One of the primary activities that municipalities are involved in is the charging and receiving of municipal rates and tariffs. It is unusual for a property in a town or city to be free of such charges. The local authority then needs to send bills to residents every month and also take the monies paid to them. Their utility bill software therefore needs to be able to handle these tasks.
There are certain issues involved in this area of activity. First, the bills need to be issued, and this, in turn, relates to several factors. One of the most common urban jokes is about incorrect amounts on municipal accounts. A water charge of millions of dollars makes you laugh but, actually, it's not as funny as it sounds. Accuracy is essential in issuing the paperwork.
Then again, significant urban settlements may house populations of up to several millions. The municipal database thus has the accompanying number of records or entries, and so its software needs to have the capacity to accommodate this volume of records. These are municipal accounts, so they are updated at least once a month, or on an ongoing basis.
Second, the issue of non-payment arises in some cases. This is a common problem in municipal accounting and as such the software should be able to handle it too. Some residents cannot pay, due to indigence, while others simply refuse to, for whatever reason they may have. If the software cannot reliably detect non-payment, it is obviously not suitable.
Concerning the actual physical paperwork, i. E. The bills that are sent to the residents, this should be acceptable to them. Where a town or city has a linguistically diverse population, the paperwork needs to be sensitive to that. Sometimes, a bill in more than one language is sufficient, but in other towns or cities it is necessary to issue the bills in more than one language, depending on the recipient. The software should be designed to include more than one language where this is an issue.
Staying with language, some residents are either not literate or have only a very low level of literacy. This does not imply that they are low-income earners, either, so it is not a reliable indication of what area or suburb they reside in. They may be professionals or trained workmen, so there is no automatic indication that they stay in the poor suburbs or that they are themselves poor. The bill therefore needs to be very basic in its language, and simple to understand. Where the entire population receives a document, this is always an issue and it should be reflected in the software.
The bill itself should be easy to analyze. It should have an open, simple layout that shows the important amounts and dates, even to a person who is not used to assessing such documents or who has a low level of literacy.
Inaccuracies in statements are embarrassing to the municipality, and non-payment is a serious threat to the budget. Municipal software needs to address both of these issues. At the same time, the municipal administration presents it with thousands of users and millions of entries, so it should be as easy to use as possible.
There are certain issues involved in this area of activity. First, the bills need to be issued, and this, in turn, relates to several factors. One of the most common urban jokes is about incorrect amounts on municipal accounts. A water charge of millions of dollars makes you laugh but, actually, it's not as funny as it sounds. Accuracy is essential in issuing the paperwork.
Then again, significant urban settlements may house populations of up to several millions. The municipal database thus has the accompanying number of records or entries, and so its software needs to have the capacity to accommodate this volume of records. These are municipal accounts, so they are updated at least once a month, or on an ongoing basis.
Second, the issue of non-payment arises in some cases. This is a common problem in municipal accounting and as such the software should be able to handle it too. Some residents cannot pay, due to indigence, while others simply refuse to, for whatever reason they may have. If the software cannot reliably detect non-payment, it is obviously not suitable.
Concerning the actual physical paperwork, i. E. The bills that are sent to the residents, this should be acceptable to them. Where a town or city has a linguistically diverse population, the paperwork needs to be sensitive to that. Sometimes, a bill in more than one language is sufficient, but in other towns or cities it is necessary to issue the bills in more than one language, depending on the recipient. The software should be designed to include more than one language where this is an issue.
Staying with language, some residents are either not literate or have only a very low level of literacy. This does not imply that they are low-income earners, either, so it is not a reliable indication of what area or suburb they reside in. They may be professionals or trained workmen, so there is no automatic indication that they stay in the poor suburbs or that they are themselves poor. The bill therefore needs to be very basic in its language, and simple to understand. Where the entire population receives a document, this is always an issue and it should be reflected in the software.
The bill itself should be easy to analyze. It should have an open, simple layout that shows the important amounts and dates, even to a person who is not used to assessing such documents or who has a low level of literacy.
Inaccuracies in statements are embarrassing to the municipality, and non-payment is a serious threat to the budget. Municipal software needs to address both of these issues. At the same time, the municipal administration presents it with thousands of users and millions of entries, so it should be as easy to use as possible.
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