Online Based Water Billing System With M

Web Based Water Billing System with Mobile Application
For San Jose Del Monte Water District, Bulacan
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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Project Context
San Jose del Monte has a biggest resettlement area in the Philippines,
Sapang Palay resettlement in 36 barangays (pop: 250,000) and others like
Pabahay 2000 in Muzon (pop: 106,603) Towerville in Minuyan Proper, (pop:
38,846) and 40 others scattered along the city. Managing a thousand of people is
not easy for Water District and monitoring their usage. One example problem
encountered by San Jose Water District is human error wherein water bill is not
delivered to the correct home owner, resulting to delay on payments. Manual
data entered is time consuming which leads to delays in the availability of data
resulting to slow processing of information and the important data is manually
entered resulting to inconsistencies on the records .
Web based water billing system is an automated system that is based
on delivering the water bills to the consumer. This system can manage the billing
by sending it directly to the consumer via mobile application or web. The
proponents proposed Web based Water billing with Mobile Application in order to
help the company’s growth. The system will be able to generate invoices,
process payment, calculate penalties, and generate billing reports and issues
official receipt. This will also serve as storage of billing information on a
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centralized database wherein, whenever the accounting department asked for
billing reports periodically billing and collection has the ability to produce reports
immediately. The system is accurate enough to meet client’s demand.
This study is conducted to help the said establishment to make the billing
process easier, modernized yet user-friendly and reliable. The proponents will
develop a system entitled “Web Based Water Billing System with Mobile
Application” for San Jose Del Monte Water District to upgrade their existing
system to an automated system. The proposed System is a combination of
software and hardware that receives detail and service usage information,
groups this information for specific accounts or customers, creates report for the
management, records (posts) payments made to customer and Monitor and
supervise activities in progress to ensure they are on-course and on-schedule to
meet the objectives and performance target.
Purpose & Description
In this proposed system the Proponents will mainly focus on the
development of Web Based Water Billing System with mobile Application and will
provide an alternative way for efficiency to give their customers a fast, secure
and reliable service.
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The Major beneficiaries of the system are the following:
SJDM Water District. The implementation of the proposed system will
enhance the company transaction. The system will secure all the records of the
Water District, they’ll have an accurate detailed and timely reports of the
transactions.
Residence of SJDM. The customer will also benefit because they no
need to wait for the water bill from the bill delivery and the customer will not
experience a long time waiting because the customer will receive automatically
the water bill via mobile phone by using the water billing application.
Proponents. Through the study the proponents will enhance their skills in
system analysis, design and developing a mobile application which is vital for
future I.T professionals and to make a suitable system for the company that they
have chosen.
Future Researcher. The Study will serve as a guide for the student or
other researcher who are also conducting similar study on Web based Water
billing system with mobile application.
The results of this study could help them to realize that the Web based
Water billing system is much better than the existing system of water district of
San Jose del Monte because from time to time the technology is changing and
also the people that’s why the proposed project is significant than the existing
system.
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Objectives of the Study
General Objective
The general objective of the study is to create a Web based Water Billing
System to improve the Billing System in San Jose Del Monte Bulacan.
Specifically it aims to:
Design and develop a Web- based Water Billing System with Mobile application
which will be capable of:
a. Providing an efficient web based water billing system where the system
will send a bill through web and mobile application.
b. To provide an application where in customer can easily access and
monitor their water bill.
c. Allows the user to view the previous bill.
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Scope & Limitations
Scope of the Study
This study focuses on how the water billing of San Jose del Monte Water
District will improve their billing system. Therefor customers will receive their
consumption and water bill computation into mobile phone through web based
sending with efficient working environment and user friendly interface resulting
in fast processing of data of the customers, water district employees will no
longer print paper bill statements and manually deliver to the home owners.
Limitation of the Study
Even though customer can check how much they pay in each month from
home via Water Billing Application, the customer cannot process payment
through the application the system does not include payment transactions. This
Study does not cover the other city of Bulacan, the project will focus only to the
water district and the residence of San Jose del Monte Bulacan.
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CHAPTER 2
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES
In this chapter, the proponents present a review of different studies and
literature, which are related to the proposed study.
Related Literature
According to Amy Schmidt and Lynne Lewis (2017) .These results support
the assumption that, as consumption decreases, consumers face larger CBFR
bills to cover system costs. However, individual bills do not increase
proportionally to consumption decreases: a 25% system-wide decrease in
consumption over five years raises a high user’s bill by 8%, an average user’s bill
by 6%, and a low user’s bill by 3%. The result that greater users face greater
price increases over time also suggests that some amount of progressive pricing
is built into the system, for as overall community consumption decreases, those
who persist in using high volumes of water will account for a larger fraction of the
total and face higher bills as a result. This explains why high use bills increase
more than low-use bills. No bill value exceeds the 2% of MHI limit recommended
by the EPA. If fixed-variable costs decrease in absolute value by at least 2% per
year, CBFR bills should be lower for all users versus the status quo with no
conservation. Table 12 shows the results of such a simulation. At any level of
consumption, decreasing the fixed-variable costs over time decreases the
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consumer’s bill. Compared to the status quo from Simulation 1, lowering costs
and consumption lowers bills by 6% for high users, 5% for average users, and
2.6% for low users. In contrast to the scenario with no change in utility costs, this
scenario provides a greater savings the greater the amount of water used. This
suggests that the yearly cost decreases overpower increases in the proportion of
the total accounted for by the high-use consumer. While all consumers see a
decrease in bills, the disproportionate benefit provided to high-income users may
conflict with other goals like equity and conservation-focused billing. Based on
the significant difference in billing prices for CBFR between Lomita and
Longmont, it is clear that the results of switching to the CBFR system are largely
dependent upon the current utility pricing situation and community
characteristics. Customers, whereas in Longmont, the system decreased bills for
high users but increased bills for low and average use customers. Comparing the
IBR systems employed by each utility reveals some key differences in current
pricing that ultimately make the CBFR either helpful or harmful to customers.
(Schmidt & Lewis, 2017)
According to Mr. Keith J. Richardson (2009) For a number of years, the
city has invested a significant amount of time and effort to replace the 30-year-
old customer billing system used by the Water Revenue Bureau (WRB) to
process water and sewer bills for customers of the Philadelphia Water
Department (PWD). With approximately 515,000 customers that annually
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generate over $400 million in water and sewer charges, a reliable billing system
is critical to meeting the accounting and financial reporting needs of the city’s
Water and Sewer Fund. The old system had various limitations, and city
management felt that a new system would enhance the billing process. Over the
last eight fiscal years, the city has raised the rates that it charges for water and
sewer service by 41 percent and will be raising rates by another 18 percent over
the next three years (Exhibit I). The objectives of our review were to determine
whether the new system has improved the enforcement process and to
determine whether there were adequate safeguards and controls over the billing,
adjustment, and financial reporting processes. Our work consisted of interviewing
WRB and PWD personnel as well as analysing account activity, and testing the
new system’s billing, adjustment, financial reporting, and enforcement functions.
We performed our work from June 2008 through February 2009 in accordance
with Government Auditing Standards issued by the Comptroller General of the
United States. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to
obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our
findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe that the
evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions
based on our audit objectives. (“CITY OF PHILADELPHIA REVIEW OF NEW
WATER BILLING SYSTEM,” 2009)
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According to Mark Ehab Shoukry and Michael Maher Ibrahim (2017)
Technology and Communication always try to make peoples life easier. So the
main purpose of this paper is based on developing an automatic electronic water
billing system in Egypt. In this paper, we design and implement a complete
automatic water billing system without interference of any employees. All
currently implemented systems depends on1 bill for the whole building and water
companies pay a lot of money for printing the bills and some meters are
damaged or cannot take readings from. Our proposed system consists of smart
meters. These meters are present in every house and will take the water
readings and send them wirelessly to the water company base station via GSM
modules. The readings are saved into the data base automatically and uploaded
on the website automatically where the user can pay online. Frequents MS
notifications are sent to the user after each step. The Water is generally regarded
as a precious and limited resource. Although most of the Earth is covered by
water, only small percentage of it is fresh water usable for human activities.
Water billing system in Egypt contains many issues: The employee doesn’t take
the reading of the meter and puts threading aimlessly. Some of the meters are
damaged or in places hard to reach and readings cannot be taken from them.
Only one bill is produced for the whole building which is divided evenly among
the apartments in the building. So people who use huge amount of water are
equated to those who don’t. In addition, spending large amount of money for the
employee’s salary and printing the bills, and the bills can be lost as well.
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Proposed system is simple, cheap, fast and friendly user.(Shoukry & Ibrahim,
2017)
According to Janelyn A. Ambre (2016) Water billing system is important to
provide consistent and accurate billing information to clients and service
recipients. The study is aimed to develop an automated water billing system for
the Abra State Institute of Sciences and Technology in Lagangilang, Abra,
Philippines and to determine the usability of it in terms of Efficiency, Affect,
Helpfulness, Control, and Learnability. The descriptive and applied types of
research were employed in the study. Data were gathered through interview and
feedback form. The respondents were from the 8 personnel of the accounting
and cashiering offices. The Rapid Application Development model was used in
the development of the system and the Software Usability Measurement
Inventory questionnaire to test its usability. The gathered data were analyzed and
interpreted using frequency count and mean. Findings of the study revealed that
they need an automated billing system to improve their billing procedures since it
is done manually. Using the Rapid Application Development model, reliable
infeasible automated billing system from development until implementation was
achieved. The developed system was found usable because it was designed to
fit the needs of ASIST. Computerized System and improved efficiency have been
the focus of entrepreneurs. As with many business scenarios, getting rid of paper
improves efficiency, reduces human error and allows information to flow to an
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infrastructure without a time consuming data input process. There is also less
chance of handwritten orders being misread and a higher customer turnaround
as customers will be served faster. Scott (2011) concludes that automation
increases the accuracy of the data, as human error is less likely to occur. The
completeness of the data is also improved as the automated systems will
process all the data in an efficient manner. Neumann (2010) states that water
billing system is a necessary tool to assist small municipalities, utility providers,
bookkeepers, operators, managers, and auditors in unifying their water billing
services, in order to provide consistent and accurate billing information to clients
and service recipients. It is essentially software that processes data and
produces invoices in a given format. (Ambre, 2016)
According to Giselle Joy Esmeria and Rosemary R. Seva (2017) Finding
flights or booking for a hotel has never been easier. With the increasing
popularity of travel websites, interface designers are compelled to provide a
seamless experience for the users. Chiou et al. (Chiou, Lin, & Perng, 2011)
introduced a five-stage strategic framework for website evaluation. This
framework was further demonstrated in the two leading travel websites in
Taiwan. Quality service in terms of convenient shopping is found to be relevant
and providing more convenient payment methods is necessary to achieve this
objective. Haidurova (2013) stressed that common problems in the design
include bad presentation of search results, lack of clarity and difficulty in sorting
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and filtering and confusing display of price. These usability problems greatly
influence the effective use of any travel websites. Most electronic commerce (e-
Commerce) applications are now Internet-based. People can communicate with
web-based online stores like Amazon, e-Bay, Lazada, OLX and many other
similar web-based businesses. The transition of doing business from the
marketplace to marketspace provides bigger opportunities for interface
designers. Interface design is becoming even more critical in the internet. Poor
interface design may lead users to shift from one site to another and eventually
lose business. Website quality has a tremendous effect on customer satisfaction
and purchase intentions (Bai, Law, &Wen, 2008). One critical issue raised by
Diaz et al. (2017) in the design of e-Commerce websites is the failure of interface
designers to consider Hofstede’s cultural dimensions. The cultural-oriented
interface quality is an important element to attract global website users and local
users. The use of e-learning technology is highly recognized nowadays. The
effectiveness of the system relies heavily on the design of the interface. Students
may lose interest in using the technology when they have difficulty in
understanding the interface. Retaining the interests of the students to use the e-
learning websites provides too much of a challenge for interface designers as
well. For instance, the study of Thawed and Salam (2014) revealed that there is
greater expectation from students with regards to the usability characteristics of
e-learning websites. Students are attracted to use e-learning websites when it
can provide better interactions. Penha et al. (Penha, Correia, Campos, & Barros,
2014) also conducted a study on similar website and the results show that
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violations on the basic principles of design and usability greatly affect the
effective use of the eLearning system. The empirical-based study conducted by
Harrati et al. (2016) show that positive user experience and better usability of e-
learning websites are important to the students who are considered the primary
users.(Esmeria & Seva, 2017)
According to Gain U. Monzon, John Cyril O. Ramos, Jeffrey B. Jacob and
Frank Kelvin B. Naynes Android application is one of very common sources of
fun and entertainment now a days. Sometimes, people prefer spending much
time clicking and using their smartphones or gadgets whenever they are. Hence,
game developers and programmers are creating applications that can be easily
installed in their mobile gadgets to help users use their gadget sufficiently .The
use of Android application can help the users learn anywhere they are. They
need to install the application on Android phone. The users do not need to carry
heavy books, because it is simply installed in the Android phone. The application
has an audio voice clip, so the user can learn the correct grammars of the word.
The application is user friendly and is resourceful. The readers/users must
always be guided by the parents and must be helped if there are words that are
hard to read and to pronounce. It can also create bonding time between the
parents and their children. Some students at early age are already fond of using
technology. Because of this, it can be possible for them to be distracted, though it
has a good benefit. This project can help students to learn and at the same time
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enjoy while learning. Even the students will reduce time and efforts in reading a
book. The application also addresser their needs, because they would not be
bored in reading in this application. This can also help with their relationship with
their parents. It can be their way to have a bonding time while using the
application. International Journal of Computer Science and Information
Technology Research. A mobile learning android application for beginner reader
in Filipino is a tool that helps the children learn how to read in their early age and
guide them in proper pronunciation. The contents of the application are the basic
reading manuals like Abakada. This application can help the young age’s excel in
class and at the same time practice while they are at home. The application runs
on Android platform that has aversion of 4.0 or ice cream sandwich up to kit Kat
version. Agile Methodology was used in developing application. It was designed
using Adobe Photoshop and Android Studio for its coding. There were two
testing tools that were used; these are the conformance testing and performance
testing which both passed. In addition, the project was evaluated using the
criteria on Android developers’ standard. (Monzon, Ramos, Jacob, & Naynes,
2016)
According to Charles W. Howe and F.P Linaweaver Jr. (2012). This
papers formulates models of residential water demand and estimate the relevant
parameters from cross‐sectional data. For the first time, it has been possible to
differentiate not only between domestic (inside) and sprinkling uses but also
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among metered, flat‐rate, septic tank, and apartment areas. The major findings
are: domestic demands are relatively inelastic with respect to price 2 sprinkling
demands are elastic with respect to price, but less so in the west than in the east;
maximum day sprinkling demands, so important to system design, are inelastic in
the west but relatively elastic in the east. The findings indicate that the elasticity
of total demand, which this and other studies have found to be about −0.4, is a
weighted average of the domestic and sprinkling elasticities. Longer term
adjustments to price are empirically investigated, and the role of demand
functions in pricing and system design is discussed. (Howe and Linaweaver,
2012).
According to Ana Castillo-Martinez , Alberto Gutierrez-Escolar, Jose-Maria
Gutierrez-Martinez, Jose M. Gomez-Pulido and Eva Garcia-Lopez A significant
decrease in water consumption has been achieved in recent years thanks to
different campaigns run by different institutions in Spain. However, most citizens
do not have a very clear idea about whether or not they are efficiently using
water. To solve this situation, this paper aims is to develop two water labels in
order to improve the current water billing. These water labels evaluate the total
water consumption and the domestic hot water consumption. To make the tags,
several research studies were tackled for establishing consumer trends and
behavior patterns. Furthermore, a survey and data collection were conducted to
obtain updated values to validate information obtained from previous studies.
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The result are two water labels that establish six different levels to graphically
show the efficiency, and they also include a comparison with the average
consumption by customers of the same province. To ensure that the benefits of
this evaluation are available to citizens, its inclusion on the water bill is proposed.
he aims of this paper is to propose a new way to improve the contents in water
bills by adding a new water label that allows for checking the efficiency of water
use. The water tag provides information to tenants about their efficiency of water
consumption. In case of houses with a special meter to obtain the domestic hot
water consumption, an extra water label can be shown with the evaluation of this
kind of consumption. Furthermore, this information is compared to the average
consumption value of citizens from the same province. To go further in citizens’
awareness about this subject, some recommendations should also be included,
which will help to reduce water consumption. This paper is organized into several
sections. Firstly, Section 2 presents the literature review related to this work.
Section 3 describes studies about Spanish housing water consumption, water
use distribution, a survey together with collecting data and the reasons for
incorporating a section with recommendations. After that, it describes the water
labels and how they should be incorporated in the bill. (Castillo-Martinez,
Gutierrez-Escolar, Gutierrez-Martinez, Gomez-Pulido, & Garcia-Lopez, 2014)
According to ZIYA’U BELLO (2014) Billing is a critical function of most
Water Boards especially towards sending the bill to their consumers. Most
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problems, currently seen, result from the manual processes followed. Calculation
errors, delays in system updating and bill sending, also report tracking issues are
the major problems that water boards find difficult to find answers for. This
project work provides a solution called an sms based water billing system to
collect, process and notify consumers about consumption. This system will be
reliable, efficient and accurate to suit the requirements of Bagudo local
government water board. The proposed solution uses evolving Mobile
Technologies known as SMS and voguepay online payment technologies, over a
solution which uses web applications to handle the organization’s day to day
transactions which will allow the water board to send bills to their consumers via
SMS and consumers to pay their bills using ATM cards. The burden on the billing
is lessened and other new features have also been introduced. Consumer
interaction with the organization is improved and consumers can easily view their
monthly water bills by login to the organization’s web site. The importance of
computer cannot be over emphasized since the ancient times, computer has
proven itself capable of accepting data, storing, processing and producing an
accurate result or output. Since computer has partially taken most of the
responsibilities of human being, i intend to embed the use of computer in the
billing exercise. Water Board is an organization that deals with several paper
works and ledger cards in saving records. These records increase every day as
transaction is always going on in the organization. As the record increases,
information saving, retrieval and maintenance is becoming tedious every day.
There is lack of security because the data can be altered by any individual. A
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web server is essentially a computer program which is responsible for handling
HTTP requests. A browser request to view a page the server then accepts the
request and displays the page. From a general point of view, we consider web
servers as the storage area for files which are available on the web. So in order
for any page to be viewable on the web it must be loaded on. (“No Title,” 2014)
According to Cristophe Dumaque (2013) The case studies reviewed
indicate that smart bills improve customers’ awareness of their energy usage and
initiate conservation behavior. In the USA, Opower (2013) who designed the
consumption reports analyzed as part of the Californian case study (SMUD)
found that 83% of customers remembered receiving the reports, 73% read them
thoroughly and 74% acted upon them. Regarding the large trials in Ireland, 82%
of participants made some changes to the way they use electricity and 54%
agreed that it succeeded in making them more aware of their electricity usage.
The results for gas indicate that 86% of participants recalled receiving the usage
statements and 87% made changes to the way they use gas. Finally, in Sweden,
where monthly billing based on actual consumption has been mandatory since
July 2009, consumers are slightly more aware of their electricity consumption
than in many other European countries. In competitive markets, utilities who offer
households solutions to manage consumption and reduce energy expenditure
should see some soft benefits. They should indeed be better placed to stop
consumers from switching to another retailer and also attract new ones. In non-
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competitive markets, the industry’s image may improve. There is also some
evidence of a “halo effect”; in that utilities may be able to capitalize on customers’
newly built sense of empowerment and trust towards the utility These scores
were very similar for both the groups receiving a monthly bill and those receiving
a bi-monthly bill.. Numerous countries are upgrading or contemplate upgrading
their metering systems at massive costs which one way or another will fall on
end-users. Many countries facing increasingly difficult-to-manage spikes in
electricity consumption rightly see dynamic prices as one possible solution and
are trying to promote them to residential consumer. Nevertheless, smart meters
alone do not bring about consumption reductions and mandatory dynamic tariffs
can have a disproportionate negative impact on people who have no choice but
to remain at home all day or have little or no energy to shift. Supporting
regulation should ensure that feedback and education requirements (for instance
through smart billing but also possibly through other more dynamic and
interactive channels if deemed cost-effective) be an integral part of any smart
meter or residential dynamic pricing policy package to ensure that all consumers
are able to benefit financially and otherwise. This report assesses and provides
ex post evaluations of eight best practice examples of informative energy bills1
from diverse geographies, representing a mix of developed and developing
counties. Based on the findings, the report draws recommendations as to how
countries with different profiles and goals could implement and benefit from smart
billing (Dromacque, Xu, & Baynes, 2013)
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RELATED STUDIES
According to Mijung Kim (2015) This dissertation is an examination of how
push notifications affect habit formation and the relationship between habit and
mobile application use. As mobile phones become popular as a media platform
as well as a communication tool, recent design and technological improvements
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in mobile phones have been aimed at increasing the mobile phone’s connectivity
in order to facilitate immediate access for users (Soror, Steelman, & Limayem,
2012). Moreover, as the number of features and applications available on mobile
phones increases, so do the kinds of activities people can carry out on them at
any time and location. Mobile technology continues to advance both in terms of
the functionality of mobile devices and the quality of connections. The
burgeoning choices of applications for data-enabled mobile phones (i.e.,
smartphones) are largely responsible for the expanded range of decision making
processes these devices provide. A lot of this content is useful and enjoyable to
users. Overall, mobile phone users experience fast and efficient information
consumption and enhanced social networking. Notifications from push
notification services transform smartphones into communication hubs that notify
users of incoming information or events as people on the go engage with social
networks, information services, location-based services, and interactive games.
Push notification services also allow “third-party application servers to actively
send data to their installed applications, even when the installed application is
currently not running” (Xu & Zhu, 2012, p. 11). To get push notification service,
mobile application users are asked whether they want to receive notifications
when they install applications. Through push notification services, mobile
application providers can feed information to users in efficient ways and in a 2
timely fashion. Notifications from push notification services serve as reminders
leading people to ultimately use the installed mobile applications. (Kim, 2015)
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According to Paul John N. Macaraeg (2015) The health insurance industry
is saturated by big companies competing for market share. This saturation has
induced a change of focus towards this health insurance companies towards
their customers which went from customer acquisition to customer retention. A
need for a more holistic approach towards customer relationship management is
needed which entails the need for SMS, Telephone and Email helplines. No SMS
enabled customer relationship management tool is of existence in the health
insurance market hence utilization of the pros brought about by the said
technology hasn't been felt by its players yet. This need for an SMS enabled
CRM tool could be substantiated through the utilization of a GSM modem and
KANNEL for WAP based communication with a CodeIgniter based PHP web
application that utilizes MySQL database so as cost and setup would be
minimized for this software. Emails and Telephone helplines provide good quality
of service to members , as they have the perception that they are interacting with
real persons on the other end, however these technologies has a proven
drawback which involves customers waiting for responses in a long period of
time especially on telephone helplines which requires them to be held on the line
for an average duration of 56 seconds or more (Roddy, 2014). This length of time
needed for a consumer to avail of the customer relations services offered by
companies has been proven to be a primary factor for them to feel less of
importance towards that company hence minimizing their retention towards it, as
what the U.S. Survey Report (2014) has found out. Other technologies such as
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SMS has already been proven, by the University of California 2 concluded with
their Group Case Study on Boomerang (2011) , to be of great value for it
provides a method with which companies could easily respond to customer
requests for an automated response system could be put in place of the human
factor needed for the two previously cited (Riley, Schmidt, & Tubin, 2011). The
SMS mode of conversing with consumers has not been explored that much by
health insurance companies in the Philippines although with it poses a great
promise if utilized properly. The reason as to why this happens is inconclusive
and no study has been put up in place to do so. (Macaraeg, 2015)
According to Chemonics International Inc. (2003) Billing and collection are
key elements of financial management and are central to managing a successful
business. Failure to either bill or collect, or to do both, in a timely and efficient
manner can have a negative if not drastic impact on the financial standing of a
company. The billing and collection functions are frequently separated from other
financial management activities in a water company. However, it is important that
data and information flow freely between them to ensure that billing and
collection operate smoothly, and that revenue, income and cash flow in the
company remain strong. The transformation of WAJ Aqaba into a limited liability
company will require the new company to adopt International Accounting
Standards (IAS) and a system of accrual accounting.2 The accrual method
provides a better matching of revenues and expenses than cash accounting and
24
helps analysts and managers to more accurately assess the profitability and
performance of the water company. It is important to note that while accrual-
based accounting is preferable to cash- based accounting, it can lead to a
potential problem in cash management. Under accrual accounting, revenue is
identified for the purposes of accounting when the bills are issued and delivered.
However, no cash is received by the company until the money is actually
collected. The difference between amounts billed and collected is recognized by
a current asset on the balance sheet known as “accounts receivable.” Obviously,
if a company is billing, but not collecting over a long period of time, or if there is a
delay between billing and collecting, its financial statements will present an overly
optimistic and inaccurate picture of its financial performance, when in fact the
finances of the company may be at stake due to an inability to convert accounts
receivable to cash. Many factors account for the large differences existing
between billings and collections and resulting in growing accounts receivable
balances. In some industries, companies may be overly aggressive in
recognizing revenue, especially in industries that allow some. (Pce-i----, 2003)
According to Laura Naismith, Peter Lonsdale, Giasemi Vavoula and Mike
Sharples (2004) Mobile technologies are becoming more embedded, ubiquitous
and networked, with enhanced capabilities for rich social interactions, context
awareness and internet connectivity. Such technologies can have a great impact
on learning. Learning will move more and more outside of the classroom and into
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the learner’s environments, both real and virtual, thus becoming more situated,
personal, collaborative and lifelong. The challenge will be to discover how to use
mobile technologies to transform learning into a seamless part of daily life to the
point where it is not recognized as learning at all. For more shareable
interactions, the devices themselves must become larger and hence less
portable. Examples include interactive classroom whiteboards and video-
conferencing facilities, as shown in quadrant 4. These technologies have been
included to show the complete space of possibilities engendered by our
classification, but they would generally not be classed as mobile technologies.
Mobile technologies are computers, but that does not mean that they should be
viewed as simply providing more portable versions of the learning activities that
are currently supported on more static machines. Being mobile adds a new
dimension to the activities that can be supported, both because of the personal
and portable nature of the devices themselves, and because of the kinds of
interactions they can support with other learners and the environment. (Naismith,
Lonsdale, Vavoula, & Sharples, 2004)
According to Maha.Alqahtani and Heba. Mohammad (2017) Mobile
applications are rapidly growing in importance and can be used for various
purposes. They had been used widely in education. One of the educational
26
purposes for which mobile applications can be used is learning the right way to
read and pronounce the verses of the Holy Quran. There are many applications
that translate the Quran into several languages. In addition, there are
applications that help usersto read the Quran, and search for a particular word or
phrase in the text as well as listening to verses of the Holy Quran. Recently,
many researchers have focused on mobile learning and its environment. Some
researchers have defined the difference between e-learning and mobile learning,
saying thate-learning is a learning process which is supported by digital
electronic tools and media, and by analogy, m-learning is e-learning that uses
mobile devices and wireless transmission (Pinkwartet al,2003,). M-learning
functions by integrating a number of hardware and software technologies into
multimedia applications to facilitate the understanding of educational content, for
example, in the form of quizzes or games. A2010 study by Garajat the School of
Engineering and Design, Brunel University, United Kingdom, was designed to
enhance students’ performance and experiences within the BSc Multimedia
Technology and Design course. The research presented a number of m-learning
application concepts organized under the subjects of administration,
presentation, feedback, motivation, and innovation. The study found that
implementing m-learning is sufficient for students. Hashimand colleagues (2011)
introduced a Java m-learning application tool to review and revise course
materials. This application can be used either on-line or off-line. The on-line
feature helped users to access learning material through a certain URL, while the
off-line feature helped users to access learning content via the application, which
27
had been installed on their mobile devices. This application mainly focused on
three subject areas: science, English, and mathematics. Learners could use the
application to review course materials before exams or quizzes.(Alqahtani &
Mohammad, 2017)
According to Professor Kari Smolander (2008) Enterprises have a need in
use of billing. Before actual choose of a billing system an appropriate platform
has to be deployed. This work presents a study of a platform choosing for a
billing system and shows the role of optimally chosen platform. In evaluation of a
platform several criteria were considered: cost, scalability, reliability, safety,
usability, portability and efficiency. In the thesis three different platforms MAC
OS, Linux and MS Windows were studied. The results of the evaluation of each
platform are shown and according to this results the most suitable platform for a
billing system was chosen A correct choose of an optimal platform makes BS
better and clearer. For example, optimal platform allows reducing the price; build
a safe system and understandable interface for users. There are many
methodologies for evaluation software. When we developed a BS, we should not
copy blindly a structure of BS that was driven to success. Some architecture is
success for some company; other can lead to failure. It is necessary to
understand final is high-quality software and using methods, methodologies,
standards, systems are just essential tools for achievement problem. Further
gives expert opinion about stage of the software evaluation. System low reliability
sources are programmers’ errors made on development stage and not corrected
during the program compilation. A program is correct if it does not have any
28
errors. This program gives correct results thus it is absolutely reliable. Wrong
result can be consequence of several errors. Errors can compensate each other
and after correction of some of them the program will function worse. Therefore,
reliability characterizes frequency of error appearance but do not number of
errors. Errors appear with different frequency; some errors are overlooked after a
long period of service. (Technology & Technology, 2008)
According to Hal P. Schemer and Dennis D. Weiand (2000) A system and
method for monitoring and verifying inventory is provided. The system comprises
a portable computer with a printer and modem all "cabled" together and
maintained in a carrying case. The portable computer communicates with a
mainframe computer on which certain dealer inventory information is maintained.
Software, residing on a disk which is accessible by the portable computer, allows
for the input of dealer codes which are used to identify inventory information
which is downloaded from the mainframe computer to the portable computer.
The inventory information is used to support an audit of a dealer's inventory. The
system of the present invention provides an auditor with an up-to-date record a
dealer's current inventory. The system also provides the auditor with a means for
printing out a checklist for use in undertaking the inventory, for preparing
reconciliation reports for verifying the auditor's findings with the dealer and input
means for inputting the results of the inventory. Ultimately, a final inventory report
29
can be printed which includes the present status of all inventory items and any
and all charges collected. (Schemer & Weiand, 2000)
According to Donald R. Frey Allows customers to be billed a set amount.
There is a settlement period when the budget amount is adjusted to reflect the
past experience. The budget amount is calculated programmatically. However,
the user may override the calculated amount. Many gas and electric utilities offer
this plan. However, we are finding other clients are interested in such a plan to
entice their customers to use ACH for making payments. Some customers are
leery about ACH because the amount varies each month. Budget billing can
eliminate that concern. As postal rates continue to climb, ACH becomes more
attractive as a means of collection. Capability for multiple users to access the
system. This option includes advanced security, record locking, operator logs,
active users on system, Thin Clients, and other features required for a
demanding processing environment. Capabilities for the account and Post net
bar coding of bills. Bar coded bills can be scanned with a variety of scanning
equipment. Imaging interfaces for scanning documents. Receipt printers and
cash drawers are also available with this option. A link to MapQuest is available
which will automatically display a client's location. ACH (Automated Clearing
House) processing is included. ACH provides automatic bank debiting
capabilities. It replaces the old bank drafting systems. Batch receipt processing is
also provided.(“Comprehensive Utility Billing & Control System,” n.d.)
30
According Lawrence Berkeley (2010) This report summarizes the layout
and content of a website created for the CEC to make the information in the
Energy Aware Planning Guide readily available to California cities and counties,
to assist them in their efforts to reduce energy use. The website consists of an
electronic version of the entire Planning Guide that allows easy maneuverability
among the many sections of the document, and quick downloading of references
cited in the document. The website also contains individual briefing pages for 46
land use- and transportation-related measures, including 21 briefs that provide
information on additional transportation-related measures that are not specifically
identified in the Planning Guide. The website also summarizes estimates of the
effectiveness of individual measures described in the briefings, as well as the
cost-effectiveness of each measure, derived from a comprehensive national
study of the potential to reduce energy use from the transportation sector The
website includes 25 measures that are specifically identified in the Energy Aware
Planning Guide, as well as an additional 21 transportation-related measures not
identified in the Planning Guide. The Energy Aware Planning Guide summarizes
23 specific land use and transportation strategies for local governments to
reduce energy use. Some of these strategies were combined, and some were
separated into specific measures, for the website, based on the authors’
judgment. The additional 21 measures not specified in the Planning Guide were
developed based upon a review of the literature. This section includes
31
effectiveness (in million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions reduced) and
cost-effectiveness (in dollars per ton of greenhouse gas emissions reduced)
estimates, which are calculated using cumulative greenhouse gas emission
reductions and direct implementation costs by 2050, from the Moving Cooler
study released by the Urban Land Institute in 2009. (Morris et al., 2010)
According to QUSAY MOHAMMAD IBRAHIM AL-ZOUBI (2009) Mobile
phone plays a very important role in people life today; its functionality has been
extended from voice communication only devices to internet surfing and data
transfer. UUM as a higher education institute, hold and organize numerous
events throughout the academic year and it relies on email communications for
notifying its staff. Using the email notification to announce the staff for the
function is suffering from two main problems which are: First, some of the staff do
not check his/her email periodically, so they may miss read the notification email
about the function and therefore they will not attend the function. Second,
sometimes internet service is not available or staffs are at some place where
they cannot access internet which will lead also to make them unaware about the
function or the notification about that function. This study has successfully
designed and developed a notification system in order to be used by UUM to
send the notifications direct to the staff mobile phones via SMS and thus helps in
make sure that the notification is delivered to all interested staff. Successfully
32
implementing this notification system in UUM will provide the university a reliable
and convenient inter communication channel. One of the most important fields in
concerned with using the notification systems is the business field who are aims
to distribute their advertisements to the largest possible number of consumers
with the less cost and effort. the researcher tries to show the importance and the
vary of usage of the notification system and how it help in the field. And same
time shows the mechanism that used at this study to develop and employ such
system. The system that Karolids, et al. (2005) worked on was designed to cover
any event category such as: sports events, TV schedule, and alert for
unexpected events at home or work and library environment. And it is consisting
of a subsystem for event inserting, user profile management, SMS notification.
The system has three types of users who are they administrator, content
administrator and the end user. The system description includes the main
operation for the system starting by user registration, user login and 14 check,
code access management, event editing add/delete and change, message
syntax and interested events and collection of user preferences. Thus
administrator will be in charge of all the system. The end user has a special
interface at the system, through this web page can defined his/her information
and the interested events of categories, this details will be stored in the system
database. When any event occur the content manager define the message
category then will write down the content of the SMS message and finalize the
message then save the message notification. The system will check at the
category of the message who is interested with this category and will send the
33
message notification directly as SMS to the interested users cell phone numbers.
(al-Zoubi, 2009)
Synthesis
The review of related literature and studies serve as guideline and
foundation of the proponents on their designed proposal. Proponents used the
information of Pradeep Gokhale of Computerize Water Billing System. Water
Billing is important a community it is very useful for processing the water billing in
San Jose del Monte Bulacan. Proponents also adopt of method of study such as
descriptive research. Descriptive method of study focuses in describing the data
and characteristic about what being studied since the proponents engage on san
jose water district, observation and describing of process observation and
describing of processes will be the key in knowing weaknesses and problems of
existing water billing system. Proponents also adopt the theory of Janelyn A.
Ambre which is the iterative implementation study. In this theory, the overall
functionality of the system is broken-down to feature sets. This feature sets
represent different processes involves. Water users make many behavioral,
operational, and investment decisions that affect their water use. They invest
capital to improve on‐site storage capacity, water quality, and use efficiency.
They also allocate water daily from different quality sources to numerous end
uses. Yet water use models have given little systematic attention to sources
availabilities, reliabilities, qualities, conservation options, and local storage.
34
These considerations are important in intermittent supply systems where
households adopt many interdependent actions to cope with insufficient piped
water. Proponents also adopt to Hal P. Schemer and Dennis D. Weiand A
system and method for monitoring and verifying inventory is provided. The
system comprises a portable computer with a printer and modem all "cabled"
together and maintained in a carrying case. The portable computer
communicates with a mainframe computer on which certain dealer inventory
information is maintained. Software, residing on a disk which is accessible by the
portable computer, allows for the input of dealer codes which are used to identify
inventory information which is downloaded from the mainframe computer to the
portable computer. The inventory information is used to support an audit of a
dealer's inventory just like the theory of Maha.Alqahtani and Heba. Mohammad
that mobile applications can be used is learning the right way to read. Some
researchers have defined the difference between e-learning and mobile learning,
saying that e-learning is a learning process which is supported by digital
electronic tools and media, and by analogy, m-learning is e-learning that uses
mobile devices and wireless transmission.
35
CHAPTER 3
METHODOLOGY
Software Methodology
Figure 1.Waterfall Method
The figure above is the development method of the proposed system. It
illustrates the process which the proponents experienced in developing the
project. This demonstrates the inputs and processes that help the proponents
create the system.
36
This is the process on how the proponents created a Water District Web
Base Water Billing and Mobile Application.
Planning – the proponents will research about the features and background of
the existing system.
Analysis – the proponents gathered all the information about the system.
Design – the proponents will design the system that they propose based on the
proponent’s ideas.
Development – this is the phase where the proponents are making the system.
Testing – the proponents test the new system that they’ve created, looking for
any bugs and debug if they found any problem to the system.
Implementation – giving practical effect and ensure of actual fulfilment by
concrete measures.
Maintenance – maintaining the system based on the original features of the
system and the capabilities of the system.
37
4. Requirement Analysis
4.1 Data Flow Diagram of Existing System
Figure No. 2 Data Flow Diagram (Existing System)
Data Flow Diagram Level 0 illustrate processed of data by a system in
terms of inputs and outputs and how data flow inside it, where data comes from
and where it goes and how it gets stored in the database of the system. This
shows a data system as a whole and emphasizes the way it interacts with eternal
entities.
38
4.2 Level 0 of Existing System
Figure No. 3 Data Flow Diagram (Existing System)
Data Flow Diagram Level 0 of existing system it illustrate processed of
data by a system in terms of inputs and outputs and how data flow inside, where
data comes from and where it goes and how it gets stored in the database of the
39
system. This shows a data system as a whole and emphasizes the way it
interacts with eternal entities.
5. Requirement Documentation
5.1. User Requirements
Mobile Application- The Consumer needs to download the water billing
application for water bill the user must register first to have an account using
the meter number of the water bill. After the confirm registration the user can
received the water bill every month.
Internet- The consumer must have an internet to view the bills using mobile
application. Also the employee for the purpose of sending the bill to the
consumer.
40
5.2. System Requirement for Hardware
Table No. 1
EQUIPMENTS SPECIFICATIONS QUANTITY
HARDWARE
 Full view HD
Display
Desktop / Laptop  At least core i3
 Windows 10 1
Operating System
 128gb SSD and
1TB of internal
Storage
 Fast and Smoot
operate
Cell phone performance 1
 Android 8.1
operating system
SOFTWARE
SQL Database Version: Express Edition 1
PHP ---------------------------------- 1
Android Studio ---------------------------------- 1
41
Table No. 1: Specific Requirements
The Table above illustrate the system requirements, tools and materials
will be used in creating the proposed system by the proponents. Including the
Software and Hardware to make it possible.
Interface Requirements
Figure No. 4 Interface Requirements
The figure above illustrates the interface requirements of the proposed
system, which is the first form display the sign in process.
42
system, which is the second form display the two buttons the billing process and
viewing the records.
system, which is the third form display the main process of the billing system.
43
system, which is the fourth form display the viewing of records of the system.
system, which is the fifth form display the summary and the statement of account
of the consumer.
44
Interface of Mobile Application
Figure No. 9 Interface Requirements of mobile application
The figure above illustrates the interface requirements of the mobile
application of the billing system. The consumer needs to register and sign in to
view the water bill statement.
45
Figure No. 10 Interface Requirements of mobile application
The figure above illustrates the interface requirements of the mobile
application of the billing system. The consumer will be able to view the bill
statement.
46
DEVELOPMENT COST ANALYSIS
Table No.2
HARDWARE QUANTITY PRICE
Desktop / Laptop 1 (optional no.) Php. 40,000
Cell phone 1 (optional no.) Php. 8,490
SOFTWARE
MySQL Database 1 FREE downloadable
PHP 1 FREE downloadable
Android Studio 1 FREE downloadable
Total Cost of tools and
materials Php. 48,490
Table No. 2: Development cost Analysis of Hardware and Software
The table above Illustrates the development cost analysis of Hardware
and Software.
47
Table No.3
LABOR COST
Programmer Php.30,000 x 2= 60,000
Program Designer Php.20,000 x 1= 20,000
Documentaries Php.5,000 x 1= 5,000
Total Labor Cost Php.75,000
Table No. 3: Development cost Analysis of Labor
The table above Illustrates the development cost analysis of Labor it
shows the total computation of labor cost.
Table No.4
MISCELLANEOUS
Supplies Php.250
Printing Php.1000
Others (Fares, Foods) Php.2,500
Total Miscellaneous Cost Php.3,750
Table No. 4: Development cost Analysis of Labor
The table above Illustrates the development cost analysis of miscellaneus
it shows the total computation of miscellaneous cost.
48
Table No.5
Total Development Cost Total
Total Cost of tools and materials Php. 48,490
Total Labor Cost Php. 75,000
Total Miscellaneous Cost Php. 3,750
TOTAL AMOUNT DEVELOPMENT
COST Php. 127,240
Table No.5 Total Cost and Benefit Analysis
The figure above illustrates the Total Cost and Benefits Analysis of the
proposed system known as method that estimates the operating cost of the
proposed system and also the development cost of the system. This helps the
proponent and the client to identify the operating cost of existing system compare
to proposed system.
49
6. Entity Relationship Diagram
Figure No. 11 Entity Relationship Diagram
The figure above illustrates the Entity Relationship Diagram shows the
relationship of the tables used in the system. The system is composed of the
following tables for: Clients, Disconnection notice and Bill. The relationship of
each entity can be determined by the lines connected.
7. Data Flow Diagram of the Proposed System
50
Figure No. 12 Context Dataflow Diagram of the Proposed System
The figure above illustrates the context dataflow diagram of the proposed
system.
51
8. Level 0 of Proposed System
Figure No. 13 Data Flow Diagram Level 0 of the Proposed System
Data Flow Diagram Level 0 illustrate processed of data by a system in
terms of inputs and outputs and how data flow inside, where data comes from
and where it goes and how it gets stored in the database of the system. This
shows a data system as a whole and emphasizes the way it interacts with eternal
entities.
52
Flowchart of the Proposed System
Mobile Application Flowchart
Figure No. 14 Flowchart of Mobile Application
The Figure above shows the flowchart of mobile application, it illustrates
the process of the systems.
53
Online Based Flowchart
54
55
Figure No. 15 Flowchart of Mobile Application
The Figure above shows the flowchart of online based system, it illustrates
on how the systems flows.
56
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Web Based Water Billing System with Mobile Application

For San Jose Del Monte Water District, Bulacan

Sapang Palay resettlement in 36 barangays (pop: 250,000) and others like

Pabahay 2000 in Muzon (pop: 106,603) Towerville in Minuyan Proper, (pop:

delivered to the correct home owner, resulting to delay on payments. Manual

resulting to slow processing of information and the important data is manually

entered resulting to inconsistencies on the records .

Web based water billing system is an automated system that is based

by sending it directly to the consumer via mobile application or web. The

official receipt. This will also serve as storage of billing information on a

centralized database wherein, whenever the accounting department asked for

immediately. The system is accurate enough to meet client’s demand.

system to an automated system. The proposed System is a combination of

management, records (posts) payments made to customer and Monitor and

supervise activities in progress to ensure they are on-course and on-schedule to

meet the objectives and performance target.

Purpose & Description

In this proposed system the Proponents will mainly focus on the

and reliable service.

The Major beneficiaries of the system are the following:

SJDM Water District. The implementation of the proposed system will

Residence of SJDM. The customer will also benefit because they no

billing system with mobile application.

Objectives of the Study

Specifically it aims to:

which will be capable of:

will send a bill through web and mobile application.

b. To provide an application where in customer can easily access and

monitor their water bill.

c. Allows the user to view the previous bill.

Scope & Limitations

Scope of the Study

in fast processing of data of the customers, water district employees will no

Limitation of the Study

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

In this chapter, the proponents present a review of different studies and

literature, which are related to the proposed study.

the assumption that, as consumption decreases, consumers face larger CBFR

bills to cover system costs. However, individual bills do not increase

proportionally to consumption decreases: a 25% system-wide decrease in

by the EPA. If fixed-variable costs decrease in absolute value by at least 2% per

conservation. Table 12 shows the results of such a simulation. At any level of

consumption, decreasing the fixed-variable costs over time decreases the

decrease in bills, the disproportionate benefit provided to high-income users may

dependent upon the current utility pricing situation and community

characteristics. Customers, whereas in Longmont, the system decreased bills for

(Schmidt & Lewis, 2017)

According to Mr. Keith J. Richardson (2009) For a number of years, the

Department (PWD). With approximately 515,000 customers that annually

adjustment, and financial reporting processes. Our work consisted of interviewing

new system’s billing, adjustment, financial reporting, and enforcement functions.

with Government Auditing Standards issued by the Comptroller General of the

obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our

based on our audit objectives. (“CITY OF PHILADELPHIA REVIEW OF NEW

WATER BILLING SYSTEM,” 2009)

According to Mark Ehab Shoukry and Michael Maher Ibrahim (2017)

main purpose of this paper is based on developing an automatic electronic water

billing system in Egypt. In this paper, we design and implement a complete

automatic water billing system without interference of any employees. All

as a precious and limited resource. Although most of the Earth is covered by

According to Janelyn A. Ambre (2016) Water billing system is important to

provide consistent and accurate billing information to clients and service