48 results found

1. Expand Scope of Active Balance

   As new Alma users, we struggle with Alma’s use of the Fulfillment term ‘Active Balance.’ This is the balance owing that is displayed at the top of the Patron Services screen for each user. We find the term ‘Active Balance’ to be a bit of a misnomer because it only reflects fines/fees for closed transactions as listed under a patron’s Fines and Fees tab – leaving out currently accruing fines for overdue items (support case 00673063) and accruing fines for unpaid items declared lost (support case 00667631).

   The current display puts front line circulation desk operators at a bit of a disadvantage when a user asks them to provide a total amount owing on the spot. Likewise, patron facing Fines\Fees Notification and Borrowing Activity letters reflect the ‘active balance’ as stated in the Fines and Fees Summary, and leave out currently accruing fines for overdue and unpaid lost items.

   We would like to propose that the Patron Services screen display a more complete ‘Active balance’ that reflects all amounts owing -- ie., applied fines from Fines & Fees tab + currently accruing overdue amounts. The ‘Active Balance’ should change daily as additional charges are accrued, paid or waived, etc. Supporting Fines/Fees Notification and Borrowing Activity letters should reflect this broader focus.

   As new Alma users, we struggle with Alma’s use of the Fulfillment term ‘Active Balance.’ This is the balance owing that is displayed at the top of the Patron Services screen for each user. We find the term ‘Active Balance’ to be a bit of a misnomer because it only reflects fines/fees for closed transactions as listed under a patron’s Fines and Fees tab – leaving out currently accruing fines for overdue items (support case 00673063) and accruing fines for unpaid items declared lost (support case 00667631).

   The current display puts front line circulation desk operators at a bit of… more

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2. Time Limit on Waive for Replacement Fees/Fines

   Feature Requested:
   The auto-waive functionality upon item return and ability to set the % to be refunded are wonderful features. To fully meet our needs though we need the % refunded to change after x period of time to a different % to be refunded.

   One possible solution could be to add a parameter that could be set to specify a time limit threshold for auto-waiving of replacement fees of a lost item upon return.

   Use Case:
   After a physical item has been lost for a year we have already bought a replacement and do not want to refund the replacement fee. However prior to a year if the patron returns said item we will honor the action and refund them.

   Feature Requested:
   The auto-waive functionality upon item return and ability to set the % to be refunded are wonderful features. To fully meet our needs though we need the % refunded to change after x period of time to a different % to be refunded.

   One possible solution could be to add a parameter that could be set to specify a time limit threshold for auto-waiving of replacement fees of a lost item upon return.

   Use Case:
   After a physical item has been lost for a year we have already bought a replacement and do not want to refund the… more

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3. Damaged item should be added under ellipsis button menu

   When a book is returned damaged we only have the ability to put it under "lost" with a note. Having the ability to mark it as damaged and have the same functions as lost would be quicker and more concise.

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4. Development request: support multi-institution Alma Touchnet integration

   We're excited about using the Alma Touchnet connector to automate Touchnet payments into Alma, however we have found that in its current form we can't implement. The reason is we are a multi-branch institution with different libraries each with different funds into which fines money is paid. Right now patrons pay fines in Touchnet by navigating to a separate Touchnet payment page, corresponding to a different library and account, for each library.

   Currently, the Alma Touchnet connector can only send payments to one Touchnet site. Then when the payment request comes back, it pays against that patrons account, in Alma, paying off the oldest fine first, then the next oldest, etc. regardless of what library they belong to.

   What I'm suggesting, although I'm very open to alternate suggestions, is that the connector/Primo provide a drop down menu in Primo to allow the user to choose which libraries fines they'd like to pay. Then it sends along with the request data that is sent to Touchnet that also comes back to the connector, the fine_ids of the charges that correspond to that library. perhaps it could also prefill the amount on the Touchnet payment form. Then only this library's fines would be paid and the money would go into the correct account. Obviously there might need to be some configuration allowed, or set up in the connector/Primo if several libraries use the same payment account.

   We're excited about using the Alma Touchnet connector to automate Touchnet payments into Alma, however we have found that in its current form we can't implement. The reason is we are a multi-branch institution with different libraries each with different funds into which fines money is paid. Right now patrons pay fines in Touchnet by navigating to a separate Touchnet payment page, corresponding to a different library and account, for each library.

   Currently, the Alma Touchnet connector can only send payments to one Touchnet site. Then when the payment request comes back, it pays against that patrons account, in Alma,… more

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5. Allow Fines API to return closed fees in the /users/<userID>/fees/<feeID> endpoint

   Something I have noticed is that the fines API has strange behavior when it comes to returning data. /users/<userID>/fees will return only fines for a certain status supplied in the query params, which defaults to active. This makes sense and is fine, but what doesn't make sense is that /users/<userID>/fees/<feeID> doesn't return closed (paid) fees. It returns this error message
   {
   "errorsExist": true,
   "errorList": {
   "error": [
   {
   "errorCode": "401873",
   "errorMessage": "Request failed: API does not support closed fees.",
   "trackingId": "E01-1412050816-2AZKJ-AWAE514295771"
   }
   ]
   },
   "result": null
   }

   This is fairly strange, I would have expected for the fine to still be returned, especially considering that the status of the fine is returned as part of the body so the consumer could still see the status and do logic to filter out closed fees if they wanted. Or alternatively there could be a flag that the consumer sets (something like includeClosed = true/false) to allow the API to return these values

   The use case for this is that we do a nightly reconcile of our transactions and run them again through our processors just to make sure nothing was missed, due to the sensitive nature of needing to get things to do with people's money done correctly. Our processors then do a lookup and check to see if it's a reconcile (receipt# in Alma = receipt# being processed) or if someone has done a duplicate payment somewhere along the line (receipt# in Alma is different to receipt# being processed). However this doesn't work because this endpoint doesn't allow us to lookup previously paid fees for a specific feeID

   I know I could make a request to /users/<userID>/fees, with the filter of closed fines, but this is honestly a workaround and not a real solution. As I then have to search through all those closed fines in order to find the one that I want. As we continue to use Alma over the years this list could potentially be rather long for users that accrue lots of fees

   tldr - behaviour seems strange for an endpoint to not return data for a fee that does exist when the endpoint's job is to return data for one specific record, no filtering required

   Something I have noticed is that the fines API has strange behavior when it comes to returning data. /users/<userID>/fees will return only fines for a certain status supplied in the query params, which defaults to active. This makes sense and is fine, but what doesn't make sense is that /users/<userID>/fees/<feeID> doesn't return closed (paid) fees. It returns this error message
   {
   "errorsExist": true,
   "errorList": {
   "error": [
   {
   "errorCode": "401873",
   "errorMessage": "Request failed: API does not support closed fees.",
   "trackingId": "E01-1412050816-2AZKJ-AWAE514295771"
   }
   ]
   },
   "result": null
   }

   This is fairly strange, I would have expected for the fine to still… more

   6 votes

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6. Ability to run a job on items already marked lost.

   We would like the ability to run a job on lost items from other institutions, to receive a special block. This block restricts the user from placing anymore request and also (do to an app we built) blocks their electronic access. It is quite effective in getting the patron to return items the institution would then be billed for.

   The problem is a block placed on the item prior to it going lost is removed when the item is marked lost and we are not able to run a job on the lost items that would actually apply the block. (we tried)

   We would like the ability to run a job on items that are already marked lost.

   We would like the ability to run a job on lost items from other institutions, to receive a special block. This block restricts the user from placing anymore request and also (do to an app we built) blocks their electronic access. It is quite effective in getting the patron to return items the institution would then be billed for.

   The problem is a block placed on the item prior to it going lost is removed when the item is marked lost and we are not able to run a job on the lost items that would actually apply the block.… more

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7. Adjust fines in Patron Record

   It would be useful to adjust fines in a patron's record without having to either a) delete the fine and then re-post (if adjusting higher), or b) waive part of the fine (if adjusting lower).

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8. Fines not printing

   When we try to print fines in the new UI, very little is printed and certainly not the information we need. We need to print title/barcode/due dates/etc. We can get the list up in Excel, but it doesn't include the patron information and there's too much information. It would just be nice to be able to print the screen and have everything at your fingertips.

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9. Assessed Fines Letter - Ability to Send a Letter Notifying Users That Fines Have Been Assessed

   We need the ability to notify patrons at the point that fines are assessed on their library accounts. Some libraries use the Borrowing Activity Letter for this purpose, but we find that this approach causes confusion for our library patrons. The solution to these problems is to send a letter when fines are actually assessed on user accounts. The letter would be triggered either by the renewal of items resulting in fines or by the return of items resulting in fines. The existing Return Receipt Letter contains all the necessary data elements for this purpose. We request a similar letter that can optionally be configured so that it will be triggered any time a fine is assessed on an account. This would occur when overdue items are scanned in via “Scan In Items” or “Return Items” as well as in the Returns tab of the patron account. It would also occur when items are renewed.

   Confusion: The Borrowing Activity Letter is received too far away in time (in our case, once per month) from the assessed fine. Oftentimes, patrons are confused by the fact that they are being notified of fines because time has passed since the fines were actually assessed. It would be better to send this portion of the letter as fines are actually assessed. Further, the statement of fines on the Borrowing Activity Letter is misleading. This statement tells the patron that a fine is currently accruing (meaning that it could be different tomorrow!). We need a statement that informs the patron once a fine has been assessed (and is therefore a stable reckoning of their account). Ex: On Tuesday, student receives notification that they have an overdue item with $7.00 in fines currently accruing. When the student brings back the item on Wednesday, they will have accrued $7.50 in fines. Wednesday evening, the $7.50 assessed fine will be exported to Bursar. (This is the information that the student needs to receive.) On Thursday, the student's Primo account will say that they have $0.00 in "Active" fines.

   The solution to these problems is to send a letter when fines are actually assessed on user accounts. The letter would be triggered either by the renewal of items resulting in fines or by the return of items resulting in fines. The existing Return Receipt Letter contains all the necessary data elements for this purpose. We request a similar letter that can optionally be configured so that it will be triggered any time a fine is assessed on an account. This would occur when overdue items are scanned in via “Scan In Items” or “Return Items” as well as in the Returns tab of the patron account. It would also occur when items are renewed.

   We need the ability to notify patrons at the point that fines are assessed on their library accounts. Some libraries use the Borrowing Activity Letter for this purpose, but we find that this approach causes confusion for our library patrons. The solution to these problems is to send a letter when fines are actually assessed on user accounts. The letter would be triggered either by the renewal of items resulting in fines or by the return of items resulting in fines. The existing Return Receipt Letter contains all the necessary data elements for this purpose. We request a similar letter… more

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10. Letter sent to patron when fine waived

    Although there is a letter when a fine is paid, we'd like a letter that would automatically be sent when a patron's fine is waived.

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11. Process type "Lost and Paid" Should Not Be Added To Items After Waiving Their Lost Item Replacement Fees

    We discovered that the process type "Lost and Paid" is applied to items whose Lost Replacement Fee has been waived by staff! This is misleading. It means that we have items marked as Lost and Paid where no money has exchanged hands. This can have financial audit/reconciliation implications if a report is generated on this process type without relying on other data to clarify past transactions.

    I wonder if Alma could add an additional process type that would better distinguish between lost books that were actually paid for and those whose fee was forgiven by using, for example, "Lost and Closed" or "Lost and Waived", etc.

    Has anyone else seen this behaviour in their instance of Alma? If so, are you fine with using Lost and Paid for both scenarios?

    We discovered that the process type "Lost and Paid" is applied to items whose Lost Replacement Fee has been waived by staff! This is misleading. It means that we have items marked as Lost and Paid where no money has exchanged hands. This can have financial audit/reconciliation implications if a report is generated on this process type without relying on other data to clarify past transactions.

    I wonder if Alma could add an additional process type that would better distinguish between lost books that were actually paid for and those whose fee was forgiven by using, for example, "Lost and… more

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12. Set default payment type for circulation desk

    We would like the ability to set default payment options for our circulation desks. We currently use the cash option for our student campus payment system since we do not have the ability to add custom payment types and we do not actually accept cash anymore so we use that but cash is showing as the "default" option from the payment area and most of our payments are credit card so we would like to set credit card as the default payment option.

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13. Overdue fine

    Overdue fines should not only be configurable for a time period of 1 hour or 1 day maximum, but also for 1 week and 1 month.

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14. Add schedule time for a schedule job

    We would like to add a new schedule time to the schedule job Fines\Fees Notifications Job that send the letter - FulFinesFeesNotificationLetter - Every day at 09:00 .

    Thanks

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15. Require a better fines and fees summary report

    Would like to see an actual report that summarizes the days transactions by transaction type (one line each for fines, lost payments, processing fees, etc., inlcuding the total number of transactions and amounts) in one section and then a summary of transactions by payment method (# of transactions and the total), with a line for the grand total. An itemized list of transactions would not be required as staff generally just need the totals to balance at the end of the day/shift. While something like this can be built in analytics, that data is not available until the next day, which is not helpful.

    Would like to see an actual report that summarizes the days transactions by transaction type (one line each for fines, lost payments, processing fees, etc., inlcuding the total number of transactions and amounts) in one section and then a summary of transactions by payment method (# of transactions and the total), with a line for the grand total. An itemized list of transactions would not be required as staff generally just need the totals to balance at the end of the day/shift. While something like this can be built in analytics, that data is not available until the next day,… more

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16. Option of fine free returns

    Turns off fine accrual or loan suspensions when overdue items are returned to the library.

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17. account or book alarms

    we often invoice customers for lost items only for them to return it without notifying a member of staff, meaning we have to keep checking either the book or the account to see if the books have been returned prompting us to cancel any invoices - it would be great if we could add an alarm to an account or book to notify us when a book has been returned...I envisage adding the ALARM to a BOOK or ACCOUNT when ever setting up blocks/fees associated with the account.

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18. All Fine notices need to include the "Active Balance" in the patron account, not just the last fine generated.
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19. View closed fines- order by transaction date

    When answering fines queries it would be useful to be able to arrange the 'closed' fines in the order in which they were resolved, in order to provide a chronological explanation.

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20. Would it be possible to dispute more than one fine at a time rather than individually?
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