[OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Billing notices?

Tue Mar 13 12:25:02 EDT 2018

Dawn,

Thank you for this great information!     That sounds like a workable process, but it sure would be nice to have this occur with the Evergreen software instead.   It sounds like you do a great deal of work to make this happen!     Why can’t it be automated?

   Thanks!

Jennifer

From: Open-ils-general [mailto:open-ils-general-bounces at list.georgialibraries.org] On Behalf Of Dawn Fritz
Sent: Tuesday, March 13, 2018 10:53 AM
To: Evergreen Discussion Group
Subject: Re: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Billing notices?

Hi,

We are relatively new to Evergreen, this past October was our start time. With our former system a Balance Notice was automatically generated to send to patrons who had fines which would cause them to lose privileges. With the help of Elizabeth Davis, we created a Report which gives us a list of patrons who have had the Alert added to their record saying that they've reached the Fine Threshold. By adding a filter to say when the Alert was added, and having the report run daily, we can then send a Balance Notice to patrons each day. We have a Google Doc set up for our Notice and we just change the name, address, etc. for each new patron. The amount the patron owes is another filter, and sometimes it's not correct in the report. That's not a problem for us since we're already going through the list to choose which patrons get a Notice.

If you'd like more details, I'll be glad to try to share what we use.

Dawn Fritz - Circulation Manager
Bethlehem Area Public Library
Bethlehem Pa

On Tue, Mar 13, 2018 at 10:24 AM, Walz, Jennifer <jlwalz at asbury.edu<mailto:jlwalz at asbury.edu>> wrote:
Terran,

Thanks!   That gets a bit closer.

   I am TRYING to use that trigger for the notices.   It seems like a good fit, but I don’t see that it is working properly.  So there must be something I am missing.    The trigger or hook or something is not right.

  And for clarification to everyone – I don’t mean billing for lost or damaged items.   I mean for FINES.   Fines that have exceeded a threshold or amount.   Fines that have been on an account for a certain period of time.   HOW does everyone deal with this?     Does everyone just let the amount sit there?     I know that there is a way to limit their circulation functions or other things when the amount reaches a limit, but wouldn’t it be nice to NOTIFY people when that happens before they try to come in to check out books?    It would also be very effective to notify patrons on some kind of time line so that they don’t let the amount sit and never get paid.   To be more clear – we have a transitory population – at an academic institution.   We cannot let our students leave campus without taking care of their bills – especially those over any limits we set.   It would be GREAT to have the notices go out one last time just prior to the end of each semester.   (our previous system had things like this and I confess I don’t know why this is so difficult in Evergreen)

  Why can’t notices be triggered by a specific date?   Or a relative date?

Thanks for any information anyone can supply!

Jennifer

From: Open-ils-general [mailto:open-ils-general-bounces at list.georgialibraries.org<mailto:open-ils-general-bounces at list.georgialibraries.org>] On Behalf Of Terran McCanna
Sent: Tuesday, March 13, 2018 10:10 AM
To: Evergreen Discussion Group
Subject: Re: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Billing notices?

Hi Jennifer,
These are the notices we send out:
https://pines.georgialibraries.org/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=circ:notification-wording
We do not send any notices when a patron hits a total bill amount threshold.
There is an an action trigger hook for penalty.PATRON_EXCEEDS_FINES but I have not tested it to see if it will work for what you want to do.

Terran McCanna
PINES Program Manager
Georgia Public Library Service
1800 Century Place, Suite 150 <https://maps.google.com/?q=1800+Century+Place,+Suite+150++%0D%0AAtlanta,+GA+30345&entry=gmail&source=g>
Atlanta, GA 30345
404-235-7138<tel:(404)%20235-7138>
tmccanna at georgialibraries.org<mailto:tmccanna at georgialibraries.org>

On Tue, Mar 13, 2018 at 9:58 AM, Walz, Jennifer <jlwalz at asbury.edu<mailto:jlwalz at asbury.edu>> wrote:
All –

So far I have received no response from anyone regarding billings.    Are you telling me that NO LIBRARY out in Evergreen land ever sends out a bill to their patrons?

  Surely this is not true.    And then, if you DO send out a notice, what form does it take and how do you do it from Evergreen?     What is the trigger?   What is the notice language like?   What is the frequency?   WHEN does it escalate to a collections agency?     How do you handle that with a notification?

I have had at least 2 other people contact me to ask how this is done.   Surely there is a need for this out there.

Can anyone help?

Thanks!

Jennifer
--------------------------------------------------
Jennifer Walz, MLS - Head of Research & Distance Services
Kinlaw Library -  Asbury University
One Macklem Drive, Wilmore, KY 40390
859-858-3511 ext. 2269<tel:(859)%20858-3511>
jlwalz at asbury.edu<mailto:jlwalz at asbury.edu>

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