City upgrades digital infrastructure using Tyler Technologies

BONNERS FERRY — City Council and Mayor Dick Staples approved and signed a contract with Tyler Technologies to provide software products to streamline the city’s digital infrastructure at an initial cost of $106,250.

In the city council meeting that occurred on Nov. 17, the city approved the spending for the contract to Tyler Technologies, and potentially half the initial startup cost will be reimbursed through CARES Act funding.

After initial startup costs, there will be a recurring annual fee of $36,861 to maintain the software services and products.

According to the service agreement, Bonners Ferry would “retain all ownership and intellectual property rights to the data” in the new system; this would help protect residents’ information.

The software will be hosted on shared hardware in the Tyler data center or a third-party center; the agreement details that the data will be dedicated to the city and inaccessible by any other third party.

According to Tyler Technologies, the data centers are fully-redundant with telecommunications access, electrical power, and required hardware to provide access to the Tyler Software in the event of a disaster.

In the hypothetical situation of a declared disaster that can include data loss or damage due to Tyler’s act or omission or Tyler’s software defect, the recovery time objective (RTO) would be within 24 hours.

Annual testing is conducted to confirm that the network is secure and running according to the description.

The Tyler software contracted to Bonners Ferry will include a financial management system to oversee core financials, purchasing, fixed assets, inventory control and project accounting.

Secondly, a personnel management suite will be allowing for position budgeting, an employee web-portal, and an attendance system.

Finally, the systems will include customer relationship management systems that will cover accounts receivable, utility billing, notifications for billing, work orders, mobile service orders and cashiering.

There will be a $1.25 fee for transactions and payments online. Tyler Technologies will charge utility services a small fee for notifying customers of a due bill.

The system can be used further for expansion to include other services such as permits required by the city.

The current system has features that are not as comprehensive or advanced as the Tyler software will be for the city; the conversion and rollout will take a minimum of a year.

According to the city, multiple companies were suggested, but after an extensive review of the companies and ranking, they decided on Tyler Technologies; which offers additional services for schools, courts and law enforcement.

The software company Tyler began exclusively serving the public sector in 1998, with clients that include Los Angeles County and small counties with a population of fewer than 200 residents.