Summary

The Letters process is used to generate customized, Microsoft Word-based form letters for a filtered range of BP accounts. These letters can serve a variety of purposes, such as notifying customers of changes to application rates or requesting updated permit information.

Customers associated with the BP account will only receive a letter if the Notification toggle is checked on the Permit Maintenance window (BP> Maintenance> Permit> General tab> Notification toggle). Any contacts attached to the permit that also have the Notification toggle checked will receive a letter as well (BP> Maintenance> Permit> Contact tab> select a contact> Notification toggle).

Once a letter is generated, the letter details will be recorded on the BP account record (BP> Maintenance> Permit> History tab). Follow this process to generate a BP Letters batch.

Step by Step

1     Create a batch.

• Select the Letters palette in BP> Letters. This will expand the Letters palette and display the steps in the batch process.
• Select New from the Letters batch number drop-down menu to create a new batch. This will open the New Batch window.
  • If there are open batches in the Letters process, you can create a new batch without affecting the open batches.
• Enter a Batch Month and Batch Year. These fields default to the current calendar period and are used for reference only.
• Click the Generate icon   to populate the Batch Number field with the next available batch number. Batch numbers are limited to five digits and must be unique within the batch month of the batch year.
  • You can also manually create a new batch by entering a Batch Number and clicking the Save icon.
• You can delete batches by selecting a batch and pressing DELETE.

2     Generate the Letters.

• Open the Generate Letters window (BP> Letters> Generate).
• Check the Permit Type toggles for each of the permits types you would like to include in the Letters batch. All permit types will be checked by default. You may decide to process a new Letters batch for each group of similar permit types. This can help prevent overlapping records and redundant letters.
  • Permit types are used to group similar permits together into logical associations.
  • Permit types are created and maintained on the Permit Type Maintenance window (BP> Maintenance> Permit Type).
• Check the permit Fee toggles for each fee you would like to include in the batch. All fees will be checked by default.
  • Fees are created and maintained on the Fee Maintenance window (BP> Maintenance> Fee).
• Check the Permit Status toggles for each of the permit statuses you would like to include in the Letters batch. All permit statuses will be checked by default.
  • Permit Statuses are primarily used for informational and reporting purposes. Permits can be set up to automatically change to a particular status when a specified event takes place.
  • Permit statuses are created and maintained on the Permit Status Maintenance window (BP> Maintenance> Permit Status).
• Check the Permit Classes toggles for each of the permit classes you would like to include in the Letters batch. All permit classes will be checked by default.
  • Permit Classes can be used to further classify your permits. They are associated with permit types. For example, permit types could be classified as residential, commercial, industrial or home based. Permit Classes are primarily informational and are available for reporting purposes.
  • Permit classes are created and maintained on the Permit Class Maintenance window (BP> Maintenance> Permit Class).
• Specify a Letter Transaction Date for the Letters batch.
  • This date will be associated with the Letters line item on the Permit Maintenance window (BP> Maintenance> Permit> open a permit> History tab).
• Select a status from the Change status to drop-down menu.
  • When the Letters batch is committed, any permits included will update to the selected status.
• Select Yes from the Ignore Fees drop-down menu to disable the Fees selection field and ignore fees in the letters batch.
• Enter a Description for the Letters batch. This description will display in the letters line item on the History tab of the Permit Maintenance window.
  • This field can be up to 60 characters long.

3     Complete the optional Filters and Permit tabs.

• The Filter tab is used to filter the permits that will be included in the batch.
  • Use the Application Number, Permit Number, Project Cost, Subdivision, Outstanding Balance, Application Date, Permit Issue Date, and Expiration Date fields to further filter the permits included in the batch.
• The Permit tab is used to add specific permits to the batch.
  • Click the Create icon to choose a permit from the Permit Selection window. Highlight the permit you would like to add to the batch and click the Confirm icon to return to the Generate Letters window.
  • The Permit tab overrides all other filters. If you use the Permit tab to add permits to the batch, only those permits will be included.
• Click the Confirm icon to generate the letters immediately or enter a date and time in the field next to the Confirm icon to schedule the letters to generate at a later time.

4     Edit and print the Letters.