Collection Agency Setup Dialog Box

To open this dialog box:
In Polaris Administration, select Parameters, Patron Services, Collection agency options.

If your library uses a collection agency, you set the thresholds that determine which patrons are listed on a collection agency report. You also set the report schedule, transmission methods, collection fees, and patron information to include on the reports.

Note:
You can make independent collection agency settings at the system, library, and branch levels. This means that libraries and branches can choose not to participate in collection services, or they can use different thresholds. However, if possible, it is recommended that your entire library system use a single system-wide setup.

Collection Agency Setup Dialog Box - Control Tab

The Control tab sets the parameters for collection agency reporting. For details, see Set up collection agency processing. For more information about collection agency reports, see Collection Processing Reports.

• Enable collection agency - Select this option to begin using collection agency functions.

Important:
If you clear (uncheck) the Enable collection agency checkbox after reporting has begun, you receive a warning message. If you continue, any collection agency blocks in patron records are cleared. Then, if you check Enable collection agency again, the patrons are put back in collection and duplicate collection fees are placed on their accounts. Anyone who has paid amounts so the balance is under the threshold, but not down to 0.00, is not included. If you simply want to stop reporting for a period of time, click Stop.

• Start and stop reporting - Click Start to begin the scheduled reporting process for Submission and Update reports. Click Stop to halt the scheduled reporting process. If you click Stop while reports are being run, you are asked whether you want to stop the reports. If you click Yes, no reports are generated unless the process is restarted by clicking Start.

• Reporting and scheduling settings - See Set up collection agency processing.

Collection Agency Setup Dialog Box - Criteria Tab

This tab sets the criteria that determine which patron accounts are reported. For details, see Set up collection agency processing.

• Cut-off date - The earliest date a fine can be incurred and still be considered in the delinquent balance. Fines incurred before this date are not considered. If you want to be sure to include all fines in the total amount required for reporting, specify a cut-off date in the remote past.

• Fine age - The most recent fine that can be considered in the delinquent balance. If you send fine notices to patrons to warn them that their accounts will be placed in collection, be sure this setting is greater than the fine age setting for the fine notice. This will ensure that the patron receives the notice before the account is sent to collection. See Fine Notices.

• Minimum balance - Indicate the minimum amount for a patron’s account to be delinquent and submitted for collection. If you send fine notices to patrons to warn them that their accounts will be placed in collection, set this to the same value as the minimum balance that triggers the fine notice. See Fine Notices.

• Minimum balance based on item fees only - System level only. Select this option to report patron accounts based only on lost item charges ((combined replacement and processing fees). If selected, this setting affects all calculations to determine if a patron account qualifies for reporting, regardless of the Reporting Level (System, Library, Branch) or Reporting By (Patron Branch, Item Branch, Loaning Branch) settings on the Control tab. See Reporting for Lost Item Charges Only.

• Patron codes to exclude - Select any patron codes that should never be included in collection agency processing.

• Patrons to include - Use this feature to manually include specific patrons in the Submission report, even if they do not qualify according to cut-off date, fine age, and minimum balance criteria, or their patron code is excluded. Click Add to display the Find Tool, and select a patron. (The list is cleared after the patrons are reported.) Click Delete to remove a patron from the list.

Collection Agency Setup Dialog Box - Details Tab

This tab sets any collection agency fees that will be billed to patrons, and the user-defined field information that should appear on reports. For details, see Set up collection agency processing.

• Collection agency fees - You can set three levels of fees. If you specify a beginning amount for a second-level fee range in number 2, the To field for number 1 is automatically assigned, and so forth. The fees are automatically added to the amount the patron owes at the time he is reported.

Note:
If a patron account has any charge, payment or waive activity after the account is submitted to the collection agency, the patron account is included on the update report, but the collection agency fee is not charged again. The fee is charged only when the account is submitted to the collection agency.

• User-defined fields - Select which fields to include on the Submission and Update reports. If you report minors in care of their guardians, select the appropriate user-defined field for the guardian. See Reporting Minors.

Collection Agency Setup Dialog Box - Output Tab

The Output tab controls the transmission methods for collection agency reporting. For details, see Set up collection agency processing. For more information about collection agency reports, see Collection Processing Reports.

• Send email - Check to enable e-mail transmission of collection agency reports or summary e-mail report.

• To (e-mail) - Separate multiple e-mail addresses (for example, the collection agency and a library staff member) with a semicolon (;). E-mail fields are limited to 255 characters, including the semicolons. If you have multiple e-mail addresses that require more characters, set up a distribution group on the e-mail server, and type the distribution group name in the e-mail address field.

• From - Specify the reply e-mail address.

• Send summary email only - Used with the FTP transmittal (see below). If the library sends files to the agency via e-mail but does not use FTP, do not select this option. If you use FTP transmittal and want to generate an e-mail summary report, check Send email, check Send summary email only, and set up the receiving addresses as described above.

• Enable FTP - Check to enable FTP transmission of collection agency reports to the collection agency.

• Set mode to Active FTP - Check if the collection agency uses Active FTP transmission. Otherwise, Passive mode is used. See Active FTP.

• Agency server information - Type the agency’s server information in the following fields:

• FTP server - The complete URI for the agency’s FTP server.

• Default Folder - This organization’s folder name as it exists on the agency’s FTP server.

• Default port - Port number for the agency’s FTP server.

• User Name, Password - Supply your user name and password for the agency’s FTP server.

• Third-party FTP service - See Secure FTP and Third-Party FTP software.

• Type the executable name (for example, ftp.exe) or click Browse to browse for and select the executable.

• Enter the FTP parameters as directed by your third-party service. At a minimum, your entry must include [FTPFILE]. Other possible parameters include:

[FTPUSER] - FTP user

[FTPPASSWORD] - FTP password

[FTPPORT] - FTP port

[FTPREMOTEPATH] - The remote FTP path to put the file in

Example:
-s -file  [FTPFILE]

Note:
Some of the parameters may duplicate the values you entered in the User Name, Password, or other fields.

• Number of days to keep the reports - Specify how long report copies should be kept on the server. (The report file may be sent to the collection agency via FTP or delivered on disc or paper.)

Note:
Collection agency report processing takes place on the server. Report copies are automatically saved in the following default server location:
C:\ProgramData\Polaris\[version]\Logs\SSIS\CollectionAgency\Reports\
[Branch Abbreviation]