The City of Antioch and Progressive Hosting

In an effort to cut costs and relieve overburdened IT departments of managing

secure software and database systems, many cities are considering remote hosting for their software solutions. It is unfortunate many web applications are still greatly lacking in the necessary features to run be an efficient choice for finance departments to consider remote hosting. LicenseTrack and the QuickServe Suite of products from PSI have now been proven to accommodate remote hosting!

Remote hosting removes the burden to City's information Technology departments to maintain and upgrade hardware including servers, and software including Windows and SQL and other software which would otherwise be hosted by the City.  Other considerations including the City maintaining their own PCI compliance must also be evaluated.

The City of Antioch recently worked with Progressive Solutions Inc to move their databases and software systems offsite to PSI and run them remotely from the city. Without having to sacrifice any existing functionality in their software system including the ability to directly scan 2 page color documents directly into LicenseTrack, they were able to complete this move in June of 2013.

In an effort to further reduce staff burden the City of Antioch also purchased and had PSI implement Web Renewals with great success.  Special thanks to both Stacy Lucchesi (Executive of Information Technology) and Josephine Castro for their contributions in making this project a successful one.

A partial list of immediate City benefits:
• Reduced IT burden
• Reduced City risk
• No receiving or opening mail if a customer pays via the web, versus via mail (saved staff time and saved trees!)
• No waiting on customer at the counter a customer pays via the web versus via walk-in, check or otherwise (saved staff time)
• No underpayments allowed via web, all required information IS REQUIRED (no extra handling time for underpayments, missing info)
• More compliance as there are now more (convenient) ways to pay (less time required to enforce)
• No going to the bank, & money available quickly (saved staff time)
• No manual entry of payments (saved staff time)
• No potential "lost checks" (whether by the PO or City staff) when a customer instead pays via web (more saved staff time)
• No bounced checks (saved staff time)
• All freed staff time can be used for further enforcement = even more revenue for City
• If our Web Payments Module cost is still an issue, we can implement in logical stages to keep within your budget

Some Benefits to Citizens
• Improved Citizen Service/convenience (their time savings)
• Reduced Traffic Congestion
• Reduced Auto Emissions
• Aid the Disabled business  customer Community
• Their desire to "Go Green" enabled by the City

Case Study: City of Pleasanton

The City of Pleasanton staff has now successfully utilized Progressive Solutions®

LicenseTrack™ business licensing application for over a year. Their prior system was undergoing obsolescence, an expensive upgrade, and lengthy beta testing.  The sheer number of tax payers made it desirable to streamline management of this tax function and simultaneously reduce staffing requirements.

After exploring what other cities used and reviewing PSI’s offering, along with over a decade of highest ratings by independent surveys, city staff were convinced that Progressive Solutions’s LicenseTrack™ was the obvious choice.  Staff may instantly identify outstanding tax periods and follow up appropriately either with phone calls or form letters. Calculation of penalties, interest and administrative fees is performed automatically upon the click of button.

LicenseTrack™, the business licensing system from Progressive Solutions® has enabled the City to obtain answers and make operating changes without programming or additional cost. Upgrades and minimal report customizations are included in the annual support fee so that ad hoc requirements do not require additional midyear budgeting. Their Web Renewals, Web Applications and automated Revenue Enhancement rounded out the ensemble, bringing Pleasanton into the 21st century!

Monterey Park Saves Big on Credit Card Processing

The City of Monterey Park went live recently with our multi-track Credit Card Processing. Multi-Track Credit Card processing (part of the Progressive Solutions Credit Engine) allows the City to take advantage of any discounts by segregating revenue. Credit Card companies typically offer lower rates for processing Utility Payments, which can provide savings of thousands of dollars each year.

PSI Virtual Opportunities

To ensure the lowest costs to our customers, to facilitate the greenest footprint possible and to maintain security for both PSI and customer operations, PSI offers support using virtual California offices in Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Los Angeles counties. PSI encourages our customers to consider using the PSI software in similar configurations to reap similar benefits.
We thank you all for the opportunity to be of service!

PSI welcomes Westfield, IN to the PSI fold!

The City of Westfield selected PSI's UtilityExplorer™ as the most viable option. PSI and city staff worked long hours to ensure the data was just as city management desired. When functionality, flexibility and top notch service are important, PSI is the only option!

Oakland Posts 4,800 Payments in One Day!

According to Revenue Manager, Steve Bullivant, on March 2nd,2011 Oakland posted approximately 4,800 payments to PSI's LicenseTrack by importing payments with PSI's lockbox import. These payments were the highest single day number of transactions processed to date and totaled approximately $5.2 Million dollars.

If you wish to make your operation more efficient, PSI is ready to help!
Our goal is to make you and your operation look your best!

Hemet's credit card acceptance now saves Time & Money

It used to take 2 persons 45 minutes per day to accept phone credit card payments.
Now with PSI's efficient Payment Connector it takes only seconds to accomplish the same task using CashierCentral. The fact the second staffer is NO LONGER REQUIRED makes a good situation even better.
Utility payments were previously subject to an almost 3% fee. Now with the PSI software those same credit card transactions quality for a flat 75 cent interchange fee.
Previously payments were accepted with the banks credit card hardware and then reentered at least one more time into the system that was being paid. Now with PSI one single entry is all that is required. The best feature according to Donna Rowley, Hemet Accounting Supervisor, is that when swiping a credit card, the name is automatically entered into the transaction history without additional key strokes.
Hemet has taken a quantum leap to reap the benefits of technology and plans to go even further by sending utility bills electronically and allowing residents to pay those bills via the internet.