Website Development and Hosting

1.   Introduction

An Internet Presence through a web site is one of the most important mediums municipalities use to convey information and invite participation from the public they serve.

To assist municipalities in establishing a web presence cost effectively, Sebata has compiled four packages. Sebata is the leader in the web-enablement of municipalities and has been providing municipalities with web presence and online access of water and lights accounts since 2002.
2.    Packages
2.1.    Standard Web Site

Our standard web site includes the following pages, which will be adapted for each municipality:

•    Home Page
o    News
o    Calendar of Events*

•    About Us
o    Vision and Mission
o    The Council
o    Regional Map
o    Geography
o    Physical
o    Demographics
o    Socio-economic

•    Services
o    Electricity
o    Water
o    Sanitation
o    Medical Services and Clinics
o    Refuse Removal
o    Emergency Services
o    Tariffs*

•    Integrated Development Plan
o    Extract
o    Budget

•    Finance
o    Budget
o    Financial Reports

•    Tenders*
•    Land Use Legislation and application
•    Tourism*
o    Accommodation: Hotels, Guest Houses & B&B
o    Attractions
o    Parks, Museums and Sports Facilities

•    Bylaws: Draft and Promulgated*
•    Contact Us

Note: Items marked with a * can change daily and require continuous updating. These options are only available with the Comprehensive and Advanced options.

Customisation

•    The standard web site can be customised to the clients requirements, look and feel at an additional cost.
•    Clients can initially select the standard web site, which can later be customised as their requirements change.
•    Where clients have an existing web site, customisation of that web site is required to integrate with Accounts Online.

2.2.    Web Hosting

Web hosting for the Presence, Comprehensive and Advanced options are done by Sebata on our high-end (Compaq) mission critical redundant servers using RAID hard drives and redundant power supplies. These servers are hosted in out server room with Uninterruptible Power Supplies, air conditioning and automated backups. Servers are connected to the Internet via our firewall and CISCO routers.


Our web hosting services includes the following:

•    Hosting on a Windows 2000 Server with
•    Up to 100Mb web space
•    Up to 500Mb/month bandwidth (represent about 10,000 page hits)
•    Your own site name www.yourname.co.za or www.yourname.gov.za

2.3.    Web Updates

For the Presence Option, updated web pages can be sent via e-mail to Sebata. The package includes one update per month.

For the Comprehensive Option, the municipality will be provided with a username and password to upload updated pages.

2.4.    Interactive

The Advanced Option use interactive web pages, which means that the information on certain pages is stored in a database. This allows the municipality do fast updating of information such as tenders and events.

2.5.    Account Integration

As more and more people have access to telecommunication services, e-mail and the Internet, there is an international trend to use telecommunications for sending out accounts rather than postal services.
2.5.1.    Fax, SMS and e-mail

In South Africa, more and more companies are sending accounts via e-mail. The cost of sending an account by post is R2.50, in addition to printing stock, envelopes and labour. In contrast, our e-mail service only costs 55 cents.

We realise that not all people have e-mail addresses, so we developed an “intelligent engine” that sends out accounts. The engine first looks if the accountholder has an e-mail address. If he has, it will be send via e-mail but if he does not have one, the engine looks for a Fax number. As we send out faxes after hours in bulk, it is much cheaper that postal services. Only when an account cannot be e-mailed or faxed, it is posted.

We also provide an option to SMS accounts and details of service disconnections.

The system currently integrates with Finstel/SebataFMS, Sebata’s Financial Management System. For other systems, there will be an additional charge for integration. 

2.5.2.    Accounts on line

Through Accounts Online, members of the public are able to view their electricity and/or water accounts online.



Our system currently integrates with SebataFMS, Sebata’s Financial Management System. For other systems, there will be an additional charge for integration. 

Functions

Accounts Online provides the following functionality:

•    Allow web users to view their accounts on the Internet
•    Accounts are shown as well as transactions after the last account date
•    Account history is provided for up to 12 months
•    Send notifications by e-mail/SMS to accountholders
•    Notifications include late payments, cut-offs etc.
•    Updated account details are automatically uploaded to the web

Setup

There is an initial setup charge to configure the system and to adapt the account format to look the same as the printed format of the client.

Customisation

Customisation of Accounts Online can be done at standard rates. This would include the integration on Accounts Online functionality into an existing web site.



3.    Additional Web Services

3.1.    Domain Name Registration
We register any name you require and assist with name searches as well.

3.2.    E-mail
We provide standard POP3 e-mail boxes.