In the hypercompetitive world of personal finance, it can often seem that raising revenue is the only goal. But for Wall Street Financial Group, a registered investment advisory firm with 175 representatives in all 50 states, optimizing the firm’s business processes and promoting its staff’s satisfaction are just as high on the list.

Thanks to their Laserfiche® digital document management system, Wall Street Financial Group has gained new efficiency, reduced overhead and enabled representatives to work more effectively—both at the home office and in the field. Wall Street Financial Group has been using Laserfiche for the past three years, and in that time, has utilized Laserfiche to capture client and working documents to a secure, centralized and searchable repository.

Now, thanks to Laserfiche Web Access™, a Web browser-based document management solution, representative can access, maintain and contribute to that repository just as easily from the field. Given that financial advisors are frequently out of the office meeting with clients, this ability to access and act on information online has greatly increased their productivity.

“Our processing center has recognized a considerable increase in efficiency thanks to Web Access,” says Michael Bewley, Wall Street Financial Group’s CEO. “It’s freed up time for our staff in the home office to focus on handling other aspects of our representatives’ practices.”

Web Access is a true “thin client,” offering virtually all of the document management capabilities of the standard Laserfiche interface. That means representatives can search, retrieve and work on client documents located in the company’s central database from anywhere they have an Internet connection.

“The burden of maintaining a paper-based client file has been lifted from the reps,” says Bewley. “Whether meeting at a client’s home, or in the rep’s office, the necessary documents are right at their fingertips.”

Advisors can now scan paper documents into the Laserfiche repository as soon as they generate them, in most cases eliminating the need to mail documents back to the home office. Most importantly, representatives can contribute to client files from anywhere, be it a client’s living room, a field office or an airport terminal. “Web Access allows field representatives to access information without having to be handcuffed to a filing cabinet,” adds Bewley.

The entirely-digital process affords considerable advantages beyond convenience and time savings. With Web Access, advisors are able to secure and store not just client documents, but also their notes and working documents. As Bewley explains, “Traditionally, reps would make annotations on the inside of a manila folder or on a sticky note. Information could easily get lost or destroyed. With Web Access, you have the ability to annotate the document in the field. You can make the notes you want, knowing they’ll be saved and backed up.”

According to Bewley, Web Access has taken Wall Street Financial Group’s efficiency and productivity gains to new heights. “It opens the door for our authorized advisors to easily access their documents. We’ve had an overwhelming response from our people in the field who are using Laserfiche Web Access. They love this system.”

Tags: financial advisors, Financial Services, RIAs, Web Access

Posted on Monday, October 22nd, 2007 at 10:37 am under Customer Stories, Financial Services. You can comment on this post.