City of Vancouver, Washington Awards Hansen a $1.5 Million Utility Billing Replacement Project

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact:
Shelie White
P: (916) 921-0883, ext. 3145
E: shellie.white@hansen.com


Sacramento, CA, November 30, 2004 – Hansen Information Technologies (Hansen®) today announced that the City of Vancouver, Washington (population 155,000), has joined Hansen’s list of distinguished customers and approved a $1.5 Million contract to implement Hansen’s Utility Billing and DynamicPORTAL™ solutions.

The implemented software will help service the approximately 160,000 sewer, water and drainage billing accounts and provide flexibility that will meet future needs of the City by allowing for a reduction in call handling time, reduced or eliminated manual processes, online account access for customers, and seamless integration with existing systems.

“The City of Vancouver saw the potential with Hansen to implement an advanced Customer Information System (CIS) and enhance customer web self-care, as well as provide the products necessary to implement a government enterprise solution that we anticipate will continue to extend and enhance the services provided to Vancouver residents,” said Brian Carlson, Vancouver Director of Public Works.

The City of Vancouver executed an extensive RFP process to replace their outdated legacy CIS system. After several competitive demonstrations, Hansen’s government ERP solution including customer management, billing, and web customer self-care, received the contract award. The Hansen solution will provide the City with a host of advantages including online work queues that streamline business processes and eliminate paper and manually-intensive processes; customer self-care through Hansen’s DynamicPORTAL for electronic bill presentment and payment, scheduling of service requests, turn-on, turn-off and account management; simple to complex commodity and non-commodity calculations; an Account Maintenance Wizard workflow designed to handle the bulk of call center calls in an efficient and timely manner; and several other customer-centric tools.

“This opportunity demonstrates the strategic nature of the City of Vancouver employees,” said James Anderson, Hansen’s Business Unit Manager, Utility Billing. “Their focus on enhancing customer care while enabling a roadmap of fully integrated products and solutions means long-term benefits to the citizens of Vancouver.”

The City of Vancouver has a 2005-06 biannual operating budget of $545 million. Of the City’s $565 Million in assets, 59 percent are categorized as “water and sewer.” In 2003 the City recognized over $90 Million from program revenues and water and sewer contributed 54 percent of this income.

About Vancouver, Washington
Vancouver, Washington sits on the north bank of the Columbia River directly across from Portland, Oregon. The Pacific Coast is less than 90 miles to the west. The Cascade Mountain Range rises on the east. Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument and Mt. Hood are less than two hours away. The spectacular Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area lies 30 minutes to the east. Vancouver combines the excitement of a major metropolitan area with small-town charm and abundant recreational opportunities.

About Hansen Information Technologies
Hansen is the world's leading provider of applications that help manage the daily operations of government. Hansen's integrated suite of performance management solutions include Enterprise Asset Management (EAM), Building Permit, Business Licensing, Business Intelligence, Citizen Relationship Management (CRM), Code Enforcement, Financials, GIS, HR & Payroll, Property Tax, Timesheet Reporting, Transportation, Utility Billing, and Web Portal applications. Major customers include 15 of the 25 largest city and county governments in the United States.

Headquartered in Rancho Cordova, California (as of March 2005), the company is a privately-held corporation employing over 250 people.

For more information, please visit Hansen's Web site at www.hansen.com.