Collections Module

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Last updated: Jun 08, 2022 by Former user (Deleted)
4 min read

The collections module provides the ability to export overdue payments into a format used by collection agencies.

Accessing the Collections Module

There are several steps leading up to a collection since often notification of a user is all that may be needed to collect on overdue funds.  

The collections module is currently tied to the Violations menu, but may in the future work with all modules in the system.  Originally the implementation worked around the idea that people parking on campus may be unknown users.  By having a collection module (and the MTO lookup functionality) unknown user details can be determined from a vehicle tag (plate, province, etc.).  Students and staff users can be dealt with in a different manner but can also be sent to collections.  In the case of a student, they can be denied graduation if their account is not paid in full.

Collection Module Operation

In this particular case, the items related to MTO lookup are based on a data format for the Ministry or Transportation Ontario, but could be adjusted to match requirement in any area.

  • Vehicle Lookup Export

    • allows an administrator to export data in a MTO friendly format.  This export can be imported to the MTO terminals by MTO staff (or automation) and the result is an MTO Lookup Report. 

  • Import from Lookup (MTO)

    • allows an administrator to import the unknown user details back into the system and populate address and contact fields.
       

  • Known Report

    • allows an administrator to query and package accounts (as an Excel export) that should be sent to a collection service provider
    • Internally it sets the "SentToCollections" flag on the associated violations so that future queries will not duplicate listings

logic around this report is defined as follows:

  • If (the user has an email and an overdue notice (details below) that was sent more than 30 days ago) 
          OR (the user does not have an email and the violation is past due date)Then include them on the report based on the supplied parameters (user type and days overdue)


  • Send to Known & Unknown Report

    • generates a report of the accounts "SentToCollections" based on the date and user type

    • the report includes details related to payment where applicable


Overdue Notices

See also: Technical Schematic - Step #1

This document highlights the first steps leading to a collection.

As part of system automation, overdue notices on violations can be sent out each night.  If this is not enabled on your system, please contact Tomahawk Support to have this feature enabled.

Each night the system will create an email list and send overdue notices to any known users that have emails on the system.  Essentially the system looks up overdue violations, then looks up vehicles and users associated with those vehicles.  From that information it may be able to obtain an email address and formulates a message for delivery to the user.

When the message is sent, the violation field "AutoNotice" is flagged in the database. 

In the event a user does not have an email address, or the users are unknown, a report is compiled containing that information and is sent to the system administrator.

An overdue sample message follows:


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