The Sierra Utility Billing Services iLink Unit / Resident WebTool known to our clients simply as iLink, is a program we developed at Sierra for the use of communities to easily conduct the common tasks involved in utility billing management. iLink uses the internet as a communications pipeline to give you direct access to your data.

When an internet-based management tool was first being considered at Sierra, the main goals we set for the project were: ease of use, usable speed (even over dial-up connections), security, and functionality to do all of the necessary management operations without undue complexity for the user.

The type of browser-based application most commonly seen on the internet today has several limitations that we considered to be serious draw-backs. The first of these is that each page is always separate, forcing an entire page to be loaded and drawn for each new function. This approach also does not allow for pop-up messages or overlaid screens and often causes a non-intuitive flow to the application, producing a frustrating user experience, especially over slower internet connections. Further, because applications of this type actually run as a series of single web pages displayed within an internet browser, they do not have the ability to print directly to a user’s printer. The only form of direct printing available is screen printing where the displayed page is sent to the printer from the browser. Such screen printing invariably produces lower quality printouts than an equivalent report printed directly to the printer and often contains unwanted properties, such as the address of the web page. A work-around often used in these applications is to employ the Adobe® Acrobat software. Although this system does produce high-quality printouts, it does so at the cost of ease of use. The print must be generated by the application and then opened or downloaded by the user and then printed to the printer. The extra step of downloading the PDF or opening it in the Acrobat Reader® browser add-in further disrupts the work flow and produces yet another screen that would not otherwise be necessary.

The other type of internet application we considered is called a distributed application. With this approach, a program much like any other Windows program is installed on the user’s computer. The application uses the internet only as a transport medium to send and receive the data it needs. Since this type of application actually runs on the user’s computer, it has none of the draw-backs commonly seen in browser-based applications. Screens can be layered, pop-up messages and requestors can be used, data is downloaded only when needed rather than each time a screen is displayed, and prints are sent directly to the printer through the standard Windows print functionality without any extra disruptions and with full print quality and options.

In Sierra’s case, there was only one major disadvantage to a distributed application; whereas browser-based applications are generated from a central site and updating this single source means that all user’s are then running the updated application, in a distributed application, any updates made must be sent to all users. We decided that this issue could be resolved by creating an application with the ability to automatically update itself whenever a new version was available and due to the flexibility it offered and the advantages mentioned above, Sierra chose to produce a distributed application.

The Sierra iLink URM WebTool is the result of careful planning where the end user’s needs were of the utmost concern from the very beginning. Since its inception, we have integrated several enhancements suggested by our users and continue to improve the functionality and usability of this tool. We are proud to offer to our clients what we believe to be a truly user friendly and feature rich application that will reduce the amount of time and effort required to manage the unit and resident data related to resident utility billing as well as allowing simple access to billing information.

Some of the highlights of the iLink URM WebTool include:

• Fast, easy access to unit and resident data in a scrollable spreadsheet-like format.
  Simple point-and-click structure to increase productivity and reduce the time required to manage residents and resident billing.
• Direct printing of rent rolls, resident invoices, billing reports, invoice aging reports, late flyers, utility usage reports, reconciliation worksheet or resident balance reports, and on-premises payment forms.
• Simple resident move-in and move-out as well as enrollment and un-enrollment of residents for utility billing on a per-utility basis.
• Easy access to resident billing history. Just select the resident from the list and click the Invoice History button. From the Invoice History screen, you can view past invoice data and even view or print the actual invoices.
• Ability to set an alternate mailing address for any resident. This allows utility invoices to be mailed to an address other than the unit address.
• Most recent resident utility billing date, due date for most recent resident billing, and next anticipated resident billing date are shown on the main screen.
• Automatic updates. The user is informed whenever a new version of the application is available and with a single click, the program will download the updates and install them.

For more information
Contact Sierra Utility Billing Services
512-837-3446 or toll free 888-376-3354