Setting Up Collection Agency Reports

To set up the Collection Agency Report product:

1. Contact Innovative and specify the following information:
   • (Sierra 4.0 and earlier, Legacy Collection Agency Model only) The P TYPE(s) that should be eligible for inclusion in the Collection Agency Report.
   • The MBLOCK fixed-length field value to assign to patron records that have been placed in a Collection Agency Report. This value is referred to as the "Collection Agency Report" value.
   • Whether you want to prevent the system from generating bills and overdue notices for patrons who have the Collection Agency Report value assigned to their MBLOCK fields. Note that if your library chooses this setup, no new replacement charges will be assessed for items checked out to patrons in collections.
   • A list of fixed- and variable-length patron record fields that should be included in the Collection Agency Report. By default, the following fields are included:
     • PATRN NAME
     • TELEPHONE
     • P TYPE
     • HOME LIBR
     • MONEY OWED
     Innovative recommends that you include the optional BIRTH DATE fixed-length field so that the collection agency can avoid contacting juveniles.
2. Configure the Collection Agency Settings table. For example, you can create different Collection Agency Settings for P TYPEs or locations.
3. Add the Collection Agency Report value (as specified above) to the MBLOCK entry in the Fixed-length Codes file.