AWWA IMTECH54008

The Akron, Ohio Public Utilities Bureau (APUB) needed to improve its customer service.Troubled by negative local press on water rates and customer satisfaction and saddledwith a billing system that was not Y2K compliant, the APUB committed in 1998 toobtaining a new billing and customer information system.This paper tells the story of an effective three-part approach to implementingtechnology that also includes both work practices and people. While the sequence ofthe approach to this kind of project is often debated, the authors explain why thisapproach was successful for Akron's circumstances.When this project began in 1998, Akron first needed to quickly select a software toolthat was an appropriate functional fit at a reasonable cost. The looming Y2K deadlinemade it imperative that the project get organized and under way in a timely manner. Thesoftware selected was Systems & Software's Municipal & Utility Package Software(MUPS), due to its functionality for the cost and relative ease of operation, both from anend user standpoint and from a systems support standpoint. The system went live inlate October 1999. Includes figures.