The enormous difficulties that are faced by municipalities in relation to the non-payment of accounts have resulted in the formation of a joint venture between Integrear Systemflo and Zader Municipal Services to develop the Zeus Credit Management System for municipalities.
"We believe that the combination Integrear`s business process management skills with Zader`s skills in municipal credit management, ensures that municipalities adopting the Zeus Credit Management System will immediately reduce the outstanding debt burden," says Thomas Hill, MD of Integrear Ltd.
The Zeus system has been developed specifically for the municipal market and is the result of an in-depth understanding of municipal practices by Zader Municipal Services, through its involvement in this market since 1997. The system is based on national legislation and guidelines.
The Zeus Credit Management System protects the integrity of data, validates current and historic data, provides a dedicated section to control indigent support and subsidies, and handles the entire legal process surrounding credit control and debt collection.
It is a totally integrated system that empowers the users with all the necessary information with regards to customers including documents, historic information and training, which will enable them to do their work effectively and productively. It also helps to reduce the costs associated with debt collection that is currently incurred by municipalities. Most importantly, the Zeus system supports the pre-payment methods that are currently being implemented by most municipalities. Customers with a long history of defaults, or those that cannot afford to pay for services and have been receiving a subsidy are automatically allocated to pre-payment options.
Some additional features of the system include: Management information, assistance with policies and by-laws, document management and process management. Within the system, certain processes are automated. These include early warnings on final demands that need to be sent out, cut-off and reconnection procedures and the issuing of summonses. Rules are built within the workflow, with timelines and deadlines to ensure that actions are carried out without the need for human intervention. The system may also prompt users to carry out certain tasks that may not be necessarily automated. Deadlines are set on these tasks with the option to automatically escalate the task to a supervisor if the deadline is not met.
Some of the benefits that can be realised from the Zeus system include: efficient debt recovery, therefore reduced debtors, improved customer service and improved cash flow. The municipalities will also be trained in usage and maintenance, which will ensure skills and knowledge transfer to employees. Documents will no longer be lost or misplaced, information retrieval is speeded up using customer account or ID number and staff productivity is improved.
Share
Integrear Ltd is a listed company on the JSE specialising in the provision of IT solutions. The company has four subsidiaries, namely: Integrear Systemflo, provider of document management and process management solutions using internationally leading software, Integrear Abacus, specialist in the provision of automatic timetable generating tools for the tertiary market, and Integrear Indicium, specialist in business intelligence solutions that help enhance decision making and accurate management reporting. The other subsidiary, Integrear Amica, is a joint venture between Integrear and Consulta, focusing on the provision of marketing solutions.
Integrear provides a holistic solution and the relationship with Zader, through the Integrear Systemflo subsidiary, has brought about a new dimension to the provision of software solutions for the municipal market.
Integrear Systemflo
Integrear Systemflo is a provider of process and document management solutions for the banking and financial services market. The company uses eiStream technologies to build customised solutions for companies in this sector. Integrear Systemflo clients include Saambou Bank, Unibank, Fedsure, MTN, Autopage, AIG, Avbob, CUAL, Citadel, Transnet Pension Fund and others. The company has completed over 24 successful local implementations and has also managed to spread its wings to the rest of Africa, by obtaining clients such as The Social Security Commission of Namibia, Bank of Ghana and the Central Bank of Kenya. Integrear Systemflo`s understanding of business process management and document management will definitely play a major role towards the effective functioning of the Zeus Credit Management System.
Zader Municipal Services and Dr Chris Kapp
Zader Municipal Services was established when Dr Chris Kapp first got involved with municipalities on the request of central government in 1997. He was asked to monitor the viability and success of the Masakhane campaign. This was a campaign that was introduced by government to try and encourage the culture of paying for services amongst all South Africans. Dr Kapp completed his doctorate in local government finance, specialising in capital finance. He is also the ex-president of the Institute of Municipal Finance Officers. One of the recent tasks completed for central government is the drafting of a manual on credit control that is to be released to all municipalities shortly. He is also an active participant in policy matters that concern local government.
Zader Municipal Services focuses specifically on the municipal niche market and has a team of very focused employees who are experts in municipal finance, business and institutional processes that concern municipalities. The company`s main focus is to help resuscitate municipalities, with the objective of improving their cash flow. Its experience and expertise with regards to the municipal market, has led to Zader being awarded several projects including that of turning the Matjasberg Municipality (formerly Welkom Municipality) status around from a R80 million deficit to a favourable one in less than a year. Other municipalities that Zader has been involved with include Breede Valley formerly, Worcester and Knysna. Zader has also been involved in successfully providing other municipal services such as monitoring programs, management support programs, financial modelling and forecasting, credit control and debt collection.
Zader has also established partnerships with INCA (Infrastructure Finance Company) a division of the FirstRand Group. The relationship between Zader and Inca will aid municipalities that have defaulted on their loans. INCA will assist them to finance any systems that may needed to be purchased in order to turn their debt situation around.
The main challenges that face municipalities are to recover debt at the lowest possible cost, to ensure proactive monitoring of possible default accounts, to provide early warnings to customers to ensure that defaulting accounts are avoided, to ensure proactive follow up on accounts and to find systems that can assist them in carrying out these tasks. The collaboration of Zader Municipal Services and Integrear Systemflo, to develop the Zeus Credit Management System, will assist municipalities to overcome these challenges and operate more profitably.
Editorial contacts