플로리다에 위치한 St. Cloud시는 최근 가정내 음용수, 하수, 재활용수, 우수, 고형 폐기물 그리고 수도세 관련 소비자 관리 등의 서비스 분야들에서 개선을 경험하고 있다. 이는 최근 Advanced Utility System사의 소비자 정보 시스템(CIS)과 다용도 과세 솔루션, CIS Infinity라는 두 시스템의 결합, 성능 개선으로 인한 결과이다.

N. Harris Computer Corporation의 자회사인 Advanced사는 서비스 공급 대상자로 St. Cloud시를 선택한 이유로 도시의 수요 중심 성장과 도심 서비스 운영에 있어서 새로운 입주민의 수요로 인한 그 경제적 규모가 점점 커지는 현상을 꼽았다. St. Cloud시는 1911년 1월 3일에 도시로 통합되었고 그때부터 도시 영역이 점점 확장되었다. 도시는 현재 넓어지는 도심으로 공급되는 하수도와 수처리 서비스를 기반으로 한 자발적 영토 통합으로 점점 그 크기를 더해가고 있다고 전해졌다. 

ST. CLOUD, FL, and TORONTO, ON, July 15, 2013 -- The city of St. Cloud, Fla., is seeing an improvement of its in-house potable water, wastewater, reclaimed water, stormwater, solid waste, and specialized fees billing and customer service functions with the recent integration of Advanced Utility Systems' customer information systems (CIS) and utility billing solution, CIS Infinity. 

Advanced, a division of N. Harris Computer Corporation, chose the city of St. Cloud because its growth has been demand-based, and city services have been extended to meet the needs of new residents as well as providing economies of scale for the operation of city utilities and services. St. Cloud was incorporated on January 3, 1911, and its boundaries have expanded dramatically since then. The size of the city is now controlled by voluntary annexation based on the supply of sewer and water services to the expanding urban area. 

With the purpose of simplifying and making their customer service function more cost efficient, the city of St. Cloud made the decision this year to transfer these services from a contract operator to an in-house operation and selected Advanced as its customer information and utility billing solutions partner.

Veronica Miller, Public Services Administrator notes, "Being an Advanced customer provides us with a smoother path to successful transition. Advanced facilitated a city of St. Cloud partnership with Toho Water Authority, a current Advanced customer and nearby utility. They will provide us with supplementary staffing for our implementation and hardware hosting. Along with the expertise of Advanced staff, we will be bolstered by a utility that can share its experiences and knowledge to get us fully operational on CIS Infinity faster and more efficiently."

Peter Fanous, Executive Vice President for Advanced comments: "In the past couple of months we have gained a lot of momentum in Florida as a result of our clients being strong references. In the months ahead this momentum will continue as we will be signing additional contracts with other utilities in the State."

[출처: Waterworld / 2013년 7월 15일]