DESIGN AN IMPLEMENTATION OF A COMPUTERIZED WATER BILLING SYSTEM (A CASE STUDY OF ENUGU STATE WATER CO-OPERATION)

CHAPTER ONE

1.0 Introduction

Billing system (BS) is a system realizing accounting of consumable services by subscribers, calculation and allowances of cash assets. It is aimed for calculation of services’ costs or goods based on the tariff. Also it is used to bill and close the accounts. [1]Prototypes of the modern electronic BS were born together with expansion of modern computers some tens years ago.[3]. Hence, 1868 can be mentioned as the date of the first BS. One system is used for calculation telegraphic communication statements between telegraph offices. The first electronic invoice appeared in 1918 when Fedwire payment system was created. This facility linked the twelve Federal Reserve banks across the U.S.A over leased telegraph lines to electronically settle central bank balances.[2] Calculations between the enterprises with the help of electronic transactions, instead of the traditional scheme of calculations are now in great use everywhere. The aspiration to simplify process of payment as much as possible is natural, to make it’s as much as possible convenient for the client.The author of the paper considers three platforms (Microsoft, LINUX and MAC) and all aspects concerning this selection. Platform is a system on which programs operate. [4] Nowadays, almost all billing procedures between companies operate either offline (connected to the local network) or on-line (connected to the internet) bill presentment platforms. Offline bills, for now, are often passed from branch to branch for approval. In other case (there are no connections at all), the procedure is slowed. [5]As a rule, some area requires a development of an independent highly adjusted BS for own needs. Correct selection of BS and operating platform is an essential point for profitability of a company. BS allows analyzing company productivity and becomes a tool for improvement of company processes. Customer retention and vender abilities depend on reliability of BS and platform. For instance, fast and accurate receiving of statistic sales figures, customer transactions and activity of the client helps to define new ways of the company development, plan actions of the service technical improvement, to react on new customer’s request.These are very important for a company. One of the most important aspects of using a BS is selecting an appropriate platform. There is a broad range of platforms in the market. Factors to consider include the functionality available within the platform, security, IT issues and cost considerations. Selecting the right platform for the project is the necessary task for achieving these objectives.