Summary
The Borough of Chambersburg, a municipal government in Pennsylvania, provides essential utility services like electricity, water, and gas to its residents. However, manual processes, limited self-service options, and an outdated database created inefficiencies that frustrated both residents and employees. Residents lacked convenient ways to manage their accounts, while employees struggled with time-consuming workflows and data inconsistencies.
To address these challenges, the Borough partnered with Fresche Solutions to modernize its utility billing and payment system. Fresche developed a web-based self-service utility billing portal that provides 24/7 access for residents to manage accounts, view usage, and make payments securely. Employees now benefit from a streamlined dashboard that enhances workflows, improves customer support, and ensures data accuracy.
Key Results:
- 24/7 Self-Service Access: Residents can manage accounts, payments, and billing preferences anytime, anywhere.
- Streamlined Employee Workflows: Staff can resolve inquiries and process transactions faster with a modern dashboard.
- Secure, Flexible Payments: The portal supports multiple digital payment methods, including Apple Pay, Google Pay, and PayPal.
- Improved Data Integrity: A restructured database ensures consistent, reliable billing data and preserves historical records.
Company Overview
The Borough of Chambersburg is a local government organization located in Pennsylvania, dedicated to serving its community with essential utility services, including electricity, water, and gas. Operating within the local government and utility services sector, the Borough focuses on delivering reliable public services and enhancing the quality of life for its citizens. They manage electricity, water, and gas distribution for residents, as well as processing payments for services such as parking tickets, snow removal, and noise violation fines.
The Challenge: Manual Processes and Outdated Systems
The Borough of Chambersburg faced significant challenges with its legacy utility management system, which impacted both residents and internal staff. The reliance on in-person interactions and manual processes created bottlenecks and limited the quality of service the Borough could provide.
Their biggest challenges were:
- Resident Inconvenience: Customers were required to visit the Borough office to create accounts, make payments, or enroll in budget billing programs. This lack of self-service created a frustrating and outdated experience.
- Employee Inefficiency: Staff relied on manual processes and paper-based workflows to assist customers, which made it difficult to provide efficient support. Without a customer-facing website, all interactions were handled in person or over the phone, further slowing response times.
- Limited Data Transparency: Residents and landlords had no real-time visibility into account balances, payment history, or meter readings, making it difficult to monitor utility usage and manage payments.
- Data Integrity and Storage Issues: The underlying database structure was not optimized for property owners with multiple accounts, leading to inconsistencies. Critical billing information was also being removed after each cycle, preventing effective historical tracking.
The Solution: Streamlined Utility Management with Self-Service and Secure Payments
To address these challenges, the Borough partnered with Fresche to develop a modern, web-based self-service utility billing portal. The solution focused on providing self-service capabilities for residents and creating a powerful management tool for employees, all built upon their stable IBM i system.
Fresche delivered a comprehensive solution that included:
Self-Service Customer Portal for 24/7 Access
The Borough residents can now initiate the account creation process online by entering their details through the web app, which sends a request to the Borough for account setup. Once created, residents can view detailed billing history with interactive visual charts, track real-time meter readings, and make secure online payments anytime, anywhere.
Seamless account access: The new self-service portal simplifies utility management for residents.
Real-time insights: Residents can now track their utility usage with ease.
Flexible and Secure Digital Payment Options
To accommodate modern user preferences, the portal supports a wide range of payment options, including credit cards, PayPal, Venmo, and digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay. The system also supports auto-pay and two-factor authentication for enhanced security.
Flexible payments: Supporting modern methods like Apple Pay, Google Pay, and PayPal.
An Empowered Employee Dashboard
Borough employees now use a comprehensive dashboard to search customer accounts, assist with payments, track transactions, and resolve support inquiries efficiently. They can also replicate a customer’s view to guide them and resolve issues faster.
Enhanced efficiency: Borough employees benefit from a streamlined dashboard for faster support.
Database Modernization
Fresche restructured the database to correctly organize data for multiple property owners and ensure billing details are properly stored. These crucial improvements were implemented with minimal disruption and without requiring changes to the existing RPG programs.
👉 Learn more about database modernization here.
The Results: Modern Utility Services for Residents and Staff
The new self-service utility billing portal delivered immediate and significant benefits, empowering residents with self-service tools and enabling staff to work smarter, not harder.
- Enhanced Customer Satisfaction
With 24/7 access to their billing and payment details, residents now enjoy a convenient, modern experience that puts them in control of their utility accounts. - Increased Staff Productivity
Employees can instantly retrieve customer records, process transactions, and provide support, eliminating manual paperwork and reducing the time spent on administrative tasks. - Improved Financial Transparency
Customers and landlords benefit from clear, easy-to-understand access to payment history and meter readings, reducing confusion and support calls. - Greater Data Accuracy
Consistent storage of customer details minimizes errors, eliminates redundant data, and ensures a single source of truth. - Seamless User Adoption
The intuitive, browser-based interface required minimal training, enabling quick adoption and immediate productivity gains.
