Greeley outlines customer information system (CIS) replacement to modernize utility billing and field operations

City utilities and information technology staff provided a status update on the utilities customer information system (CIS) replacement project, outlining the vendor selection, modules, change management, and expected customer impacts.

Public Works and utilities staff said the current billing system dates to the 1990s and required a thorough data cleanup and business‑process mapping before conversion. The city selected SpryPoint (Spry CIS) as the vendor following an RFP process and consultant support; staff said SpryPoint’s cloud‑based architecture and integrated modules were differentiators.

Key components the city intends to implement are: - Spry CIS (core utility billing and statement generation); - Spry Mobile (field work‑order and mobile dispatch for meter and field crews) to replace paper‑based workflows and accelerate service responses; - Spry Engage (customer portal) for online account access, billing history and payments; staff said every account will get a new account number and customers on autopay will need to re‑establish payments after conversion; - Spry Backflow (cross‑connection control/backflow management) — staff said this module is already live as of December and integrates with the CIS; and - Interval data management to provide hourly usage data for customers and integrate with the customer portal.

Staff stressed the project required extensive pre‑conversion work: data cleansing, back‑staffing to free subject‑matter experts for the project, and mapping many manual business processes that the legacy system had required. They said those steps reduce conversion risk and improve reporting capability after go‑live.

Communications and change management will be robust, staff said. The city has engaged a communications firm, will deploy a multi‑pronged outreach campaign (web, mail, events, multilingual FAQs) and expects an elevated call volume after go‑live as customers migrate to the new portal. Customers without email addresses will receive paper bills with instructions; if a customer has an on‑file email, staff said the city will email an invitation to register for the portal once it goes live.

Staff said the project is lining up to go live in late 2025 (staff gave an anticipated November timeframe during the session) and emphasized that backflow and parts of the system are already operational. They cautioned that account numbers will change and customers on automatic payments should re‑establish those payments when they receive portal invitations. Staff said the new system will improve customer experience, speed field response times through mobile work orders and unlock better management reports and analytics for utilities planning.

Councilors asked about budgetary and staffing readiness and whether staff had planned for shortfalls in collections or elevated phone volumes after conversion. Utilities leadership said they scheduled the conversion in a lower‑demand season and have backfilled positions to process expected calls; staff also said they will extend support post‑go‑live and have prepared multilingual materials for underserved customers.

Ending: Utilities staff described the CIS replacement as a multi‑year, foundational systems upgrade intended to modernize billing, field operations and customer self‑service. No formal action was requested during the work session; staff will proceed with conversion and ramp up customer communications ahead of the go‑live window.