Press Release

Telford and Wrekin Council implements fully integrated Income Management system

22 May, Feltham. Telford and Wrekin Council, a Unitary Authority with an annual budget £147 million, has adopted a fully integrated Income Management system, RadiusICON, including multi-channel e-Payments, automated bank reconciliation, cash receipting, and e-returns for controlling miscellaneous income.

Telford and Wrekin Council was created as a new Unitary Authority in April 1998 to take over responsibility for services such as Education, Social Services and Libraries, which had previously been run by Shropshire County Council. The Council is proud to have made a good start on these responsibilities and continues to focus on its vision of creating "a successful and prosperous community for the 21st century providing a high quality of life for the people of Telford and Wrekin."

The Council's strategy is neatly encapsulated on its website, as follows:

"Since becoming a Unitary Authority, Telford & Wrekin has had a clear vision of creating a modern effective organization that is able to work in partnership with the community and respond to changing demands and pressures. It is recognized that use of Information, Communication and Technology is key to achieving that vision. We believe the use of Electronic Service Delivery will make a major contribution to strengthening the local economy, ensuring that the community of Telford & Wrekin has access to the best and most appropriate public services for their needs. Successful implementation of electronic service delivery will be based on a strong customer focus."

To action these aims, the Council has sought to create a modern, 'non-traditional' Local Authority organization, which places great emphasis on integration and co-ordination, partnership working, flexibility, responsiveness to changing needs and empowerment.

The Need

As part of this process of integration and co-ordination, the Council had been looking to replace their existing cash receipting and bank reconciliation system with a fully integrated solution.

According to Dorothy Little, Telford and Wrekin's Cash Management Manager, "RadiusICON was chosen as the only solution which fulfilled these requirements. One of the main benefits it brings is the chance to automate and streamline many of our internal administration procedures. It will also provide the platform for the future introduction of e-Payments which will help us meet our aim of basing electronic service delivery on a strong customer focus. Additionally RadiusICON, having a Microsoft base, fits well into our overall IT strategy."

The Implementation

"A full implementation service has been purchased for all modules with Cash Receipting and Bank Reconciliation modules, being implemented in Phase 1, followed by debit/credit card payments and e-returns, for the control of miscellaneous income, in Phase 2." "

We aim to meet the Government's requirement for Modernising Government and providing citizen centric services through these two phases, followed by a third phase, in Quarter 3 of this year, when e-Payments will be implemented."

"During our Phase 1 testing we have been delighted with the ease with which transactions can be imported, distributed and then automatically reconciled in the Bank Reconciliation module. We are also pleased with the robustness of the cash office processing which means that cashiers can carry on taking cash even if the network is down. Interim cash-up and end of day routines are also much simpler and can be carried out with minimum disruption to other system users. Phase 1 was carried out to a very tight time schedule which put the implementation team under a lot of pressure but the end result has more than justified the angst!"

Editor's Note

Radius is the acknowledged market leader in the supply of software to enable citizens and businesses to pay all their council bills (including council tax, NNDR, rents, service charges, parking fines, etc.). As with all our e-Government systems, Radius' unique e-Payments solution is delivered across multiple channels, i.e. not just the Internet, but also call centres, automated telephone systems (using IVR - Interactive Voice Response), and kiosks. With a high level of take up amongst their citizens, combined with an automated, seamless link to all back office systems, our customers are reporting cost savings and a rapid return on their investment in our e-Payments solutions. RadiusICON is a fully integrated system for cash receipting, Income Management and e-Payments, and is currently installed at over 100 UK authorities.

RadiusICON also includes modules for bank reconciliation, miscellaneous income, e-returns, on-line direct debits, and an e-Payments portal.

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