Gainesville Regional Utilities

Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU) recently searched for a new cashiering system to collect all types of utility payments. The utility—which provides electric, gas, water, sewer and telecommunications/Internet services in and around Gainesville, Florida—had adopted Microsoft Windows NT Workstation as their standard operating system. They needed a cashiering solution that would support this environment and allow them to interface their customer information system, which ran on a DEC VAX computer.

Utility Customer Accounts Manager Marshall Donaldson said, "We wanted our new system to be able to interface with our existing host system in an on-line basis and be easy to use. The new system needed to meet our baseline criteria, and we needed to feel like we were getting partnered up with a company that we would want to be with in the future. We selected SI because they had a reputation for doing what they said they would do and taking care of their customers. SI was able to demonstrate their ability to provide a working system, meeting present needs and future flexibility."

The new system, SI´s CASHIER for Windows, was installed on PCs running Microsoft NT Workstation 4.0 and version 6.2 of Attachmate´s Personal Client terminal emulation software, which provided access to the DEC host computer via TCP/IP. According to Marshall, the system is faster and more information is available to the cashier. "Many things that are incorporated in the system that take one key stroke to do took more key strokes on our older system. So that contributes to the cashiers being more efficient and being able to handle a greater number of customers," he said.

More Cashiering Options

CASHIER for Windows also allows the cashiers to take and authorize credit-card payments. The system includes a magnetic stripe reader for faster input and an automatic authorization process through the LAN for faster approvals. Credit card slips are also printed to record the cardholder´s signature.

The new configuration also supports greater flexibility. Serving a college town means a large percentage of GRU´s customer base changes every year. "Rush" weeks, when students return to school, can now be handled with additional cashiering workstations at remote locations. Since each workstation operates independently of others, establishing a remote collection site is as simple as setting up a PC and a printer. Many features can be changed and new requirements satisfied by changing code tables and layouts—without needing programmer assistance.

Improved Operations Through Sound Guidance

Marshall summed up their experience by stating, "We are just tickled to death for what it (CASHIER for Windows) is doing for us. We were able to do a training program and get our cashiers up and running much faster than we expected. The SI team was very responsive. They knew their stuff, and they were able to help guide us in the direction to help ourselves."

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