Integrated Collection System.

• Author: Marutzky, William F.

The IRS Collection Organization has taken its first steps towards field modernization by equiping Revenue Officers with laptop computers. The Integrated Collection System (ICS) is a new tool to assist Revenue Officers with the collection of past due taxes and delinquent tax returns. With a laptop, Revenue Officers in the field will be able to retrieve current tax-payers data electronically. Many tasks that were paper orientated and labor intensive now have been converted to a computerized reporting system.

The ICS is structured on three levels. At the top are mainframe computers located in the Service Centers. These mainframes are tied into Local Area Networks (LANs) situated in the District Offices and Posts of Duty. The District Office LAN systems are linked to desktop and laptop computers used by Collection employees. Revenue Officers are provided with laptop computers for use in the field that tie into the system through docking stations when they are in the office. Communication among the three levels of computers is performed electronically via a data communication utility on a router network.

The Service Center mainframe computers download updated information to District Office LAN file servers on a daily basis. New case assignments are downloaded to the Revenue Officer on a weekly basis. Revenue Officers can download necessary taxpayer information for active case assignments to their laptop computers prior to contacting the taxpayers or their representatives in the field. While in the field, Revenue Officers can record information and the case actions taken. Upon their return to the office, they connect to the LAN and the updated field information is uploaded to the mainframe computer.

The ICS program began on a test basis in several Revenue Officer groups in the Dallas and Birmingham, Alabama, District Offices. In 1993, it was expanded to the entire New Orleans District, and in 1995, was implemented in the Newark District.

Based on test results standards from initial studies, the Service has determined that the ICS provided both an improved work environment and enhanced employee morale for collection employees. In addition, it increased revenue collection by 30% per staff year in...