The City of Great Falls utilities department is changing to a new utility billing software called New World.

The software conversion is scheduled from May 22 through June 3 and during that time, staff won’t be able to view information or process any transactions until the new system is up, according to the city.

To convert to the new system, the current system has to be shut down and the implementation date for the new system is June 3 barring any unforeseen technical issues, according to the city.

Monthly billing statements will look the same, but account numbers will change and will be reflected in the June billing statements. The first six numbers will remain the same, but the numbers after the dash will be dropped and replaced with a three digit number, according to the utilities division.

City utility billing software now live [2020]

Customers will need to replace old account numbers with the new one for all payments, otherwise payments may be posted late or misapplied, according to the city.

Online payments and payments made over the phone are processed through a third party vendor called Paymentus.

Online payments and those made over the phone before 11:59 p.m. on May 21 will be applied in the current system.

Payments online and by phone will be disabled after May 21 and most likely down for about 30 days while Paymentus is integrated into the city’s new billing software system.

All payments received after May 21 will be held and manually entered into the new system beginning June 3.

City transitioning to new software, having conversion issues [2020]

Since the account numbers on these held payments will reflect the current account number and not the new account number, there will be posting delays, according to the city.

June billing statements may not reflect all payments made by customers due to the anticipated payment posting delays.

Staff won’t be able to confirm if payments have been received during the transition period and there will be delays generating and processing paperwork, such as address changes, ownership transitions, or looking up account balances or consumption trends, according to staff.

Staff will be training on the new system during the transition.

City utilities staff will be checking voicemails and returning calls but won’t be able to view or process any transactions until the new system is available on June 3.

Contact the city’s utilities customer service line at 406-727-7660 with questions.