IMPLEMENTATION OF ONLINE PAYMENTS IN ALEPH Matt Couzens, Library Services Joao Neves, IT Solutions

Session outline 1.Why online payments? 2.The options considered 3.The technologies used 4.Implementation 5.Demonstration 6.How successful has it been?

Why online payments? Manual transactions inefficient use of staff time – Over 30k active Aleph patrons – Annual fines to the value of approx £150k – 85 staff delivering the frontline service across our 6 libraries – Payments previously only taken at the desk, over the phone, by posting a cheque, or at the self-service kiosks In response to customer feedback Reductions in risk and cost through less cash handling and less processing of card data onsite

The options considered We wanted real-time payment, not overnight batch No readymade solutions so we would have to develop our own Which interface, Aleph OPAC or Primo? – no strong preference from a business perspective, but for technical reasons the Aleph OPAC was chosen Create new payment gateway, or reuse an existing gateway? – Decided to integrate with existing print management system, PaperCut

The technologies used Rely on standard interfaces – Web Services, x-Server, REST-full ALEPH API, SIP2 OPAC WEB – User session integration – Aleph templates SIP2 – Client development PAPERCUT – RESTFUL XML-RPC – Client development – Double checking of transactions Financial reporting and account conciliation

Implementation IT/LS joint cooperation – Driven by LS Customer services – Requirements gathering & joint meetings – Acceptance document Development environment – Papercut test server – Library (ALEPH) test server UAT – Test done by LS Development & Documentation and implementation in 3 months

Implementation - issues Issues – Multiple transaction debits (due to impatient users) – Partial payments (difficult and awkward database transactions) – Fixed amounts in Papercut.

Demonstration…

How successful has it been?

No serious issues, a few minor issues after go-live were quickly fixed Very successful collaboration between IT and Library Services Contributed to Library Services’ achievement of the UK government’s Customer Service Excellence standard in May 2014

ANY QUESTIONS? MATT COUZENS SERVICE IMPROVEMENT MANAGER LIBRARY SERVICES JOAO NEVES SENIOR APPLICATION ANALYST - LIBRARY SYSTEMS INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY