Overdue, Missing Part, Combined Notices and Bills

Polaris provides up to three scheduled overdue notices for a patron, followed by an optional bill. You can also choose to combine notices for patrons due to receive more than one type.

Overdue Notices

You can send up to three overdue notices, scheduling the interval between them. Each overdue interval is measured from the date and time the item status changed to overdue, not from the date and time that the previous notice was sent. An item qualifies for inclusion in an overdue notice when the number of days specified in the interval setting added to the due date of the item falls before midnight on the processing date. If an item has qualified for overdue notice processing, but is returned before the notice is sent, the item is removed from notice processing.

Overdue notices can be delivered through the mail as print notices, by e-mail, by phone, or as text messages to mobile phones. Print and e-mail overdue notices include the following information:

Note:
Text messages must be brief. The default text message for overdue notices, which can be edited in Polaris Language Editor, is Library items are overdue. Please call the library or check your account online.

Library return address - Taken from the Return address field in the notification branch’s organization record. If no return address is specified, the notice uses the organization’s Primary address. For full-page and Z-fold printed notices, the notification branch’s primary phone number is also included.
Date - Date the notice was generated
Printed notice text - Polaris supplies default text for the header and introductory paragraph, which you can edit in Polaris WebAdmin (Language Editor). See Customizing Notice Text with Polaris WebAdmin (Language Editor).
E-mail notice text - Polaris supplies default text for the subject line and introductory paragraph, which you can edit in Polaris WebAdmin (Language Editor). See Customizing Notice Text with Polaris WebAdmin (Language Editor).
System-supplied list of overdue items - Items are sorted first by notice number (1st, 2nd, 3rd), next in title order. Call numbers are truncated to 60 characters.
(Optional) Claimed items - You can include a list of claimed items with their status (Claim Never Had, Claim Returned).

When overdue notices are generated, the date is recorded in the appropriate item records, the notices are posted in the transaction file, the patron notification history is updated, and the notice queue is cleared.

Missing Parts Notices

Missing part notices are sent when a staff member checks in an item using the Special Item Check-in Tools option on the Check In workform and selects Missing part: block and notify. For more information, see Special Item Check-in Tools option on the Check In workform.

The notices are sent according to the setting in the Notification options parameter for the check-in branch, and the patron preference set in the patron's record. You can set up missing part notices to be printed and mailed; sent via email; sent via text message; or sent by phone message. Missing part notices can be sent as reminder notices or in a combined notice. The Missing Part Mailer is available under Utilities > Reports and Notices > Notices > Claims > Missing Part Mailer.

The missing part notice contains similar information whether delivered by mail, email, or text message.

The Subject line in both the email and text message is: Missing Library Item

The default text for the email, printed, and phone notice is: An item was returned to the [check-in library name] missing a part(s). Please return the part(s) to the library within 48 hours to avoid fines.
The default text for the text message notice is: [item title] was returned to the library with parts missing. Please return the part(s) to the library within 48 hours to avoid fines.
The following item details are included in the emailed and printed Missing Part notice: Title, Author, Barcode, Format, Due Date, Check-out Date, Check-out from [check out library name]
The text regarding the missing item is included on the printed and email notice if it was entered when the staff member checked the item in using the Special Item Check-In option.

Bills

You can follow up overdue notices with a bill. Bills are scheduled for processing at a standard interval from the date and time the item status changed to overdue, not from the date and time that the last overdue notice was sent (see Overdue Notices). An item qualifies for inclusion in a bill when the number of days specified in the interval setting added to the due date of the item falls before midnight on the processing date. If an item has qualified for bill processing but is returned before the notice is sent, the item is removed from notice processing. Bills may include overdue charges and replacement fees. Settings for free days A value applied at normal and bulk check-in, renewal, and offline that allows you to omit a specified number of days from the overdue fine calculation. are not used in the overdue fine calculation, but closed days and dates are included. For more information about replacement fees, see Setting Replacement Fee Defaults.

Bills can be delivered as print, e-mail, or text message notices. Print and e-mail bills include the following information:

Note:
Text messages must be brief. The default text message for bills, which can be edited in Polaris WebAdmin (Language Editor), is Money is owed on your library account. Please call the library or check your account online.

Library return address - Taken from the Return address field in the notification branch’s organization record. If no return address is specified, the notice uses the organization’s Primary address. For full-page and Z-fold printed notices, the notification branch’s primary phone number is also included.
Date - Date the notice was generated
Printed notice text - Polaris supplies default text for the header and introductory paragraph, which you can edit in Polaris WebAdmin.
E-mail notice text - Polaris supplies default text for the subject line and introductory paragraph, which you can edit in Polaris WebAdmin.

Note:
For information on customizing text, see Customizing Notice Text with Polaris WebAdmin (Language Editor).

System-supplied list of items billed - Each item listing includes the replacement cost and overdue charges, and the total of these for each item. Call numbers are truncated to 60 characters.
System-supplied total amount billed - Total amount due for the bill.

Note:
If you set overdue notice processing to include claimed items, the bill also includes claimed items. See Overdue Notices.

Bills are generated as part of overdue notice processing. When the bills are generated, the date is recorded in the appropriate item records, the notices are posted in the transaction file, the patron notification history is updated, and the notice queue is cleared. If the system-level Patron Services setting Overdues: billed items set to lost (Lost item charge options parameter) is set to No, replacement and overdue charges are written to the patron account, the item status remains Out, the item remains in the patron’s Items Out list, and the lost item counter is not incremented. If Overdues: billed items set to lost is set to Yes, replacement charges are written to the patron account, the item status changes to Lost, the item is removed from the patron’s Items Out list, and the lost item counter is incremented. When Overdues: billed items set to lost is set to Yes, a separate setting determines whether overdue fines are also written to the patron account. See Overdue Fines on Lost Items.

Combined Notices

When notification processing identifies a patron as qualifying for more than one type of notice, Polaris can combine overdue, bill, and request notices (in that order), so that a single notice is sent.

To ensure that all notices for a particular patron are included in the combined notice, set the same notification method for each notice type and the combined notice. For example, if the combined notice method is set to Patron Preference, set each overdue notice, bill, and hold notice to Patron Preference. Otherwise a notice type may not be included in the combined notice. For example, if you set the notification method for bills to Print but set other notice types to Patron Preference, the bill will be included in the combined notice only if the patron preference happens to be Print. In this situation, to ensure that bills will be printed for all patrons who are due for them, you would need to generate the billing notices in addition to the combined notices. If Include claimed items and Combined patron notices options are selected on the Overdue & Bill tab, the Missing Part notice is included in the combined notice.