Texarkana water utility plans to upgrade billing software

TEXARKANA — Texarkana Water Utilities plans to spend nearly $ 400,000 on new billing software that the agency anticipates will simplify operations, improve customer service and save money.

The upgrade would give customers faster account setups, lower payment fees and facilitate website accessibility by smartphones, said the utility’s finance director, Jim Cornelius.

The change also would improve the agency’s internal process, including shortening from 10 days to 10 minutes the time required to prepare some reports, he said.

Money for the software already has been allocated to the utility’s technology fund, so the cost will not be passed on to customers, he said. The money has been available for seven or eight years, Cornelius said, but the utility wanted to wait until an optimal time for the staff to work on such a time- consuming project.

Working around the current software is no longer an option, and it is time to fully replace the obsolete system, he said.

“It’s 1990s technology that we’re unable to update without going to other versions that cause even more problems. So, we just want to get away from the current software altogether,” Cornelius said.

Continental Utility Solutions Inc. of Jonesboro submitted the winning bid to provide new software, priced at $ 398,410. Texarkana, Texas,’ portion of the cost would be $ 294,524.18.

The purchase must be approved by the Texas- side City Council and the Arkansas- side Board of Directors before the utility can proceed. Installation, conversion and training will take nine to 12 months after that. A Texas- side vote on the proposal is scheduled for April 10. That matter will probably go before the Arkansas- side board on Monday.

Texarkana Water Utilities officials said they think the new software will save the utility more than $ 68,000 a year.

Once the new software is running, the customer fee for paying a water bill by debit card, credit card or electronic check will decrease by 25 cents. The fee for paying online or by phone will decrease by $ 1.50.

Choosing the right software was a extensive process, officials said. A committee invited three companies to demonstrate their software. From them the committee chose the Jonesboro company as its finalist. The committee contacted the Jonesboro company’s customers, who indicated they they were highly satisfied with the product.

Committee members then visited Seguin, Texas, and Brushy Creek, Texas, to observe the software in operation, and finally, Continental Utility Solutions Inc. performed an on- site analysis to determine how the company could best help Texarkana Water Utilities.

The software upgrade probably will necessitate a redesign of Texarkana Water Utilities’ paper bills to make them more readable. The utility’s website is overdue for an update, too, Cornelius said.

“That thing’s caught in the ’ 90s, as well. We’re going to need to be addressing that in this coming year,” he said.