By Will Rainwater, HSVPOA IT Manager
In keeping with the HSVPOA promise to keep you as informed as possible, we are providing additional information on the upcoming migration to the new utility billing system.
As we explained in last week’s article about the new software, the new system will be going live in April. To clarify, your April utility bill will be generated on the new system. The first cycle will occur on April 15th. However, other changes will take place between now and then. For example, the HSVPOA is working to have the new member website for utility billing live at the beginning of April, so that you can access it and get yourself familiar with it prior to the April billing cycle. Here are a few things to know:
- If you had automated payments (ACH) set up on the current billing system, that information will carry over to the new system. However, we HIGHLY recommend that you access the new system when it becomes available and verify your automated payment settings prior to the April 15th billing cycle. Additionally, you will be able to set up automated payments to a credit card which is a new feature of this new website.
- You WILL have to register and create a new login for the new member utility billing website. Unfortunately, this is unavoidable due to the nature of internet security, but the process will be simple. More on that to come in a future Friday Digest.
- If you have not paid your current utility bill, we recommend that you pay it prior to March 31st as the current system will no longer be available as of April 1st. However, the new system will have the ability to pay your previous utility bill.
- We also recommend that, if you have not already done so and you want them for historical purposes, please download your utility statements prior to April 1st. Although those statements will still be available in the near future, they will not be available forever.
Below is a preview of the screens that you will encounter when you register and log into the new website. We are happy to provide you with a simple interface. As you can see, the bulk of the website is contained in only four screens with clearly marked menus for navigation. Additionally, there is a help facility to answer any questions you may have.
To give you an idea of what the new statements will look like, we have included an image below:
The statements are easy to read and understand.
In our next article, we will go over the registration process, where to find the links to the new website in our current member website, and what to expect when you access the new utility billing website.
Will I be able to lookup past utility statements based upon the old system and compare those within the new system? OR do I have to call the POA in obtaining these pre new utility billing statements with no additional charge?
Steven, the old utility statements will be available for a while. I am not sure exactly how long. You will need to download the statements if you would like to have the old records. I downloaded years of statements and it didn’t take me too long. I recommend going ahead and downloading them now while they are still available. Thanks! – Cheryl Dowden
The example of the new statement shows an entry description “miscellaneous charges” what sort of charges might be included here?
Thanks for commenting. I do not know. Perhaps IT Manager Will Rainwater will address that question in a future article. – Cheryl Dowden
Jim, the statement was just a mock-up from our vendor. We do not have any miscellaneous charges. Every charge will have a description just as it does today. I hope this helps. – Cheryl Dowden