Circa 5,000 hours per annum of manual handling eliminated
Cost savings of $600,000 per annum
ROI delivered within 5 weeks
30 to 40 minutes manual handling saved per transaction
It streamlined transactions, reduced errors in payments, and significantly improved customer satisfaction.
The implementation of the food register payment portal has been a game-changer for us at Council. It streamlined transactions, reduced errors in payments, and significantly improved customer satisfaction. This portal has not only enhanced efficiency but also strengthened trust between Council and our customers. A true win-win for all involved." Ingrid Jensen, Business Analyst - Ballina Shire Council
Background
Ballina Shire Council is a progressive coastal council in northern NSW with a Business Systems team focused on delivering digital services for residents and businesses. Symphony3’s worked with the business systems team to simplify their payments register process.
The Digital Challenge
Each year, council fees and charges must be applied to business registers (e.g., food premises) managed in Civica Authority/Altitude.
The legacy process was largely manual:
- Letters and ad-hoc communications to notify businesses of fees
- Limited tracking of who had paid / who was outstanding
- Manual reconciliation of payments back into Authority
Council needed a streamlined, automated way to issue payment requests, accept online payments via BPOINT, and reconcile receipts back into Authority in real time, reducing staff effort and errors.
The Vision
Create a clean, staff-friendly, cloud solution that:
- Imports annual fee data from Authority registers
- Issues personalised “Pay Now” emails with pre-filled links
- Processes payments via BPOINT
- Auto-receipts back into Authority via Agency/Receipt APIs
- Scales easily to additional registers and future digital services
The Solution
A cloud-hosted Drupal application (on Platform.sh) tightly integrated with Civica Authority/Altitude and BPOINT, designed with minimal, intuitive UI.
ERP Data Sync Module
- Secure import of register fee data (batched or as needed)
- Clean, targeted UI to visualise and verify key fields (e.g., total fee, contact)
- Helpful for spotting and correcting data quality issues at source in Authority
Payment Notification Module
- Tokenised mail-merge (applicant, premises, fee)
- “Pay Now” button linking to a pre-filled BPOINT form (card details only)
- Emails sent via Amazon SES (through SMTP)
Real-Time Receipting
- Successful payments auto-reconciled back into Authority via Agency/Receipt API
- Full logging of imports, emails, and payments, with manual retry if an API call ever fails
Access & Security
- Microsoft SAML SSO for staff access and role-based permissions
Transformative Results
Citizen Experience Revolution
- Instant Information Access via Search: Critical services now discoverable in seconds, not minutes
- Barrier-Free Engagement: Inclusive design ensures equal access for all community members
- Intuitive Navigation: Navigation that is logical, easy to use and makes it quick to get to the information you need.
Staff Productivity Explosion
- Content Management Improvements: Content creation that once took hours is now completed in minutes
- Workflow Acceleration: Streamlined processes eliminate bottlenecks and ensure content can be improved quickly and efficiently
- Creative Freedom: Staff now focus on creating easy to use, innovative content rather than wrestling with technology
Organisational Transformation
- Operational Cost Disruption: Reduction in maintenance overhead – Symphony3 manage all overheads and support is available 24/7
- Digital Resilience: Platform built to evolve with emerging technologies
- Brand Elevation: Alpine’s digital presence now projects efficiency and a forward-thinking leadership team managing a modern progressive organisation.
The Symphony3 Difference
Real Results
- 30 – 45 Minutes saved per payment transaction
- ROI delivered in 5 weeks
- Circa 5000 manual handling hours can be eliminated per annum
- Potential Cost savings of $600k per annum
- Live in weeks; processed ~$40,000 in the first 2.5 weeks
- Two-click customer experience: open email → Pay Now → submit card
- High satisfaction from Ballina’s Business Systems team