Add new customer
Customers can be added or re-registered in Wise via Customers > Customer administration. From the Customer administration window, go to Customers > Add new customer. Special customers can also be registered using this function. For more information, see Special customers.
For information about how customer account types are created and configured, see Membership definitions.
Customer information
The first screen that appears during the Add new customer process requires that you provide information about the customer.
Required fields are marked with an asterisk (*). Once the available information below is added, click Ok, Continue to advance to the next screen.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Customer type | Select a customer type from the drop-down menu. The default selection for this field is Regular customer. It applies to normal users of the branch and can also be selected for schools and businesses. For more information about other options, see Customer types. |
| Customer ID |
Customer number or card number. Enter one of the following:
|
| Title | Select a title for the customer from the drop-down menu. Titles can be added in the Wise configuration manager in the (TABTIT) Form of address coding table. |
| First name | Enter the customer's first name. |
| Middle name | Enter the customer's middle name or initial. |
| Last name* | Enter the customer's last name. |
| Suffix | Enter the customer's suffix, if applicable. (i.e., Jr. or Sr.) |
| Birth date (mm/dd/yyyy)* | Enter the customer's date of birth, or click the calendar icon to select the date. |
| Country | Enter the customer's home country. |
| ZIP code* | Enter the customer's ZIP code. |
| Street number* | Enter the customer's street number. |
| Registration location | This function can be limited to specific staff in Roles. It allows staff to change the customer's home branch. By default, the branch where the customer registers an account is set as the home branch. |
Check for existing customers
Based on the name, ZIP code, and date of birth, Wise will check to make sure you are not creating a duplicate account. When a possible duplicate is entered into the system, a message will appear on the screen indicating that you may be entering a duplicate customer. To open the original account, select Yes, or to continue and add a new customer account, select No.
Select a home branch
The home branch of a customer is determined when the customer registers for an account. The Customer count overviews are only based on their home branch. A customer's home branch will be the default location for holds and will display on their customer record.
A customer's home branch can be determined by two factors:
- The home branch selected in the customer's application
- The ZIP code of the customer's home address
The Wise system has the ability to automatically evaluate customer accounts and update the home branch for the customer, based on their home address when Follow home branch is enabled. This means that if a customer moves to a new address, the system can track those changes and update the customer's home branch information. For more information about configuring home branch selection, see configuration for Follow home branch.
Customer types
In most cases when you create a new customer, you will select Regular customer from the Customer type drop-down list. Other options exist for specific situations. Depending on the customer type selected, certain fields may or may not display during registration. For example, the email address field is only required when registering Regular customers. Required fields for each customer type can be configured in Wise configuration manager.
All customer types may not apply to your library. The list of customer types is hard-programmed and cannot be changed by users. If a customer group is not in the customer type list, the customer group will not be offered in the client workstation during registration.
For more information see customer types.
Address information
The next screen that appears contains customer address information. Based on the ZIP code provided, Wise will complete the address for the customer using the ZIP code table, if configured. The details that were provided on the first screen will also carry over to this page. Provide additional address details.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Title | If desired, select a title from the drop-down list |
| First name | Customer's first name or initial |
| Middle name | Customer's middle name or initial |
| Last name | Customer's last name |
| Suffix | Customer's name suffix |
| Birth date (mm/dd/yyyy) | Enter the customer's date of birth, or click the calendar icon to select the date |
| Country | Customer's country |
| Street number | Customer's street number |
| Street | Customer's street name |
| Address line 2 | Address line 2 |
| City | Customer's city |
| State | Customer's state |
| ZIP code | Customer ZIP code |
| Individual/Institution |
The default value of this field is None. Select one of the following:
|
| Phone | Customer's phone number. |
| Mobile number | Customer's preferred number to receive text messages. |
| Iban | Not for use in US libraries. |
| Bic | Not for use in US libraries. |
| Identification checked? | Select Yes or No depending on whether the customer's ID was checked. |
| Identification No. | The number on the customer's provided identification. |
| Identification type | The method by which the customer validates the account. |
| State | The state that issued the provided identification type. |
| Customer's email address | |
| Newsletter | The default value of this field is No newsletter. Select the customer's newsletter preference from the drop-down list.
|
| Selection |
Choose a Selection code from the drop-down menu. Selection codes can be used to create reports within Statistics and Selections in the Wise staff client. For more information and to configure the labels available for Selections, see (TABSEL) Customer selection codes. |
Once all available information has been added, click Ok, Continue to proceed to the final screen. If configured required information is not provided, you will be prompted to add that information.
Membership screen
Based on the information provided in the first two sections, Wise will present available membership types in the final screen. Select the appropriate membership for the customer and click Ok.
If the membership type is not free, payment information will display. Check out the customer or register the amount. For more information, see Customers Financial.
The following information is displayed on the membership screen:
| Field | Description | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Name of the customer | ||||||||||
| Age | Age of the customer, as determined based on the date of birth. | ||||||||||
| Charge code | Code of the selected membership type. Click Edit to select a different membership. Click Information to see which membership is related to the code. | ||||||||||
| Expiration month |
The expiration month is the month in which the membership will expire or be renewed. This is defined by the type of membership selected.
|
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| Rights up to and including |
If you want to waive part of the membership fee because the customer can show proof of cancellation of membership from a different library, you can enter the date here through which the customer has paid at the other library. The amount is then offset. Note: If your library does not offer membership discounts, this field can be removed from the customer administration screen by removing code A960 from the Waived transactions table in the manager. For more information, see Waived transaction journal codes. |
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| Membership | Price of the membership. The period of validity displays next to this field. Costs are determined based on settings in the Wise configuration manager and cannot be changed in the staff client. The first month of registration is always free, this applies to registrations at the service desk and online. Payment must be received by the first of the following month. | ||||||||||
| Discount |
A discount can be set in the Wise configuration manager. See Fixed membership discount for more information. Select a discount from the drop-down list and the discount will be added to the amount field. If discounts have not been configured, you can manually enter an amount and select a reason from the drop-down list next to the amount field. |
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| Balance | Amount to be paid. | ||||||||||
| Valid to | The expiration date of the membership. |
Click Save to complete the new customer account, or use Back to return to the previous screen. To cancel the process, click Quit. Once the account has been created, a receipt with a one-time password will be printed.
Create a youth account
If special considerations are configured for youth memberships, your library may require permission from a parent or guardian to create a new account. To print a registration form, go to Customer > Print customer materials > Proof of registration.
Register a customer at a different rate
The rate of a customer membership can be manually changed for certain ZIP codes. This function is primarily intended for organizations where new customers register from neighboring cities where there is no library. For these customers, a different rate can be charged based on their ZIP code and a linked city/district code.
The customer's account is created through the process outlined above, but the cost of their membership will be determined based on their ZIP code. If configured, a message will appear notifying staff that the customer is from a different city and a different rate will be charged.
Re-register an account
To reactivate an account for a customer who is no longer active in the system, go to Customers > Search customer or scan the customer's old library card barcode. A message appears with the option to use the existing customer data. You can view the information before using it.
After a customer's account has been deleted (customer status 9), it can still be reactivated in the system.
If you are issuing a new card, based on name, ZIP code, and date of birth, Wise will check for duplicate accounts before the new account is created. If an existing account is found, a confirmation message will appear. Click Yes to go to the existing customer account.
Once the account is opened, you will see if there are outstanding fees or items in the customer's possession. Click Reregistering at the bottom of the screen. You will be prompted to select a membership type. From here, the account can be reactivated, and registration fees (if applicable) paid.
Special memberships
Trial membership
Your library has the option to issue a trial membership by checking the Trial membership for X months box. This is configured in Wise configuration manager and can be set to any number of months. For information on configuring trial memberships, see Membership definitions.
At the end of the trial membership, the selected membership begins and the trial months are billed, if it is a paid membership type. At the end of a trial period, the customer will receive a notification or request for payment, if the new membership has a cost.
Difference between trial and temporary memberships
Some libraries may use temporary memberships instead of trial memberships. In that case, the temporary membership is created in the membership fee table in the Wise configuration manager. A temporary membership is deleted immediately upon expiration. The system will not automatically change the account to a full membership once a trial membership ends.
Free month(s)
Your library can be configured to allow for free months. This preference is set in the Wise configuration manager and can be set to any number of months. Free month memberships differ from trial memberships in that the free months are not billed. For more information, see Membership definitions.
Schools and organizations
A flexible membership with a fixed expiration month can be configured for schools and organizations. For example, a school may want to pay for or cancel memberships at the beginning of a new school year.
This kind of membership can be created and configured in the Wise configuration manager with August set as the fixed expiration month. For more information, see Membership definitions.