HomeMy WebLinkAboutFIN-08-096 - Replacement of Point of Sale SystemI L REPORT 74
Report To: Councillor Berry Vrbanovic, Chair, and Members of the
Finance and Corporate Services Committee
Date of Meeting: August 11, 2008
Submitted By: Dan Chapman, General Manager of Financial Services
Prepared By: Joyce V. Evans, Director of Revenue
Ward(s) Involved: All
Date of Report: August 6, 2008
Report No.: FIN-08-096
Subject: REPLACEMENT OF POINT OF SALE SYSTEM
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THAT staff be authorized to sole source the purchase of the CLASS point of sale module from
ActiveNetwork, subject to the negotiation of a satisfactory agreement within the Council
approved budget for the project
The current point of sale system used by the Revenue Division to process all payments has
been in place for more than ten years. The vendor is a sole proprietor and the City has been
experiencing increasing difficulty with the vendor's availability to provide technical support for
the rented equipment and software required to operate the system. The equipment is old and
often requires repair or replacement parts and equipment breakdowns often happen at some of
the busiest payment processing times. The software was developed by the owner of the
company and the City is reliant on one individual for all support of both hardware and software.
The City is vulnerable due to these system issues. The replacement of the point of sale system
was previously identified in the capital budget process and funding is available for the
implementation of a new system. In addition, the implementation of the Delta Project provides
a good opportunity to implement a new point of sale system, avoiding the need to integrate the
old point of sale system with the new financial system.
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The City currently uses the CLASS system in eighteen facilities throughout the City for a variety
of functions. In addition, there is CLASS equipment already in place for nine points of sale in
various facilities throughout the City, including pools and senior centres. At this point in time
the City has CLASS licences for program registration, facility bookings, memberships, payment
manager, crystal reports, payment server and internet and telephone banking. The addition of
the point of sale module is a natural extension of the CLASS system. CLASS has been
implemented in many municipalities around Ontario and ActiveNetwork (the vendor) is
experienced in interfacing various municipal systems with CLASS including SAP and CIS.
In the review process staff attended at the City of Burlington to review the CLASS system as
implemented there. Previously the City of Burlington utilized the same point of sale system as
The City is currently using. They also have SAP as their financial system. A site visit was
conducted at the City of Waterloo after their conversion to the CLASS point of sale system in
2007 and they are also very satisfied with the system. Staff also spoke with staff at the City of
Kingston about their experience with CLASS. The City of Kingston is the only other
municipality in Ontario to bill for natural gas in their utilities billing using CIS. The other two
municipalities we investigated were Milton and Halton Region. Halton Region also uses SAP
financial systems.
The capital investment in CLASS by the City to date is approximately $460,000 with annual
maintenance costs of $30,000. For the functionality this system provides the capital and
operating cost is low in comparison to other authorized point of sale systems. The investment
in the point of sale module for Revenue Division would be a further investment in a system
which currently functions very well in the City, is well understood by staff, and is very well
supported. In the future there is the possibility of expanding the point of sale module to other
areas which will allow us to eliminate other systems such as the deposit system currently used
to report bank deposits in the financial system.
The proposed point of sale system would allow staff to have touch screen capability through the
Payment Manager module. The CLASS system would be connected to other departmental
systems such as CIS for tax and utilities, SAP for all miscellaneous revenue after
implementation of SAP. CLASS has improved reporting capability over the current system.
This will allow for greater efficiencies in cash balancing and preparation of bank deposits. The
proposed point of sale system also ties into the future customer service strategy since it allows
for payments to be made by telephone, internet banking and online.
Negotiations with ActiveNetwork would include the purchase of the license as well as the
vendor's assistance with the installation and configuration of the system including integration
with the appropriate City of Kitchener systems. ActiveNetwork would also be required to
provide training using a train the trainer approach.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:
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Joyce V. Evans, MPA, FCGA
Director of Revenue
Dan Chapman, MPA, CA
General Manager of Financial Services