The new vendor, Texas-based Vertex Business Services, will “give the city more customer service tools than we have ever had,” City Manager Warren Price said in his report to the city commission.
New tools include a mobile app with payment options, mail tracking to reduce return mail volume and costs and improved tracking tools for landlords.
Dayton Commissioners this week approved a three-year contract with Vertex worth $865,000. The company will handle the city’s utility bill printing and mailing responsibilities, as well as the digital management and payment services for paydaytonwater.com.
The city has more than 60,000 customer accounts, which are billed at various intervals, including monthly and quarterly.
Utility payments generate more than $100 million in annual revenue to the city, city documents show.
About 23,000 customers are registered with the Water Department’s website to make online payments.
But the city is constantly receiving complaints about problems with the site from users, city officials said.
Vertex will increase payment options for utility customers. The company may try to partner with select retail stores, such as Family Dollar, so customers can pay their bills in cash at those locations.
The company also will use a real-time tracking system for all printed bills to determine if a customer has mailed out a payment.
Vertex won the contract after the city sent requests for proposals to 20 vendors. Seven companies responded, including the city’s current vendor, Standard Register.
Vertex was selected after an evaluation process that scored proposals based on costs, products and services, implementation plan and security and data management practices, officials said.
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