[OPLINTECH] The CLC Announces Dial-In Renewal Service

[Carol Roddy]

Lithopolis, Ohio. June 28, 2011
Dial-In Renewal Service for CLC Member Libraries
The Central Library Consortium (CLC) is pleased to announce the availability of a dial-in renewals service for patrons of its member libraries.  The service allows library users to call in, list titles they have checked out on their account,
and renew any or all of those items. The service also alerts them of any material that they have ready for pickup at the library, enables them to send a list of materials to their email, or transfers them directly to their own local library if they have further questions about their account.

The service is available by calling: 1-877-77-BOOKS (1-877-772-6657).

The service was developed in-house by CLC using a RESTful API from Polaris Library Systems and cloud based telephony services from CallFire. Previously, the CLC evaluated dial-in services from other "traditional" library vendors but found that the products, which were expensive to purchase and complex to maintain, didn't work well in the consortium environment.

"The level of flexibility we have with CallFire and the Polaris API is great.  We were able to tailor a solution to meet our specific requirements. The entire project only took about two months to implement." said Wes Osborn, CLC System Administrator, who was the lead developer on the project.

CLC used the CallFire Interactive Voice Response (IVR) designer which has a simple drag and drop interface to build interactive phone menu systems.  The IVR designer can also gather data from other web services. CallFire has competitive "flat" minute rates and offers maintenance of toll free numbers at a very low price.  "It's wonderful that this service is maintained in the cloud and we didn't have to purchase any additional telephone lines or make any up front purchases of expensive equipment." said Carol Roddy, CLC's executive director.

The CallFire system queries patron information from the library catalog using the Polaris API, a RESTful web based service for obtaining patron and item information from the Polaris catalog.  "It is great to know that even as we upgrade Polaris the API functionality will remain consistent and we won't have to recode our solution unless we're ready to add new functionality.  We're also glad that the code we developed can be freely shared with other Polaris libraries that might be interested in the same functionality." said Wes Osborn.

Jeffrey Young, Lead Software Developer with Polaris Library Systems says: "The success of the Polaris ILS Platform is directly tied to our customer's use of our Polaris API services.  These services were added to open up the Polaris feature
set and to allow others to extend Polaris in a controlled manner.  I am excited to hear that CLC's creative use of the Polaris API service allowed them to develop and deploy a cost-effective alternative to traditional telephony services.  Polaris is committed to expanding our API services and customers like CLC are helping to drive that development."

The CLC plans to continue to explore ways that the Polaris API can be used to provide additional services to its member libraries and their patrons.

The Central Library Consortium (CLC) was created by the member libraries to establish, maintain, and operate a computerized library network in order to promote resource sharing among member libraries and to increase access to information for their patrons. The member libraries are the Alexandria Public Library, Fairfield County District Library, Grandview Heights Public Library, Marysville Public Library, Pickaway County District Public Library, Pickerington Public Library, Plain City Public Library, and Wagnalls Memorial Library. For more information about the CLC visit www.clcohio.org.

Polaris Library Systems
For thirty years, Polaris Library Systems has served libraries with time-saving technology, from its first circulation system in the mid-1970s through its third-generation Polaris Integrated Library System (ILS). In addition to its library
automation systems, Polaris Library Systems offers workflow analysis, database enhancement, wireless access, and network services to libraries. For more information about Polaris Library Systems, visit www.polarislibrary.com.

CallFire
CallFire provides a reliable, enterprise-grade VoIP platform that powers voice broadcasts, call centers, call tracking, and text messaging campaigns.  CallFire has over 37,000 customers including political groups, non-profits, insurance agents, small business owners, and marketers. Headquartered in Santa Monica, CA, CallFire is dedicated to providing high-availability systems, intuitive user interfaces, furious developer support, and unparalleled customer care in order to transform how companies do business. For more information about CallFire, visit www.callfire.com.

Contact:
Wes Osborn, System Administrator
122 East Columbus Street
Box 269
Lithopolis, Ohio 43136
Phone: 614-837-8533
Fax: 614-829-0043

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