The dormitory is managed by a special system to handle rooms, managers, and boarders. The Internet billing is another one. If the two systems are different, the hardest are logistics and information people, each student changes on both sides. We have seen schools, students move away from the dormitory system, there are billing numbers in the billing system, and parents complain to the school office.
Think about what kind of data you need to get.
The core is three categories: changes in personnel (entry, drop-out, suspension), room changes (entry, retitling, departure), identity attributes (school number, name, faculty). These three types of data are pushed from the dormitories system to a fee system that automatically opens accounts, binds rooms and sells. We suggest that we start with all the fields, run them over 80% of the daytime operation, leaving the marginal scene to be swept.
The account life cycle follows the accommodation.
The most important automation is the opening and closing of accounts. Student enrolment, dormitory system generates accommodation records, billing system automatically opens accounts, preset basic packages; boarding, boarding system tags out of school, fee system automatically freezes or cancels, balances are routinely dropped. We have seen a high school without access, where the account number of dropout students is manually closed before it is cleared, and some have graduated two years after the completion of their service (although free base, resources are spent and reconciliations are disrupted). After this process, logistics are fully automated and no longer used as a sound-phone.
The room is tied to automatic. One less record, one less mistake.
The dormitory bill is often used to view consumption and speed limits according to the dimensions of the room. When a student is convalesced, the room on the side of the billing is tied if it is still in the old room, the checkout will be made. Once the dialling is done, the retoucher comes in synchronised from the dormitory system, automatically attaches the account number to the new room, historical consumption goes to the older room, new rooms go to the new one. We suggest that time stamps be kept in sync with the time stamp, changes are maintained, and the students say the day they get involved."I never lived in that one. Why did you pull that one?"The backstage tracks are clear. This traceability is not possible by manual recording, and the system is symmetrically connected to natural logs.
The interface is not about the fancy.
Two systems are connected, often with databases, documents, and interfaces. We do not recommend direct links to databases, one system upgrades the table structure, and the other collapses. The relative security is that time document batches or standard interfaces are sent, errors can be repeated and logs checked. We suggest that both parties agree on a field format and an abnormal processing logic before switching, such as whether a recording dormitory system has a built-up or a warning system. These boundaries are not clear, and the interface runs every night or a transport dimension.
The reconciliations are the same on both sides.
The most easy problem to come up with when you get through is that the dormitory system says that this person is back, and the billing system says it's still working. Roots are often not the same second for time difference, and the operating hours and billing systems of the dormitory system are not the same. We suggest that reconciliation be made on a natural day, allowing delays in data from that date, and then even again the following day. When the finance accounts raise monthly bills, cross-check the accommodation status and billing status, and several discrepancies are manually confirmed.
Clear lines of authority and responsibility.
There is also a hidden problem after the breakup: who has the right to change each other's source data. The room number in the dormitory system changes along with the billing side, and if the room code is not properly regulated, it may be broken by dozens of students. We suggest that the interface be made one-way or controlled two-way and there are operating audits on both sides. Which system has changed, who operates it, synchronized to the opposite side, leaving all traces. Responsibility is clear, the system is connected.
The boundaries of privacy and jurisdiction need to be clear.
The two systems are accessible, necessarily involving the flow of student personal information between systems and privacy compliance cannot be ignored. We suggest that the interface is clear: the billing system only takes necessary identity and room fields, does not take sensitive information about family and grades; transfers encrypted access to storage with minimal privileges. Students have the right to know what their information is used for costing, which is written in a private statement. There were schools that synchronized all the fields of the learning engineering system to the billing firms, and were audited as over-extended.
The way the dormitory system is connected to the system of online billing and accommodation management is essentially a process that turns duplicate work into an automatic flow. Good enough, logistics less, students less running more, bills less wrongly; bad enough, it's just two systems that are wrong together. Pick core fields, secure interfaces, keep full logs, clear accounts.