You're Missing Out! -Offsite Storage Facility

Nowadays, many organizations backup their data at an offsite, online storage facility. Data can still be maintained, managed, and backed up remotely. It is a simple service that has vastly beneficial effects on all organizations in all industries.

Here are some of the top reasons for using an online storage facility today and how USTI’s service can benefit you:

1.       Cost- Backing up your data isn’t always affordable when you consider the cost of any equipment needed to do so. Let’s also not neglect the amount of time it takes to manually complete routine backups. Online storage services cut back much of the cost associated with these traditional backup methodologies for a low annual fee (roughly a dollar a day).

2.       Invisibility and Accessibility- Offsite storage is invisible. There is no physical presence, it doesn’t take up any workspace. Imagine transferring hundreds of files, gigabytes of data from your desktop, laptop, mobile devices into an online storage and accessing those files remotely!

3.       Security- When we talk about all the files your organization is going to store, you definitely need to know that those files are secure anywhere online. Storing confidential or sensitive information in the offsite facility is often more secure than storing it locally, especially for businesses. Data is encrypted both during transmission and while at rest with online storage services, ensuring no unauthorized users can retrieve your files.

4.       Automation- A top issue most businesses have is the failure to follow through with backing up files onto their internal servers, which can be an abundantly long process depending on how many files you have. The USTI “jUSTIncase Remote Backup Service” easily takes this tedious step, and automates it.

5.       Recovery- Knowing now that you have backup versions of your uploaded files, you can easily restore your lost files in the event of a catastrophic data loss. It takes almost NO TIME to restore lost files.

6.       Support- With USTI’s jUSTIncase Remote Backup service you will be working with a superior support staff that is familiar with the asyst software. They can quickly you restore your data and get you operational if you do experience a computer crash.

If your organization is considering an offsite storage, reach us at Lisa.Bush@UnitedSysTech.com today and ask about USTI’s jUSTIncase Remote Backup Service.  It’s time to make a significant impact on your organization! Your data is too important not to consider this service!

Cloud-Based Utility Billing

3 Reasons to Choose a Cloud-Based Utility Billing System for Your Municipality

When it comes to utility billing systems, there are lots of options out there. However, not all of those options will be able to adequately meet the needs of municipalities. A municipality needs to have complete faith that the system it’s using for utility billing is accurate and easy to use. Cloud-based utility billing software can offer these features. If your local government is looking for a municipal software that is easy-to-use, USTI is here to help by providing top-quality cloud-based fund accounting software.

1. Spend Less

One of the best reasons for your municipality to choose a cloud-based utility billing system is that you don’t ever have to worry about spending money to upgrade to better hardware or software. Trying to keep up with changes in hardware and software can be costly for anyone, and with limited budgets, municipalities don’t have the money to waste on continual upgrades. Fortunately, choosing the cloud-based utility billing system offered by USTI means that you can cut back on funds wasted through hardware and software upgrades. There’s nothing to download. It’s simply an on-demand application that will help you make utility billing a simple process.

2. Get More

Another reason that you should consider using a cloud-based utility billing system for your municipality is that you can really get more from these programs than you can from those that are tied to your computers.  With cloud-based billing software, you won’t have to worrying about backing up data or network problems. Instead, you’ll be able to focus solely on what you do best—serving your customers. When you’re not busying worrying about whether your billing software is going to come through for you, you’ll have a much easier time taking care of the other important issues affecting your municipality.

3. Access Anywhere

Another reason that your municipality should consider cloud-based utility billing software is that’s its accessible from anywhere. With software that you have to install on computers, there’s a great limit in when your staff are able to use it. Outside of normal business hours or on days out of the office, staff members don’t have the access that they need. However, with cloud-based utility billing software, your staff members will be able to use the software no matter where they are or what time it is. This can be a great benefit during emergencies or during times of office reorganization. Being able to access this service from anywhere will give you more freedom to better serve your customers and meet their needs.

If you’re in search of an easier process for utility billing for your municipality, you can turn to USTI for solutions. It’s our goal to make utility billing easier for you, so don’t hesitate to call us today to learn more!  www.asystol.com

Best Practices for Organizations That Bill Utilities

Billing utilities can come with its fair share of challenges, but that doesn't mean that billing utilities in a straightforward, stress-free manner isn't possible. In truth, there are some easy ways for organizations that bill utilities to improve their performance and ensure that those they serve are being billed accurately and fairly. With the right utility billing software and some knowledge of best practices, it’s possible for organizations to make the process of handling utility billing a breeze. USTI  offers a wide range of software-as-a-service solutions and desktop solutions that can help make billing utilities an easy task.

 

   Collect Good Data

For organizations that bill utilities, one of the most important best practices out there is to always collect accurate consumption data. When it comes to billing utilities of any type (water, electric or gas), it is essential to have accurate readings from all of your metered services. Municipalities need to be able to collect data from multiple meters and to do so quickly. Gathering the readings electronically is the most accurate and economic way to gather the readings. Thus eliminating the room for human error on gathering the readings and human error on entering the readings into the billing software. Not all utility software on the market has the ability to integrate with radio read equipment, satellite or handheld units, so it’s an important consideration to make when reviewing solutions. The more data that your software is able to collect electronically, the smoother the billing process will be for your organization.
 
      Provide Access to Account History
 
If you’re responsible for billing utilities, another best practice is to make sure that you have complete open access to account history for all of your customers. When audits arise or customers have questions or complaints, it will be necessary for you to look at account history and be able to provide as much detail information as possible. Unlimited history is the best, you don’t want to have to tell the customer you can only provide 12 months of billing, consumption, adjustments and payment history. You also want to be able to quickly and easily reprint a bill or print history for any date range.  When you have the use of reliable utility billing software, accessing account history will be a simple, swift process. Your customers will feel confident in your ability to bill and collect for the services.
 
    Know Your Customers
 
Although using software for utility billing can streamline the process, it doesn't mean that the human element will be taken out of the work that you do. In the end, you’ll still be serving customers, and it’s a best practice to know as much about your customers as you possibly can. The more you know, the better you’ll be able to help them. With the software-as-a-service option or desktop solution offered by USTI , you’ll be able to easily collect and store information about the customers that you serve. You can even attach electronic documents to the database such as emails, letters or pictures that pertain to the customer. When you have to deal with those customers, you’ll be able to look at all of their information including service orders and provide them with the best possible service.  To learn more about your options for utility billing software, get in touch with  USTI  today!
 

Is eCommerce Right for My Small Organization?

Making the switch to eCommerce may not be the right choice for all organizations, but for small organizations eCommerce can be a great solution with a number of different benefits. If you’re looking to streamline your organization and ensure that it’s running both effectively and efficiently, then eCommerce is something that you should consider. If the payment transactions your organization makes on a daily basis are taking up lots of your time and you are getting requests to use credit cards and you currently don’t offer and are tired of saying no, then eCommerce can be an excellent addition.

 Ø Saving Time

For most small organizations, time is not something that can easily be spared. In many cases, there are a limited number of employees and a limited amount of time for all business responsibilities and interactions to get completed. As such, wasting time handling payments in person is something that many organizations want to limit. eCommerce, because it is inherently both quick and easy, can really provide small organizations with a way to save their valuable time, so that it can be devoted elsewhere. Let your customers do your data entry for you! Your office is essentially open for payments 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

 Ø Saving Money

Another reason why eCommerce is right for small organizations is that it can help to save money. The physical process of handling and processing payments on-ground can be costly, especially if it’s a slower process that monopolizes the time and attention of many employees. With eCommerce, transactions can take place over the Internet, freeing up employees in your small organization to handle other duties and responsibilities. 

 Ø Integration

With an integrated eCommerce solution, that is the best of both worlds. Your customers are happy that you offer an option to use a credit card and if your eCommerce solution is integrated with your back-end software (utility billing, courts and tax billing) then it is a big win for your organization. Your customers are essentially doing the data entry for you and you get your money typically the next business day. Most integration solutions provide reports so that you can easily reconcile the receipt of money to the transactions posted.

 Ø Credit Card Charges – who pays the fee?

Another important question is who pays the credit card processing fees? When looking for a solution your organization should determine if it is better for the customer to pay the credit card fee or if your organization should use an agency fee module where your organization absorbs the credit card fees as a part of doing business.  There are valid arguments on both sides however most municipalities opt to have their customers pay the convenience fee.

Moving to an eCommerce solution can be quick and easy task if you select the right vendor. If you’re a small organization thinking about making the move to eCommerce, then get in touch with USTI. We have eCommerce solutions that are integrated with our existing applications and also to organizations that are not using our software but want to offer payments on their website.  

3 Reasons to Choose a Cloud-Based Utility Billing System for Your Municipality

When it comes to utility billing systems, there are lots of options out there. However, not all of those options will be able to adequately meet the needs of municipalities. A municipality needs to have complete faith that the system it’s using for utility billing is accurate and easy to use. Cloud-based utility billing software can offer these features. If your local government is looking for a municipal software that is easy-to-use, USTI is here to help by providing top-quality cloud-based fund accounting software.

   1. Spend Less

One of the best reasons for your municipality to choose a cloud-based utility billing system is that you don’t ever have to worry about spending money to upgrade to better hardware or software. Trying to keep up with changes in hardware and software can be costly for anyone, and with limited budgets, municipalities don’t have the money to waste on continual upgrades. Fortunately, choosing the cloud-based utility billing system offered by USTI means that you can cut back on funds wasted through hardware and software upgrades. There’s nothing to download. It’s simply an on-demand application that will help you make utility billing a simple process.

   2. Get More

Another reason that you should consider using a cloud-based utility billing system for your municipality is that you can really get more from these programs than you can from those that are tied to your computers.  With cloud-based billing software, you won’t have to worrying about backing up data or network problems. Instead, you’ll be able to focus solely on what you do best—serving your customers. When you’re not busying worrying about whether your billing software is going to come through for you, you’ll have a much easier time taking care of the other important issues affecting your municipality.

   3. Access Anywhere 

Another reason that your municipality should consider cloud-based utility billing software is that’s its accessible from anywhere. With software that you have to install on computers, there’s a great limit in when your staff are able to use it. Outside of normal business hours or on days out of the office, staff members don’t have the access that they need. However, with cloud-based utility billing software, your staff members will be able to use the software no matter where they are or what time it is. This can be a great benefit during emergencies or during times of office reorganization. Being able to access this service from anywhere will give you more freedom to better serve your customers and meet their needs.

If you’re in search of an easier process for utility billing for your municipality, you can turn to USTI for solutions. It’s our goal to make utility billing easier for you, so don’t hesitate to call us today to learn more!

True Fund Accounting or Software Designed for Small Businesses: What’s Right for Your Municipality?

Although accountability and financial management are important for businesses in every sector, these issues are critical for municipalities. With a commitment to the public, municipalities must ensure that they’re financial actions are in the public’s best interest.  To ensure that your municipality is as accurate and transparent as possible when it comes to financial management, you should choose some accounting software. Before you can make a selection, you need to consider the differences between the two different types of accounting software.

What Is Commercial Accounting Software?

Commercial accounting software is designed to measure a company’s product and performance in terms of gain and loss of profit. Although small businesses have to follow certain tax regulations, in the end, their profits are their business. Most of the reporting done by small businesses is only for investors. It makes sense, then, for such businesses to use accounting software that’s going to inform them about how profitable their business is from day to day.

What Is Fund Accounting Software?

Fund accounting software, on the other hand, does not emphasize profitability. Instead, fund accounting software is more in tune with accountability and is used by most non-profit organizations and government organizations. Fund accounting software allows municipalities to keep a good record of how their money was spent rather than focusing on how it was earned, like most small businesses do. When financial reporting is done by non-profit organizations, it’s usually in order to comply with laws, so multiple audiences see these reports.

Making Your Choice

As you can see, commercial accounting and fund accounting software programs are focused on two very different things. As a municipality, you should think about what your focus is and realize that the point of all the financial transactions your municipality conducts is not to gain profit. As your municipality is more interested in accountability, it will be your responsibility to choose software that’s going to give you a fair, accurate picture of your organizations expenses. Fund accounting software is specifically designed to provide such a portrait, and it’s a smart choice for municipalities everywhere.

If you’re looking for easy-to-use fund accounting software for local governments, USTI is here to help. We offer financial management solutions that will allow you to keep track of your municipality’s finances in an orderly and accurate manner. Our accounting software is either located on your local desktop or cloud-based, so it can be accessed anytime or anywhere, making it easy to stay on top of your financial situation at all times.