Municipal & Utility Software

Modernization requires an extensive capability to remain current and flexibility to adapt as the industry continues to transform.

The tech giants have reframed consumer expectations for online engagement with their public services. Consumers want choices at their fingertips 24/7. Origin’s self-service solution, Origin Customer Experience (OCX), is a modern portal customized to a specific municipality or utility’s functional and branding requirements.

A few key statistics are striking:

• The average consumer only spends 9 minutes per year interacting with their municipality or utility
• 44% of consumers have no interest at all in interacting with their municipality or utility
• 50% – 75% of consumers still prefer a paper bill
• Most municipality and utility billing portals only achieve 26% user registration
  ⓘ
  64% of Modesto Irrigation District customers have elected to use Origin’s OCX portal, meaning OCX converted over 47,000 customers including 22,000 new sign-ups since go-live!

Paper bills cost 15 – 20 times the cost of e-bills. It is clear that transitioning from paper billing to electronic is critical to not only reduce waste but to save everyone money. Origin has particular expertise in delivering customer engagement solutions that more than double user registration and have earned our customers praise within their communities as a key point of engagement with their municipality and their utility. It is core to our promise of modernization

From a software perspective, a municipality or utility’s operational core is an ERP system. However, too often organizations are asked to choose between a fully separated solution with integration challenges or a fully integrated solution that constrains their ability to use best-of-breed solutions in other operational areas. Origin SmartCity solves this problem by bringing best-of-breed applications into a cohesive platform, integrating them using an Enterprise Service Framework. This provides integrated reporting, data portability, and flexibility for future change as conditions and needs evolve.

For many municipalities and utilities, payment processing can seem like a commodity service. And, for much of the recent past, that’s true. However, with specific expertise in the meter-to-cash ecosystem and use cases, OriginPay brings a uniquely powerful payment solution to our clients. With integrated billing and payment data, revenue horizons can be shortened, past-due accounts and lost bills can be actioned in a timely fashion and overall financial health can be improved. Further, as new methods of payment enter the public sphere, OriginPay is ready to ensure new options for customers are available in a secure and easy-to-use interface.

Removing paper and manual processing from workforce management is key to modernization. Automating dispatch and scheduling, optimizing routing, and dynamically assigning work orders are all important as well. There are tremendous benefits to both operational efficiency and customer satisfaction by modernizing the management of mobile workforce workflows and assets. With Origin SmartCity, you have the option of using Origin’s MobileLite product or any other preferred solution.

One of the biggest challenges for municipalities and utilities is providing relevant customer information and interactive services in a cohesive and efficient user experience. With antiquated, silo back-office solutions or a complex mix of point solution applications, integrating customer workflows can be challenging, expensive, and hard to support. Origin SmartCity solves this challenge with our Enterprise Service Framework that integrates services among supported applications, integrates data, and provides a comprehensive end-customer user experience. Coupled with flexible and modern content management, municipalities and utilities are able to better fulfill their promise of supporting sustained prosperity in their communities.