Reliant is currently engaged in a comprehensive project to build an entire suite of applications and server side code to manage a collections agency. As we do with every applicable project, Reliant is leveraging many of its existing business level components to bring the customer proven functionality without the cost of developing it from scratch.
Our customer was previously running their back office using a MS Access Application that became inadequate as their business grew. The customer had to supplement the limited work flow and data storage capabilities of the Access application with paper files, which track the information that Access cannot.
ProSolutions' business involves many different types of correspondence and the Access application only produced a small number of documents necessary for day to day operations. The remaining documents were generated by company staff from word templates. To further complicate this problem, the documents that the Access program produced were created by Access reports. Making any change to their wording or dynamic fields required a significant understanding of Access Reports, which required consultant hours since ProSolutions does not have that skill set in-house.
In addition, ProSolutions tracked all deadlines using a shared outline calendar which had to be manually updated. This approach also proved to be problematic since busy staff sometimes failed to update the Access application, the paper file, and the shared calendar. For example, a staffer may negotiate a payment plan with a debtor and update the Access application and paper file but forget to remove an appointment to call the customer from the shared calendar. The result is that another staffer makes three attempts to reach the debtor only to finally discover that the matter has already been resolved.
Reliant was brought in to consult as to possible solutions to the problem and recommended a two front approach to the problem. Microsoft Access allows very quick and easy development of simple applications but was really only designed to perform these relatively simple tasks. Consequently, as a programmer tries to implement more complicated features such as an integrated scheduling system, the simplicity of the system actually works against him/her and makes the task extremely costly in both time and money. ProSolutions had outgrown a scope where Microsoft Access was an appropriate solution, and Reliant recommended that it be replaced with a .NET 2.0 windows form application.
A windows form application was selected because it would allow a much richer set of preexisting controls and libraries to be leveraged--delivering the functionality needed while offering the best value per hour of programming time. Since the effort to develop the windows form application will take several months, however, Reliant also recommended certain critical fixes to the Access application which would make the several months wait much less painful.
The first contract was signed in November, and Reliant immediately began gathering requirements for the windows form application. At the same time, Reliant programmers began making the short lived changes to the Access application. By the first week of February 2006 the changes to the Access application were complete and Reliant had a design in place for the windows form application.
Development commenced the second weekend of February. To date, the customers have the following functionality deployed to their offices:
- A database built to hold their data running on Microsoft SQL Server, allowing transactional and multi-user queries.
- Click Once deployment: allowing Reliant to “publish” a new version of the client application and have all of the clients automatically update themselves, eliminating the need for IT to go to each workstation and deploy a new version of the application.
- The main client application, which allows them to create and track clients, debtors, and maintain accounts to track charges. Complicated actions like the creation of a new account to be collected are done through intuitive wizards to minimize the retraining ProSolutions' staff will need.
- Comprehensive Auditing system which can be set to record any change to the database. In general, this system will be used to track changes to financial data as well as any table in the database. Using this system, an administrator can see who has changed any value on any account and can retrieve the old values if necessary.
- The client application includes integrated scheduling. If a debtor enters into a payment plan, all scheduled calls to the debtor are automatically removed. Additionally, the system will automatically create appointments for automatic tasks. Any appointment may be clicked through to get at the relevant data. For example, clicking through on an appointment to call a debtor will open the debtors file and bring their information, including contact info, to the screen.
- A Data migration application which enabled Reliant to bring all data from the previously running Access application into the new application within about twenty minutes.
- Automated financial management service which will automatically append fees for recurring charges, calculate interest on principles, and maintain balances owed on each account.
- Integrated Security model using user roles which will allow it to grow to fit almost any security need.
- Automated document generation using word templates. The new software will take MS word templates (which are easily modifiable by company staff) and insert data from the software to automatically generate the documents needed for almost any transaction. This approach is superior because company staff can change the wording of the templates without any programmer support and this will modify the final documents. User accounts have signature files in the database--allowing documents to be legally signed during generation. This system also automatically print the envelopes used for mailing.
The following features are still in development:
- Exporting financial data to integrate with Quickbooks.
- Flexible work flow system. The documents will be created within the context of a work flow system which is modifiable and extensible. The result is that adding a step to the process or allowing a new option to the staffer will require a very small amount of programmer time.
- Custom Reports. Reports are almost always the last thing written because it is helpful to know everything that the system can do before you decide what questions to ask.