RE: [IUG] ODUE DATE is not date of bill

["Ericsson, Paul" <PEricsson at onconcord dot com>]

Folks --

Somewhat related to the question: 

We recently noticed a problem, and it is only by coincidence that we
noticed it at all. Stated another way, it is a spooky problem because we
do not know how often it is happening. We only stumble upon it every now
and then when we are pulling up online the accounts for patrons that
have received a bill notice.  We are on Rel.2006.

The specific problem is that when we print notices for materials that
have hit the bill stage, sometimes not all of the items that should be
billed, actually are billed. The other day we had a patron with an older
notice, and the notice said there were two items billed. When we looked
at the account online, there was a third item, checked out to the patron
on the same day, the same itype, the same loan rule.  But this item did
not get set to billed.  Finally about 7 weeks later the item
automatically was finally set to bill.   We do not know why it did not
get set to billed at the correct time, nor do we know why it finally got
set to billed 7 weeks later.

We've documented this twice and have an open call ticket with III
Helpdesk.  Again, the spooky thing is that we do not know how many
others are also not getting set to billed.  As I am writing this, I
think I am seeing what the create list query might be that will pull up
a list of affected items.  So, thanks for letting me "think out loud"
with you'all.  If I get a chance today, I might fiddle with queries to
see if I can document other instances of this.  But regardless of the
quantity of instances, the fact that the billing function is buggy
leaves us very nervous.  It is a function that has far too much public
relations surrounding it.

Thanks

Paul
	___________________________________________

	Paul Ericsson
	Automation Coordinator
	Concord Public Library    http://www.onconcord.com
	45 Green St.     Concord, NH 03301     603 230-3697
	pericsson at onconcord dot com
	___________________________________________
		

   

-----Original Message-----
From: innopac-bounces at innopacusers dot org
[mailto:innopac-bounces at innopacusers dot org] On Behalf Of Theron Stock
Sent: Wednesday, December 06, 2006 8:11 PM
To: innopac at innopacusers dot org
Subject: Re: [IUG] ODUE DATE is not date of bill

Hi Phil,

We would have liked to have a batch process for our bills (like we did
on our previous system) but we've had to adapt and change our processes.
Now we automatically bill everyone.  Since most of the notices are sent
email it doesn't cost us much to print and mail the rest.  For
collections we run Statement of Charges (SOC)  at the first of each
month.  We use a review file as the source that include patrons who owe
>$100 and have received a bill thirty to sixty days earlier.  The SOCs
are printed and mailed.  Patrons are told that they have fifteen days to
respond.  Patron accounts are updated to note that they have been sent
an SOC.  If they don't respond by the first of the next month we rerun
the list and refer them to our collection agency.

This is kludgy but it is all we came up with to satisfy the requirements
of our management team and our library board.  BTW, running Statements
of Charges doesn't update the number of overdues  like running bills
does.  Takes me two to three hours once a month to complete the process.

Contact me if you'd like more details.

--Theron

Theron Stock
Weber County Library
Website:  www.weberpl.lib.ut.us
Catalog:  http://wclcat.weberpl.lib.ut.us
Email:  tstock at weberpl dot org
"If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we
don't believe in it at all."--Noam Chomsky


>>> Phil Shirley <pshirley at CuyahogaFallsLibrary dot org> 12/4/2006 1:10 PM 
>>> >>>
We print bills for long-overdue items in circ. once a week.  I'm
confused about when the status of the item record changes to "billed" 
and the ODUE DATE gets set.  I had thought that these things happened
when we logged in and ran the bills (once a week), but it seems to be
happening every day, perhaps as soon as an item is eligible to be
billed.  I would sure like to be able to look at an item and be able to
know the date that we sent the bill (especially because we give a patron
10 days after we send a bill before we refer them to Unique Management).

We're on release 2005 Limited Edition.  Can anyone help me?  Did the way
the ODUE DATE works change with some recent release, or perhaps when we
turned on automatic notices (we don't do automatic bills though)?  Is
there an option I could set to make it work the way I want?

Phil
-- 

Phil Shirley
Technology Services Coordinator
Cuyahoga Falls Library
Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio
330-928-2117, ext. 109
pshirley at CuyahogaFallsLibrary dot org
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