Let`s face it: Our industry is a tough one. We are

 Let’s face it: Our industry is a tough one. We are constantly faced with evolving regulation and compliance requirements all while clients are pushing for better rates. DAKCS has been successful in developing solutions that stay aligned with these evolving regulatory changes and compliance requirements while continuing to maintain the commitment to provide astounding customer service. With over 30 years of experience, DAKCS wants to share some of our insight with you, no matter if you currently use DAKCS as a software solution or not. If you are in the process of evaluating collection software solution vendors to automate your first-­‐ and third-­‐party collection requirements, we want to provide some guidance on the top 10 critical questions to ask your vendor candidates before you make the investment. If you have selected your collection software vendor already, these questions are still important to ask your current vendor to stay up to date and involved. We want to assist you on asking the right questions. 1. Can I have references, references, and more references? Your vendor should be able to provide an extremely granular reference list based on your unique requirements, goals, organizational size, and debt portfolio managed. If your vendor can’t provide references that are uniquely aligned to your business and the way it functions (or the way you want it to function), keep looking and find one who can. Ask for references from your vendor that align with your: §
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Organizational and company size Staff type (i.e. Collection resources, Accounts Receivable staff, technical resources) Hosted or on-­‐premise installations Type of debt managed First and/or third party debt management functions Data conversion references from your system that you are converting from (either vendor stated or in-­‐house developed system) Dialing solution requirements of upload/download for call campaigns. 2. How are you addressing compliance within your products and software solution? If industry compliance is an afterthought for your vendor and it’s not built into the core application with configurability to adapt accordingly to necessary regulations, continue to evaluate your vendor solutions. If your vendor isn’t on the leading edge of regulation and compliance, then continue to research your vendor pool. Discuss the following with your software vendor: §
Does the system offer built-­‐in compliance? §
Would I need other “compliance modules” that I will be charged extra for? §
Is the system configurable to adapt to the state regulations that I am licensed in? §
Does the system offer an enforced compliance architecture, where business rules are applied, followed, enforced and documented? § How does your product address Regulation-­‐E? Are there integrated solutions? 3. As my business grows and the industry evolves, how flexible are your products? As we have mentioned before, the collection industry is greatly changing and has been for some time now. We see it every day. We have noticed that our most successful customers are working to be overall providers for their clients and are moving “upstream”. To do this, many work on behalf of their clients as a billing solution or pre-­‐collect. Successful customers are evolving into other industries or departments as the third-­‐party collection space faces further government and credit card regulation. Make sure that the solution(s) you are evaluating addresses your business needs today, but that the solution(s) also provides flexible ways to adapt for your future business plans and goals. 4. How many programmers will I require in order to maintain your products? Customizations are expensive and require expensive resources or vendors to make these changes, plus they can take a very long time. Your system should be able to be setup, configured, maintained and evolved with operational resources that know how your business operates successfully, but not require the necessity of an expensive programmer unless you choose to do so. 5. How configurable are your accounts receivable and collection management solutions? No two collection professionals, departments or agencies are the same. Those who are successful, profitable and growing in today’s market have differentiated their agencies and departments with unique requirements, business rules, standards and structure. This is your “secret sauce” that shows why you are unique and how you differentiate yourself from your competitors. Don’t settle for anything less. You need a system that provides agility for your unique requirements and workflows, both visually and functionally. 6. All the product solutions that you as a vendor are offering, how many were created in-­‐
house rather than partner with other vendors? Established, knowledgeable vendors in our industry should have all the required solutions built into their solution suite. If you have to call another vendor to get a problem resolved with your predictive dialer or your client portal, you are wasting valuable time and money. Other key items to consider as it pertains to solutions required to run your business successfully include: § Does your client access portal provide real time access to ARM and debtor information in order to reduce printing and mailing costs? § Does your dialing solution require upload/ download of call campaign information? § Does your staff go to another program to enter in credit card/ACH payment information? § Does your accounts receivable and collection management system provide a collectability score solution built into the product? 7. Do you offer hosted AND on-­‐premise versions of your accounts receivable and collections management system? Whether you are interested in a hosted server solution today or in the near future, or maybe you’re not currently looking. Providing hosted solutions is where the collection industry is headed. It is where many industries are headed. At the end of the day, it is a financial decision on whether a hosted solution is simply less expensive to implement and maintain overall. Ask your vendor if they offer hybrid hosted solutions where you would have the option of purchasing licenses and the vendor would host those licenses (Infrastructure as a Service) or if your vendor provides a subscription license and the vendor hosts (Software as a Service). If your vendor has no plans to offer a hosted version of their system, you need to continue to evaluate your options. Conversely, maybe a hosted solution isn’t aligned with your current business goals, staffing or client requirements. Make sure your vendor can offer an on-­‐
premise version of their accounts receivable and collection management system as a solution if a hosted system is not right for your current business needs. 8. How easy is it for me to get my data for reporting during business operation, and in the event I want to move to another vendor? It is one of the most important questions to ask your vendor candidates. Make sure that you have complete and full access to your data during operation via an easy to use, graphical, report writer that doesn’t require a programmer to use. Both technically and legally, make sure you will have access to your data in the event that you do decide to leave your current vendor. Thoroughly review the vendor’s proposed license and/or service level agreements (if they are proposing a hosted system along with data conversion). 9. Describe your project management, implementation, training, data conversion, and professional custom development services that you will provide to quickly and efficiently get my organization go-­‐live and using your products? Any software product geared towards the accounts receivable and collection management market is only as good as the team who helps implement, train and consult, convert data and provide custom interface(s) development required for the go-­‐live of the project. Be sure to ask thorough and detailed questions regarding this process of your system implementation project. If there are not clearly defined, explained or provided checklists and references for you to review, be cautious. 10. What is your average turnaround time on a customer support request? The service level and experience after implementation is complete and is vital to your business success. You need a technology partner who is an extension of your office or organization and who can ensure your technical and functional requests are rapidly handled. If your vendor cannot provide the average turnaround time on a customer support request or if the references you contact provide negative information regarding customer service after the sale, spend your valuable dollars elsewhere. Every expense you incur is critical in your operations and selecting the right technology partner is the most critical decision you will make. We look forward to you taking this important information provided and implementing these questions as you look for a new collection software vendor or are evaluating your current solution and starting the review and research process for a possible change. For over 30 years, DAKCS Software Systems has remained a leader in simplifying the process of accounts receivable management and debt collection by creating innovative cloud and on-­‐
premise software solutions. Whether it is first or third party, government, or health care, we simplify your accounts receivable, collection management, predictive dialing/IVR, e-­‐payment, credit and risk scoring, client access, self-­‐service and e-­‐signature requirements with elegantly designed, configurable enterprise solutions.