Using a Collection Agency
Note:
For information about the setup in Polaris Administration,
Collection agencies differ in notification practices and in how repayment is obtained. Some collection agencies, such as Unique Management Services (UMS), manage all collection communications with patrons who have delinquent accounts, but the patrons make all payments directly to the library. For other collection agencies, the library may send a fine notice warning the patron that the account will be turned over to collection. Once the account is turned over, patrons may make payments to the collection agency as well as to the library. Your library’s contract with the collection agency determines the cost to the library for collection agency services. To recoup some of these costs, you can set a collection fee on delinquent patron accounts.
Regardless of communication and payment methods, collection agency services rely on the automatic reporting capabilities of Polaris. Polaris automatically transmits a Submission Report of delinquent patron information and an Update Report of patron account activity to the collection agency, via e-mail, FTP, or both. You can have Polaris send copies of the reports to a library staff member for verification and backup. In addition, a Synchronization Report lists all currently reported patrons with their balances. You can run this report manually, any time.
A patron’s account is considered delinquent and is included on the Submission Report when all the following conditions exist:
- The patron owes an amount of money over a library-defined limit.
- The money has been owed longer than a library-specified period of time.
- The specific patron has not been excluded from collection reporting (the Exclude from collection agency checkbox is not selected on the Patron Registration workform - General view).
- The patron code in the patron record has not been excluded from collection reporting.
The total amount reported may include charges of all types, replacement costs, processing fees, and collection fees. Or, you can opt to report patron accounts based only on lost item charges (see Reporting for Lost Item Charges Only).
Accrued overdue fines that have not yet been charged are not included in the calculation for reporting to a collection agency. See Calculating and Blocking for Estimated Accrued Fines.
The following events occur during collection agency processing:
- After collection agency functions are started, the system identifies delinquent patrons. The Submission Report is produced during overnight batch processing and is sent to the collection agency by e-mail or FTP. The report includes all patron accounts that match the criteria you set in Polaris Administration. See Collection Processing Reports.
- A system-generated collection block and collection fee (if specified) is automatically added to the patron record. Only staff members with the system-level Circulation permission Override collection agency block: Allow can override the block.
- The collection agency encourages the patron to settle with the library, or collects money directly from patrons and transmits it to the library.
- The patron pays all participating libraries all the money that is owed, including fines and collection fees incurred after being reported to the collection agency. When the patron no longer owes money to the reporting libraries, the patron’s account is out of collection. (The patron may still owe money to non-participating libraries.) The block is automatically removed from the patron’s account, and the patron’s account is considered to be out of collection.
Note:
If the patron’s account is not paid down to $0.00 at all the participating organizations, the patron’s account is still in collection. If the patron’s account is paid down to $0.00 after submission to collection, but the patron incurs a new fine before the Update Report is generated, the patron’s account is still in collection.
- The Update Report is generated during overnight batch processing, and is sent to the collection agency by e-mail or FTP. The report includes all patrons who have been identified for collection and have had any activity (payment, waiver, or new charge) at the reporting organization since the last report, either the Submission Report or Update Report, was generated.
Note:
You can manually remove a patron’s account from collection. For information,
If your library uses a second level of collections with the first agency reporting patron accounts that are still unsettled to the library and the library referring these accounts to a second collection agency, see Second Collection Agency Management.
Reporting for Lost Item Charges Only
Patron accounts can be sent to collection based only on lost item charges (combined replacement and processing fees). No other charges are included when determining if the patron account should be reported. However, if the patron account does qualify for reporting based on lost item fees, the total amount owed, including all charges such as overdue fines or printing, is sent to the agency. Similarly, after a patron account is submitted to the collection agency, all new charges of any type are included in the Update Report, not just lost item fees.
A patron account is sent to collection based on a threshold amount you specify. If you set the “item fees only” option, the calculation to determine if the patron meets the minimum balance for reporting is based only on combined replacement and processing fee charges. For example, if the threshold amount is $25:
- A patron who owes $30 in combined replacement cost and processing charges for lost items will be reported to the collection agency. If this patron owes an additional $10 in overdue fines, making his total owed $40, when the account is submitted to the agency his amount owed will be $40, and the account will not be cleared until the balance is $0.
- A patron who owes $20 in combined replacement cost and processing charges and $10 in overdue fines will not be reported.
The “item fees only” option is available only at the system level. If selected, it affects all calculations to determine if a patron account qualifies for reporting, regardless of the Reporting Level setting (System, Library, Branch) or Reporting By setting (Patron Branch, Item Branch, Loaning Branch). For more information,
Note:
When you set the “item fees only” option, calculations for new collection agency submissions from that point on will be affected. Patron accounts reported under previous rules are not affected.
Reporting Minors
Polaris identifies patrons under the age of 18 from the Birth date field in the patron record. You can specify a guardian for collection purposes by setting up a user-defined field (UDF) for the guardian’s patron barcode. See Setting Up User-Defined Fields. In this case, the Submission Report to the collection agency lists the guardian’s address and telephone numbers for collection purposes. If you use library-generated fine notices, the message regarding the minor’s delinquent account is addressed to the minor, in care of the guardian, at the guardian’s address. If the patron’s record does not include a birth date, but does contain a UDF with a valid patron barcode, the patron is reported as a minor. If the system cannot identify the UDF barcode as a patron, the delinquent patron is reported on her own behalf (not as a minor).
Important:
Innovative Interfaces sets up user-defined fields at implementation. If you plan to use collection agency services, and you want to specify a UDF to use for the guardian barcode, you must have Innovative Interfaces set up the UDF.
Collection Agency Reporting via FTP
You can transmit Submission and Update reports to your collection agency via FTP (File Transfer Protocol), instead of or in addition to e-mail.
FTP is a method of sending data files to (or retrieving them from) specified locations on remote servers. In Polaris Administration, the library specifies the FTP address on the collection agency server. When the process runs, the Submission and Update files are automatically placed on the remote server.
Depending on the collection agency’s requirements, the FTP file location for multiple branches may require individual folders for each branch or library, or a single folder containing the data files from all locations. For example, UMS prefers a single folder since the files for individual branches are distinguished by file name.
Secure FTP and Third-Party FTP software
Polaris also supports SFTP (Secure FTP), a secure way to transmit the data. If the library chooses to use SFTP, you must install a third-party SFTP program on the library network. You can also use third-party FTP software that does not support SFTP. In either case, you specify the program executable and any associated parameters in Polaris Administration.
Note:
Some networks may have restrictions on FTP or on file sizes, and there may be firewall settings that prevent FTP. The library is responsible for clearing the way for FTP on the local network.
Active FTP
Some collection agencies may support Active FTP. Active FTP allows the remote service to initiate the connection to begin the transfer. However, the firewall on some networks will not allow this, so Passive mode is used. If the remote server accepts Active FTP, you can select the option in your Polaris Administration setup. As with Passive mode, the remote service will need to provide the parameters necessary to connect via Active FTP.
E-Mail Summary
The Polaris Administration e-mail setup for collection agency processing includes an option to send an e-mail summary only. When this option is selected, the program sends a summary to the specified e-mail addresses instead of a full report. The summary e-mail includes the summary data normally included in the full report. (This summary data is not included in the FTP files.) The header of the summary includes a mapping of the UDFs included in the files. The summary option should be used in connection with FTP transmission to alert the designated recipients that the reporting process ran.
Important:
The e-mail summary option is intended to be used with the FTP option. If the library sends files to the agency via e-mail but does not use FTP, do not select this option.
The e-mail summary feature is also valuable if there are transmission errors. If the FTP transmission fails for any reason, the summary e-mail message indicates that the process failed. The message includes the filename of the document to be sent and a reason for the failure, if one can be determined.
Sending the Files
When you enable FTP transmission, the Submission and Update reports are automatically sent to the designated file location, and a copy of the report file is automatically saved to a local directory on your server:
\[Polaris Data Path]\[Version No.]\Logs\SSIS\CollectionAgency\Reports
If you report by branch or library, each location has a subdirectory: SSIS\CollectionAgency\Reports\AMS-3
Note:
If both e-mail and FTP output options are selected, only one copy is sent to the local directory.
Setting Up FTP Transmission in Polaris Administration
Before you begin setting up FTP transmission in Polaris Administration, contact your collection agency to determine the following:
- FTP server location
- FTP port
- FTP folder name
- Your user name and password for the agency’s FTP server