readings Go to Activities Meter Reading Entry Use Invensys Hand Units Process Meter Readings For customers that may want to disable the estimation step an estimate will be made only if the reading is blank or zero and the Read Type field in the upload file is also blank Make sure this field a single character immediately following the meter reading is updated according to the Invensys specifications in which a blank indicates no reading If the Read Type field is not blank and the reading is zero or blank it will be interpreted as a request for an estimate Print Upload Reports Go to Activities Meter Reading Entry Use Invensys Hand Units Print Upload Reports After you have entered readings proceed to the printing of the Consumption Report This information is covered in detail under Reports Standard Reports Consumption Report The Print Button will take you to the actual printing process The Export and Import Buttons allow you to save the file to a directory or to bring in new information from a directory pop up window To edit an existing report highlight it and press the Change Button To add a new one press Insert Browse Consumption Report Formats PE x Title 2 10 2000 6 05 2000 Se omerc park 10 1 2000 11 40AM S
268. will be blank M Add change or delete a service code This command does two things Merely entering this command will change the display mode used by line two of the Meter Reading screen from Remark to Memo This change is automatic even if no memo number is entered The second action of this command is to allow you to enter a number from the standard comment list at the Service code prompt This number will then be displayed next to the letter M on line three of the Meter Reading screen and the comment itself will appear on line two of the screen that is it will be shown there until you switch to the Remark display mode 228 If the account already had a service memo number it will be replaced by the new number Typing in something that is not a valid comment number or just pressing ENTER without typing anything will return you to the Meter Reading screen without changing the account The main difference between remarks and service memos is in how they are treated by the host computer Service memos are printed on the reports but are not otherwise saved in any way Remarks are made a permanent part of the account s header record P Move to the previously displayed account This command is similar to but not the same as the B command The B command allows you to move sequentially through the list of accounts in the order that they are stored in the hand unit The P command takes you directly
269. with 100 000 accounts It can be used as a stand alone system or interface directly with the IMS General Ledger and Inventory Work Order system It can be used to bill water sewer electricity gas plus any number of other fees or assessments and interfaces with the IMS handheld meter readers in addition to third party touch read wands Packed with reports this system has the winning combination of capabilities and ease of use you won t find elsewhere Only one instance of Utility Billing is allowed running on a single workstation There is a stand alone utility UTIL EXE made available only to qualified users who understand the risks involved It is a collection of utilities that are one time utilities written for a specific problem Resource sharing among different workstations is a separate issue The resource shared in that case is network bandwidth and database service and is dependent on the server speed and number of stations in use Release notes and supplemental documents are available in a Windows help file format within the program itself System Requirements Installation of Updates Windows Basics for 95 98 NT Users 6 Hard disk with 10 MB free disk space Microsoft Windows 95 or Windows NT 3 5 or higher Windows 32 bit environment only A 16 bit version will be available on request for a limited time to accommodate users still using the Windows 3 X environment VGA graphics and monitor Any pointing de
270. wn and Over columns adjust themselves accordingly Press the OK Button when finished Note The various values of the user fields in the main Customer browse window are tabulated by the same background process that counts the number of active and inactive customers in the file Edit Consumption Report Format General List Filters Detail Record Data Field 1 of 32 Category Field Name Over Address Service Name Address 1 020 Address Service Notes Address Service Parcel Service Route Number Service State Service Street Addr Select Position Reject Insert Change Delete Printing Layout Detail Top Margin Down visible 0 04044 0 080 Yes Horizontal Space 0 100 4 Vertical Space 0 020 Address Service Consumed Prior Next V 130 If the consumption report is printed before this tabulation is complete you may not see all the values of the user fields in the selection tables The breakdown option by a user field is not available if no name has been assigned to the field in Setup Configuration in the Index Keys Tab This report has an option to include duplicate meters If this option is checked the meter records should have the installed and removed dates filled in as appropriate to assure accuracy in reporting the number of meters in service as of a specific date Consumption will generally be accurate even if these fields are not filled
271. wo choices both of which are shown To change the Current mode 2 default direction vector type in the new letter and New direction _ press ENTER To leave it unchanged press ENTER aaa When ENTER is used at the Meter Reading screen to go to the next account the default direction vector determines which direction next is Note that the explicit F and B keys will always take you forward or backward through the account list regardless of how the default direction vector is set This vector determines the direction of traverse only when a direction must be assumed rather than explicitly stated F screen will bring up this sub menu There are only B Backward Sensus pit probe screens There are several screens that you will see only Data received now when attempting to read the meters electronically by searching for acct way of a pit probe gun This first screen appears Meter lt METER gt only after the pit probe has successfully transmitted Reading lt READING gt the meter data to the hand unit A four note victory 213 beep will be played when this screen appears If the transmission was not successful a warning beep will sound and this second screen will appear Message incomplete There are two likely causes of an incomplete message Please try reading A loose cable or an attempt to electronically read the meter again the next next meter before the previous reading has T
272. y Button Print Cash Receipts Report Go to Standard Reports Cash Receipts Report Once you have the payments entered you may choose to print a Receipts Report The billing cycle selection is active when printing the refund pending report and printing checks Additionally the pending refund report header lists the billing cycle selections Users should be aware that the basis for refunding credit balances is the Account Number Range and Billing Cycle That is if an account qualifies on this basis and has a credit balance it will be refunded whether or not the account has a deposit flagged for refund 116 Select Accounts for Refunding Go to Activities Refund Processing Select Accounts for Refunding Accounts may be flagged for deposit refund based on the last time a bill was paid after the late date even if late charges are not levied The first entry in the Charge Filter box is labeled Last Late Payment Ifa date is filled in the refund selection process will use a different selection criterion Instead of selecting based on no charges billed in the selected categories since the specified date it will be based on no payments after the late date for the billing cycle since the specified date If a date is entered for the Last Late Payment line any other dates that may be entered for charge categories will be ignored The late date for the current billing cycle will be used thruout the survey period Users who change the la
273. you decide upon the different levels of access the individual users may have There are as many levels of security for your program as you want to create All security profiles should be reviewed after each release is installed because of system setup changes 16 Any procedures that allow changing a data file are in the Utility Billing main menu where they are subject to security settings Ubutil exe may safely be made available to all users The utilities in the main program are in the Utility menu and require Supervisor access to run You may change these To add anew profile press the Insert Button You may at any time if you have choose a name for the profile and then choose which ade beanie files may be accessed by that t f profile T changing security y TAE PROT PEE a information Typically Change the level of access for the individual folder just only a supervisor does click on it hit the Change Access Level Button and a screen will pop up Select the Make Any Changes there You may change these at any time if you have the level of access to changing security information Typically only a supervisor does this Browse Security Profiles Hame Profile Mame H Frofile Mame Record 1 of 1 Insert _ change Delete Close Remember that security To change all folders to the same access level press the profile changes take Change All Access Levels and it will do it for you effect the next time l

Utility Billing Manual - Information Management Services

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