Government Newsletter Archive

Third Time’s the Charm

Mohave County, AZ, discovers experience is the ticket to success for enterprise record management

December 9th, 2008 by Hobey EchlinHobey Echlin is a Laserfiche staff member

Mohave County Seal
For Mohave County, AZ, the third time was the charm for the county’s Records Manager to successfully implement Laserfiche enterprise-wide.

The dry-witted comedian Steven Wright once joked, “I’m so far ahead of my time, nobody’s there yet.” Mohave County Records Manager Chuck Chlarson can relate. He saw his two predecessors try without much success to implement an enterprise-wide records management system—despite a state mandate to do so—because of a lack of technical support and user buy-in. But as Chlarson has found, in Mohave County, being the third Records Manager is the ticket to success.
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Putting Boulder City on Easy Street

Document management’s no crapshoot for Nevada’s biggest small town

November 4th, 2008 by Hobey EchlinHobey Echlin is a Laserfiche staff member

Compared to other cities in Nevada, Boulder City is something of an anomaly. Unlike nearby Las Vegas and the rest of Henderson County, BC is relatively quaint, with a population of just 15,000.

“We’re close to Las Vegas, we’re close to the Hoover Dam, but we’re surrounded by 200 miles of land. It’s like a buffer around us,” explains City Clerk Pamella Malmstrom. “Clark County has been one the fastest growing counties in the country. We’ve taken steps to not grow so rapidly.”

But even as modest Boulder City seems buffered from the noisy neon of its neighbors, it still faced the same information management concerns as every other city in the state. Especially since late 2007, when the state legislature passed a resolution mandating that all government agencies in Nevada be able to honor requests for public records within five working days. Full story »

Keen to Go Green

In Okotoks, AB, Laserfiche protects a historic past and provides for a sustainable future

October 7th, 2008 by Melissa HenleyMelissa Henley is a Laserfiche staff member

Okotoks logoNestled along the Sheep River Valley in the heart of the Alberta Foothills, the town of Okotoks, AB, is the second-fastest growing community in Canada, with a 46 percent growth rate since 2001.

According to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Okotoks “can fairly call itself the greenest community in Canada, maybe the world,” as it is one of the first municipalities to establish growth targets balancing infrastructure development and environmental conservation. And true to its motto of “Historic Past, Sustainable Future,” Okotoks has received national and international recognition for its environmental initiatives, so it’s no surprise they turned to Laserfiche to reduce paper consumption. Full story »

Document management a Burj-ening success

The City of Dubai scans a million pages into Laserfiche

September 8th, 2008

Palm tree-shaped islands. The world’s tallest building. An indoor ski resort. In the past 30 years, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, has quickly blossomed from a regional business center to a global destination. But with 30 years of development comes 30 years of paperwork to manage—which is why Dubai chose a scalable, easy-to-implement Laserfiche solution to convert all of the city’s paper into digital format. Now, an extensive back-file conversion project is under way, with Laserfiche poised to take over day-forward scanning as well. Full story »

Stuck on Laserfiche

In Goodyear, AZ, Laserfiche powers city-wide access to information—and streamlines agenda management

August 6th, 2008 by Melissa HenleyMelissa Henley is a Laserfiche staff member

goodyear, arizona sealIn many cities, staff have to impose on the city clerk’s office whenever they need to consult a report, contract or other municipal document. But thanks to Laserfiche, staff throughout the City of Goodyear, AZ, can instantly access these items online, which helps them work more efficiently—and frees staff in the clerk’s office to spend more time helping the public.

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Document Management Goes Public

Riverside, CA, Makes Laserfiche a Citywide Standard

July 9th, 2008

Riverside, CA, Laserfiche ECM
With over 300,000 residents, Riverside, CA, is already one of California’s largest cities, and with each new tally on the census taker’s clipboard comes more information for city staff to manage. So it’s only logical that Riverside is expanding its Laserfiche enterprise content management system to keep pace. Thanks to the drive of the city clerk, what began as a means for one department to find information more quickly has now become the technology platform for citywide business process improvements, cost savings and better public service. Full story »

To Efficiency and Beyond

“I really anticipate that, within five years, Laserfiche will become as widely-used as e-mail.”

June 11th, 2008

gaston county, NCAs the winner of a 2007 InfoWorld 100 Award for IT innovation, Gaston County, NC, is a shining example of the way technology can help move government forward. So when it came time to implement a digital document management solution, it’s no surprise that CIO Brandon Jackson sought the system that could best promote broader-ranging citizen services. As part of the award-winning initiative, a rapidly-growing Laserfiche® system now provides solid technological support for Gaston County’s service mission. Full story »

Turning the Tide

Niagara Falls, ON, increases the return on its Laserfiche investment

May 19th, 2008

The City of Niagara Falls, ON, implemented Laserfiche® in 2001 to provide all departments with a central location to store and manage information. Over the years, each department had developed its own method for organizing files, and the city chose Laserfiche primarily because its flexible folder structure and unified metadata model would accommodate these various filing systems. Full story »

Seeds of Change

In Gilroy, CA, great service has its roots in technology

April 12th, 2008

Most people know Gilroy, California, as the “Garlic Capital of the World.” But city staff in this agricultural epicenter are creating a slightly more technology-focused atmosphere. Thanks to some IT ingenuity—and an integration between Laserfiche® and other line-of-business applications—Gilroy is paving the way for other governments to adopt more citizen-oriented business processes. Full story »

Blue Chip Technology

Laserfiche helps Blue Earth County, MN, maximize the value of its IT investments

March 12th, 2008

Like many organizations, Blue Earth County, MN, implemented digital document management with a number of goals in mind, from streamlining business processes to promoting greater collaboration between staff members and departments. According to IT Manager Charlie Berg and Network Administrator Denise Grossmann, the county’s success in achieving these goals is primarily due to one factor—close cooperation between the county’s IT staff and the system’s users at each stage of the implementation process. Full story »

The Prosecution Rests

Laserfiche gives prosecuting attorneys a courtroom advantage

February 12th, 2008 by Melissa HenleyMelissa Henley is a Laserfiche staff member

Criminal trials are notorious for the excessive amounts of paperwork they generate. But in Eaton County, MI, prosecuting attorneys are going to court with laptops instead of briefcases full of paper files—an advantage that has led to better communication, easier pretrial conferences and quicker case resolutions. Full story »

Creating Order out of Chaos

Putting all the pieces together to reduce crime and increase efficiency

January 12th, 2008

A lot of people associate an electronic document management system (EDMS) with the goal of realizing the “paperless office.” But as the St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, Sheriff’s Office shows, it’s possible to realize all the benefits of an EDMS—including greater staff efficiency, smarter work processes and lower overhead costs—without entirely doing away with paper copies of important documents and records. Full story »

It’s Easy Being Green

Conserving natural and staff resources with Laserfiche document management

December 7th, 2007

The Toronto and Region Conservation Authority’s mission is to “help people understand, enjoy and look after the natural environment.” So it’s no surprise that staff seek to minimize the natural resources they use at work. At the TRCA, however, they’ve gone beyond the paperless office. By utilizing Laserfiche® digital document management, TRCA staff have simplified work processes and improved access to critical information—all while advancing the cause of caring for the local environment. Full story »

Aloha, Efficiency!

Laserfiche helps a municipal attorney’s office perform under pressure

November 11th, 2007

The County of Hawaii’s Office of the Corporation Counsel serves as the legal representative of all the county’s officers and employees—a total of 2,300 clients. But with legal records dating back to 1905, and with a growing archive of legal briefs, motions, memos and letters to manage, the office struggled to keep track of its paper. Full story »

Document Management All-Stars

Alexandria, Virginia, hits one out of the park with Laserfiche

October 12th, 2007

Among city staff in Alexandria, Virginia, the Laserfiche® imaging team is the most popular crew in town. Says Applications Division Chief Judy Milligan: “Departments are standing in line to come onboard with Laserfiche. We asked Laserfiche to send us some shirts with their logo, so everyone would know we’re on the imaging team. And they sent them to us, too.” Full story »