(From left) Boys & Girls Club members Pamela Lazcano and Destiny Rudolph, Laserfiche Public Relations Manager Francine Marlenee, Boys & Girls Club of Long Beach Branch Director Duncan Smith, and Boys & Girls Club members Kilani King and Gabriel Pope plant a tree in honor of Earth Day.

“Research has shown that the average office worker uses 10,000 sheets of copy paper each year—the equivalent of roughly 1.25 trees,” said Chris Wacker, senior vice president at Laserfiche. “Multiply that by the number of office workers in the world, and the impact of paper production, consumption and disposal on our environment is staggering.”

For over twenty years, Laserfiche has helped organizations around the world reduce their use of paper by storing digital files that are instantly accessible without the need for copying or faxing. In addition, Laserfiche ECM decreases the cost of document storage and increases productivity by automating essential business processes.

“Laserfiche has a long tradition of helping organizations decrease their dependence on paper,” said Wacker. “By adding business process management functionality to our solutions—and enabling customers to manage all types of organizational content, including photographs, e-mails and audio and visual files—Laserfiche also enhances efficiency and facilitates smart decision-making.”

About Laserfiche
Laserfiche® creates simple and elegant enterprise content management (ECM) solutions that help organizations run smarter. Since 1987, more than 28,000 organizations worldwide—including federal, state and local government agencies and Fortune 1000 companies—have used Laserfiche software to streamline document, records and business process management.

The Laserfiche ECM system is designed to give IT managers central control over their information infrastructure, including standards, security and auditing, while still offering business units the flexibility to respond quickly to changing conditions. The Laserfiche product suite is built upon Microsoft® technologies to simplify system administration, supports Microsoft SQL and Oracle® platforms and features a seamless integration with Microsoft Office® applications and a two-way integration with SharePoint®.

Laserfiche distributes its software through a worldwide network of value-added resellers (VARs), who tailor solutions to clients’ individual needs. The Laserfiche VAR program has received the Five-Star Rating from Computer Reseller News/VARBusiness magazine.

Laserfiche is a registered trademark of Compulink Management Center, Inc.

During the interview, Lo highlighted Laserfiche as a company that helps organizations “go clean and green and get all that clutter out of your environment.” When he asked if Laserfiche is the “digital equivalent of microfiche,” Wacker pointed out that Laserfiche enterprise content management (ECM) is far superior because it manages all types of organizational content, including audio and video files, e-mail, photos, instant messages and more—something microfiche could never do.

“Laserfiche has spent the last 20 years helping organizations to decrease their dependence on paper documents,” said Wacker. “As a company, we’ve now entered a new phase by adding ECM and BPM (business process management) functionality to our solutions. Our customers use Laserfiche to enable intelligent routing of all types of content and facilitate smart, swift decision-making.”

Financial institutions comprise approximately 15% of the Laserfiche customer base and report benefits including increased operational efficiency, faster audits, and easier compliance with industry regulations. With the recent opening of the new Laserfiche office in Hong Kong, financial institutions situated in the Pacific Rim now have enhanced local support for their Laserfiche implementations.

Bloomberg L.P. is an information-service, news and media company that focuses on an audience of business and financial professionals. Asia Confidential with Bernie Lo goes beyond the headlines to give viewers the context behind the day’s biggest news and issues affecting the region, speaking in-depth with important leaders and business guests.

About Laserfiche
Laserfiche® creates simple and elegant enterprise content management (ECM) solutions that help organizations run smarter. Since 1987, more than 27,000 organizations worldwide—including numerous Fortune 1000 companies and a variety of government agencies—have used Laserfiche software to streamline document, records and business process management.

The Laserfiche ECM system is designed to give IT managers central control over their information infrastructure, including standards, security and auditing, while still offering business units the flexibility to respond quickly to changing conditions.

Laserfiche distributes its software through a worldwide network of value-added resellers (VARs), who tailor solutions to clients’ individual needs. The Laserfiche VAR program has received the Five-Star rating from Computer Reseller News/VARBusiness magazine.

Laserfiche is a registered trademark of Compulink Management Center, Inc.

“For over twenty years, Laserfiche has helped organizations around the world reduce their use of paper and conserve natural resources,” said Laserfiche Senior Vice President Chris Wacker. “We’re pleased that more and more people are recognizing the ecological importance of pursuing a paperless office, and that they see Laserfiche as a key partner in helping them achieve this goal.”

Selected as the Green Product of the Year winner by a panel of experts from across the industry as well as readers of Document Manager Magazine, Laserfiche was a finalist in seven additional DM Award categories, including Records Management Product of the Year, Enterprise Content Management Product of the Year and Company of the Year.

Laserfiche received its 2009 DM Award on October 22 at a black-tie ceremony at The Novotel, London, St. Pancras. Richard Clowser and James Bennett, two representatives from Laserfiche UK reseller Paper Dock, accepted the award on behalf of Laserfiche.

James Bennett, UK Sales Manager at Laserfiche reseller Paper Dock, and Richard Clowser, Software Development Manager at Paper Dock, accept the 2009 DM Award for Green Product of the Year.

About Laserfiche

Laserfiche® creates simple and elegant enterprise content management (ECM) solutions that help organizations run smarter. Since 1987, more than 27,000 organizations worldwide—including numerous Fortune 1000 companies and a variety of government agencies—have used Laserfiche software to streamline document, records and business process management.

The Laserfiche ECM system is designed to give IT managers central control over their information infrastructure, including standards, security and auditing, while still offering business units the flexibility to respond quickly to changing conditions. The Laserfiche product suite is built upon Microsoft® technologies to simplify system administration, supports Microsoft SQL and Oracle® platforms and features a seamless integration with Microsoft Office® applications and a two-way integration with SharePoint®.

Laserfiche distributes its software through a worldwide network of value-added resellers (VARs), who tailor solutions to clients’ individual needs. The Laserfiche VAR program has received the Five-Star rating from Computer Reseller News/VARBusiness magazine.

Laserfiche is a registered trademark of Compulink Management Center, Inc.

So much so that in just three years, Saco has set a standard for e-government so high that its regional neighbors are beginning to look into it as well.

So why has Saco been so successful? For starters, when City Administrator Rick Michaud and Saco’s IT staff looked into document management three years ago, they didn’t have a problem, they had a plan.

“Our objective is ‘Online, not in-line,’” says Michaud. “We had a vision of public documents available 24/7 without ever having to wait in line again.” Now all they needed was a way to implement it.

In 2006, General Code Solutions Consultant Herb Myers demonstrated Laserfiche for city staff, prompting Saco’s IT Department to choose Laserfiche. Ease of use, scalability, “going green,” and establishing a portal for improved public service all factored into the decision. Myers, for one, was impressed. “I was amazed at how forward-thinking they were,” he says. “They wound up teaching me as much as I taught them.”

With the foresight and commitment of both IT and Michaud that, as Myers puts it, “’green’ starts with technology,” Myers and IT mapped out an implementation strategy in meticulously planned phases (see sidebar).

Saco’s initial roll-out called for multi-departmental implementation almost immediately, which prompted the appointment of Laserfiche Luminary Fran Beaulieu as the in-house Laserfiche Administrator. Beaulieu underwent what Myers and the City refer to as “’train the trainer’ training.”

Beaulieu admits progress was slow, owing to the need to assess each department’s willingness, as she puts it, “to let go of the paper.” Key to ensuring user buy-in, she says, was not so much dictating a way of doing things, but establishing a standard by “planning with each department’s staff, hearing their needs and wants, and helping lead the way.” This included weekly meetings, discussions of how to avoid duplicating files and coming up with a consensus of what would be the “logical place” to centralize information. “Some visualized immediate benefits, others required a bit more help in the vision,” she says.

This help began with all Administrative Assistants—Beaulieu dubbed them “power users”—training on the Laserfiche client for importing and scanning documents. Department Heads learned how to use the system via Web Access. “I sat down with them one-on-one and made sure they felt comfortable with what I was showing them before I left.”

Beaulieu also worked with the Assessing Department, one of the City’s biggest paper users, to import deeds into Laserfiche. “Once they were able to see the speed of a search and ease of use, they became my highest achievers,” she adds. “The Assessor’s Department has almost completely added a deed for every parcel within the city for constituents to view and access.”

Beaulieu used this experience to identify and standardize procedures and file structure in creating the City’s all-important Document Management Manual (DMM). Beaulieu’s committee determined that the addition of folders, renaming of documents and deletion of documents would be done only by Laserfiche Administrators.

Trainings were limited to certain shift times, so, inspired by General Code’s own training Webinars, staff created a short “how-to” video for Web Access users along with a simple guide—customized using the file structure created by the City—available internally.

By April 2008, expanded training and more departmental buy-in paved the way for enterprise adoption and Phase 3 public access. Saco’s Department of Public Works and Wastewater were by now online via Web Access. And implementing Quick Fields enabled the Assessor’s Department to automatically scan and index Property Tax Cards where OCR had been formerly problematic and manually typing the information was, as Beaulieu puts it, “not an option.”

How effectively? “The process used to require approximately 2 to 2 1/2 days of printing time for one person to accomplish and used about a whole toner cartridge and 20 reams of copy paper,” Beaulieu says. “Now the cards will be downloaded into Laserfiche in a matter of minutes. This process will save time and money.”

The final frontier was to break down the fourth wall of government and push it out to the community. WebLink would allow public access to city documents through the “Find-A-Doc” interface, with a how-to video and on-line instructions leading the way. Roll-out took some time due to customization, but General Code’s Brian Hoody set-up quick search links to bring users directly to a specified folder, even getting audio files to work for the City’s Planning Department via the “Find-A-Doc” portal.

Saco's "Find-a-Doc" Public Web Portal

Though just a few months old, “Find-A-Doc” is already resonating with staff and citizens alike. Maggie Edwards, an Administrative Assistant in the Planning Department, admits to being “a little intimidated at first” by the Laserfiche system, but now shares in Saco’s vision of a successful portal strategy. “If there’s a subdivision or site plan you want to know about, you can view the entire files online. If you wish to hear an audio of the minutes from the Planning Board meetings, you may do so,” she says. “Laserfiche has made it very easy to maneuver.”

Saco’s savings so far total over $10,000 a year, but as Beaulieu points out, “We also look at the value of the system for not departments, but individual value to users. Service to constituents is a big factor.”

• Planning and Engineering saves $7,580 a year by scanning large format maps.
• Inspection Reports saves $1,780 and 1,335 sheets of paper a year.
• The Assessor’s Office saves over $1,600 a year.

And now with the economy forcing municipalities to do more with less, neighboring Scarborough has requested a look at Saco’s Document Management Manual while other budget-strapped cities are investigating sharing services to access various documents and parcel information. Saco is also looking into integrating Laserfiche with its GIS application. “We’re already sharing some personnel so the idea of shared services and ‘umbrella IT’ makes sense,” Beaulieu says.

“The lines are so blurred in areas like road repair that regional administration makes the most sense,” she adds. “When you can see what documents are attached to parcels, that saves you phone calls and extra trips and that makes their life easier as well as ours.”

Today, Banks Hardwoods has two manufacturing facilities in Michigan, another in Wisconsin, and a sales office in Arkansas employing upwards of 175 people. But as the business grew, says Dana Kennedy, Banks Hardwoods’ Controller, sawdust wasn’t the only wood by-product piling up around the organization.

“All this expansion means a huge amount of paperwork,” she says, “and the need for constant communication between the divisions.” When the company added its third division in Newberry, Michigan and saw a 20% increase in customers as a result, she felt the paper jam.

“The paperwork created by one shipment of lumber could amount to over ten pages per packet,” she explains. “These customer order packets were passed through many hands in the corporate office before finally being filed in one of a dozen filing cabinets. That filing system gave way to several frustrations as the volume of files grew.”

Kennedy began looking for a document management system with three goals in mind:

1. Creating a paperless office with a “virtual filing cabinet” to back-up files daily and eliminate the fear of lost or damaged files—and having to store 60 bankers boxes a year of old customer and vendor invoices.
2. Making filing efficient. “Filing paper was considered a chore and was often put at the bottom of the list by our employees,” Kennedy explains. Needless to say, this led to both unorganized piles of paper and misfiled documents.
3. Bridging the communication gap between the divisions and offices.

At the same time, Kennedy knew a document management system would only work if people could use it. “I wanted a system that was easy to understand and would have a small learning curve when it came to training our employees.” Cost, of course, was a concern, but, as she explains, “Our company has always appreciated that there is a value to be placed on quality.”

Dana Kennedy brings Banks Hardwoods toward a paperless prosperity

She researched document management solutions on-line and discovered Laserfiche. “My next thought was that it would be great to have a local company available to buy from and turn to for support,” she explains. She localized her search, and found Laserfiche reseller Bolt Document Management.

Working with Bolt’s Jeff Nelson, Kennedy spent six months analyzing and testing workflow problems and solutions in various departments, including accounting, IT, sales and purchasing. “We tried very hard to sort out what documents we would scan and how to go about indexing those documents,” she offers. “Jeff was very patient through the whole process and never pressured us to hurry up and get this deal done. He knew I was hesitant about spending money on a system that upper management might view as just a glorified filing cabinet.”

To that end, Nelson supplied Kennedy with a list of Bolt’s Laserfiche clients in the area. “I was able to visit one of the companies and actually see the system in action. Even better, I was able to ask people who were actually using it how they liked it and what benefits they had seen. They were also able to tell me what their experience had been with Jeff and his team at Bolt,” she says.

“This was definitely the deciding factor that made us go with Laserfiche and Bolt,” Kennedy adds. “In our business, relationships are very important and we’ve built our reputation on ours. It was imperative to me, as well as my management, that before we invest in a new software system, we also feel comfortable with the company we are buying from and the support team we will be using.”

For Banks Hardwoods’ initial installation in late 2007, Kennedy limited training to a few key people. “This way we knew what the system was capable of and could use that knowledge to customize it to our needs.”

A month later, the whole office started learning how to access the information they needed. “We also have a very strong IT department that had been involved from the beginning so our need to have a lot of support from either Bolt or Laserfiche has been minimal,” she adds.

Kennedy met her initial goals—moving toward a paperless office, efficient filing, improved inter-office communication—almost instantaneously.

Amy Wickey enjoys the efficiency of scanning what used to be filed.

“We jumped in by scanning all new documents and stopped filing the paper right away,” she says. “It was hard to convince our data entry people to give up paper at first,” Kennedy admits, but adding a second desktop monitor eased the transition. “We have the scanned document in Laserfiche on one screen and the program they are inputting to on the other. Now they can’t imagine doing it any other way—they love it!”

This meant no more ten page customer order packets, plus scanning was being done much more quickly than the paper filing. “We have been able to increase our communications with our remote divisions as well as our production yard now that they are able to access documents online,” she adds. “The customer service department was very excited to be able to access invoicing packets from their desk rather than searching through files.” Plus, she notes, “There is a greater sense of security knowing that we have an electronic backup of all our documents in case of a loss to our office.”

But perhaps the most profound benefit of Laserfiche is how it naturally aligns with the environmental and financial sustainability at the heart of Banks Hardwoods’ continuing success.

“The Laserfiche system has really complemented our ‘Go Green’ methodology,” says Kennedy. “We’re constantly evaluating new and better ways to make our facilities and production more environmentally friendly and introducing this system has been a big step in reducing our paper usage.” Snapshot is the big paper-saver, she says, enabling staff to print reports and the e-mailed payable invoices directly in to Laserfiche.

Alyson Fortin uses dual monitors: one for the scan, one for the program.

The most visible sign of Banks Hardwoods’ improved sustainability is the smiles on all its employees’ faces. “There are two things that they say are their favorites about using Laserfiche,” Kennedy begins. “The first is how clean their desks are now that they are becoming more paperless. The second is how easy the system is to use and how quickly information can be accessed. Regardless of what stage the processing is in, we are always able to find the documents we need.”

As Banks Hardwoods has learned, sustainability comes in many forms.

“We depend on a natural resource, so we are constantly reinvesting in that resource—which is why we have made going paperless a priority in keeping our company as ‘green’ as possible,” says Kennedy. She says the cost savings realized in the year Banks Hardwood has been using Laserfiche is aligned with its company’s economic sustainability. “No matter what our market is doing, we have found that we have to think of our own resources as a company in terms of sustainability, and Laserfiche has been a big part of that.”

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.

[See post to watch Flash video]

Watch Rachelle Meredith describe her Laserfiche success in her own words.

When the Town consolidated three administration buildings into one, the Safety Codes department, which encompasses building inspection services, began investigating scanning solutions. When the Town’s records manager was taking a course at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology in Calgary, the instructor commented that Laserfiche provided “top-notch products and services for public and private corporations,” says Rachelle Meredith, corporate records administrator.

After researching Laserfiche, the records manager then invited a representative from Laserfiche reseller IKON Office Solutions to conduct a demonstration. After issuing an RFP, the Town selected Laserfiche, primarily for its records management functionality, OCR capabilities and the Agenda Manager and WebLink modules.

“We love Records Management Edition’s versatility. Its ease of use was very important to us, both to gain staff buy-in and work effortlessly in our busy environment,” Meredith says.

Initially the Safety Codes assistant and manager began scanning all new building and development permit applications into Laserfiche. These applications often contain more than 300 pages, ranging from architectural drawings for housing and commercial buildings and all their associated electrical and plumbing permits to individual applications for decks and other home additions.

As Okotoks entered into its prime building season and the number of permits submitted began to climb, the effectiveness of implementing Laserfiche became quickly apparent. “The immediate benefits were obvious,” remarks Meredith. “When we saw how we saved time locating current information, we began to realize how Laserfiche would benefit our external customers as the project continued. It was a great motivation to keep going.”

At this point, Safety Codes has added more than 3,000 records to their system, saving money on paper supplies and reducing impact on the environment. “Staff really noticed the difference,” Meredith comments. “Time savings was one advantage, because finding information was so much easier. Documents were immediately accessible to safety code officers when they were out in the field, and they had access to accurate, up-to-date information that helped them make better decisions.”

And now the benefits of Laserfiche have extended to builders, professional contractors and homeowners applying for permits. “Safety Codes staff can now e-mail approved documentation back to the applicant, as well as receive initial applications by e-mail, which can be dropped straight into the records management system,” Meredith says. “This saves builders time and money, because they don’t have to come to the office to drop off or collect documentation. Instead, they receive an immediate response.”

External clients aren’t the only ones noticing the difference—other departments are recognizing the benefits of Laserfiche too. In fact, Safety Codes staff, including manager Rob Mueller, assistant Diane Scott and support staff member Ann Williams, were recently nominated for a prestigious annual corporate award, based on the effects other departments have realized from the Laserfiche system. “This is a coveted award, because peers from all 22 business units nominate and select the highest performing team,” explains Meredith. “Safety Codes was recognized for their creative approach, which was encouraging.”

In fact, the Assessment Services department has identified several key tasks that have become much more efficient since Safety Codes implemented Laserfiche. “Off-site trips to locate records have been reduced significantly because staff can instantly review documentation to identify if there’s been a history relating to a certain parcel of land. Also, copier wear-and-tear has been eliminated because they no longer have to piece together copies to recreate 24”x36” drawings,” Meredith says.

“Moreover, staff has easy access to permits correspondence and information, making it easier for assessors to identify any deficiencies or problems in blueprints and written inspection details,” she adds. “More importantly, staff can use Laserfiche’s zoom tools to enlarge numbers on blueprints, so they can read details electronically. It makes their lives so much easier.”

Based on the success in the Safety Codes department, Okotoks expanded Laserfiche to their Cemeteries/Open Spaces department. “Cemeteries is a legislated service that requires us to manage cemetery records ‘in perpetuity,’ which essentially means forever,” Meredith says. “So it was critical that this project was done correctly, right from the very start.”

The Cemeteries project was focused primarily on creating archival records, because, by their nature, cemetery records are historically important. Since Okotoks became a recognized municipality in 1904, cemetery recordkeeping has changed significantly, from a receipt of monies collected for the burial plot and an index card with the deceased’s name, to a file containing anywhere from 8-14 internal and external documents.

“From the minute we started this project we knew how convenient it would be to access information from our desktop computers,” explains Meredith. “Having current and correct information to provide to grieving relatives immediately is crucial.”

Cemetery Administrator Monica Caines began the project on a day-forward basis, scanning records as they were received and archiving records as they were pulled. After nearly two years, almost 4,700 records are now searchable through a customized template. In fact, the Cemeteries project proved so useful, Town staff next began scanning and indexing Open Spaces (parks) records. With a customized template to aid in indexing, users can instantly access documents regarding the Town’s parks, boulevards, landscaping and horticulture.

In early 2009, Okotoks residents and other Web users will be able to use WebLink to search current bylaws and more than 100 years’ worth of historical bylaws. The Town also plans to implement Workflow in the Safety Codes department, and eventually expand Workflow into finance and other departments to optimize their business processes.

In recognition of the Town’s success with Laserfiche, Okotoks is currently in the running for this year’s Run Smarter Awards. “Laserfiche is fairly new to western Canadian municipalities,” Meredith says. “We’ve had a lot of attention from other Town departments, and also from other municipalities. They want to know more about how Laserfiche is helping us meet our sustainability and environmental guidelines, as well as how we’re using Laserfiche to work smarter, not longer.”

Despite recognition from inside and outside town limits, Okotoks continues to use Laserfiche for the primary reason it was purchased: to support a sustainable future for the town’s residents. “We really believed that Laserfiche was the best overall solution for our long-term needs,” Meredith says.

“We’re a rapidly growing community that has a solid reputation for being progressive and supporting an entrepreneurial, leading-edge culture,” she adds. “Laserfiche helps us as we strive to live and work in an environmentally responsible manner.”

Stewart said that over at Office Product News, they just posted a press release from Laserfiche® stating the company helped some 25,000 organizations save 117 million trees. The release reads as follows: Conservatively, Laserfiche estimates that the installation of its enterprise software has resulted in the elimination of 500,000 pages of paper documents, on average, in each organization-or some 1 trillion pages total. Some organizations save much more-for example, the Department of Immigration in Mexico has used Laserfiche to digitize more than 200 million documents. This blogger Ken Stewart goes on to say that the scanning of documents does not save trees. He failed to understand that Laserfiche steps in to automate the paper that has been scanned into automated workflow and business processes that do provide a viable solution for saving trees.

The blue jay is one of over 180 animal species found in the greater Toronto area.

As Records Manager John Annunziello explains, accomplishing daily tasks prior to installing Laserfiche was often costly and time-consuming. Staff stored paper documents, such as agenda packets and meeting minutes, in color-coded, numerically-ordered folders, then used Lotus® Notes® to keep track of the folders. Meanwhile, the TRCA’s extensive photo library, used to create the posters, flyers and presentations that play a key role in the TRCA’s outreach initiatives, took up so much space that it had to be stored off-site. Besides taking up physical storage space, Annunziello notes, the paper-based system had many other drawbacks.

“Our previous system didn’t manage our structured and unstructured data,” he says. “All the photos in our library were stored on CDs in a satellite office. Staff had to go there, search through binders of photo thumbnails to locate the right CD, then burn the image to another CD or e-mail it to the staff member requesting it. It often took days to get a photograph.”

“Although a totally paperless office is not possible, it’s always our goal to conserve resources whenever possible. Laserfiche is a major part of that initiative.”

John Annunziello
Records Manager

With an eye towards managing all its information, regardless of medium, the TRCA began searching for a digital document management solution. A four-member committee sent out an RFP, seeking DoD 5015.2-certified solutions to ensure information security. They judged the eight respondents on a variety of criteria, including ease-of-use, scalability and reliability. Laserfiche Records Management Edition™ was the clear winner, not only for its features, but also for its comprehensive support system.

“We wanted to deal locally,” Annunziello explains, noting the importance of having support close-at-hand. “Our local reseller, IKON Office Solutions, put together an excellent response to our RFP, providing a point-by-point answer to each of our questions. They also showed the best understanding of our document and records management needs.”

After the TRCA installed Laserfiche, staff quickly began scanning thousands of paper documents into the Laserfiche repository. In addition to archiving permanent records, such as deeds and agreements, they completed a back-file scanning project going back one year. Thanks to Laserfiche’s OCR capabilities, all these documents are full-text searchable.

Besides the ease and convenience of digital search, Annunziello notes the many other benefits Laserfiche has brought. “We’ve achieved peace of mind regarding our 2,300+ scanned deeds. Backup copies are available should the original be lost or destroyed. We also have our minutes from the past 50 years stored electronically.

“Laserfiche has helped us cut down on our paper use, too” he continues. “Previously, if staff wanted a copy of an agenda item, they had to produce extra copies—sometimes up to 100 pages—of the entire agenda. Now, staff can access Laserfiche to find the specific two or three pages they need.”

Part of the TRCA’s outreach efforts includes citizen participation in local cleanup projects.

Taking advantage of Laserfiche’s integration capabilities, the TRCA configured Laserfiche to automatically replicate the organizational structure of their Lotus Notes-based system. Annunziello explains, “Opening a Notes record automatically creates a folder and populates template fields in Laserfiche. This enables us to immediately import information into Laserfiche without disrupting the way we work.”

Scanning paper documents and better organizing information might immediately spring to mind as benefits of digital document management. But the TRCA has enjoyed a somewhat-unintended perk in the form of its new digital photo library. As Annunziello explains, “The photo archive was an afterthought. Our marketing group has a full-time professional photographer who needed to manage her photos. We realized that we needed to create a photo library so staff could easily access corporate photographs.”

Using Laserfiche, and a bit of ingenuity, the TRCA created a digital in-house archive of its thousands of photos, ranging from pictures of local wildlife to aerial photos of waterfront projects. With the help of their reseller, staff developed a bulk utility to import multiple CDs’ worth of photos into Laserfiche, as well as downsample them for faster retrieval. “Now,” Annunziello says, “staff search for photos within categories in Laserfiche. Once they locate a photo, they can quickly insert it into their report or presentation. If an image is to be sent outside of our organization, it gets watermarked to signify that it’s TRCA property. Template information assigned to each photograph shows the location of the original CD, should we need a poster-size print. Now, the whole process takes minutes, instead of days.”

One of the thousands of images in the TRCA’s digital photo library.

That’s a far cry from a car ride to a satellite office—and the resultant fuel savings fall right in line with the TRCA’s mission. But ultimately, staff enjoy the greatest benefits in the form of time and effort savings. Annunziello explains, “In our original proposal for Laserfiche, we suggested that we could save most of our staff an hour a day by searching for records electronically as opposed to finding the paper copies. Although there’s no way to measure, many staff have definitely realized this kind of return.”

And while the TRCA has achieved tremendous benefits so far, they’re not stopping anytime soon. “Our goal is to digitize all our forms processing,” Annunziello says. A major part of this initiative is enabling online submittal of land-use and development proposals. Sound planning is critical to building new facilities while preserving local watershed ecosystems. With that in mind, the TRCA reviews building permit applications to ensure that developers follow environmentally-friendly policies before, during and after construction. Applications for new planning and development are all currently available online, and soon, prospective builders will be able to submit them for review online as well. “Then,” Annunziello says, ”staff will be able to access a form online or through our server, fill it out and route it through Laserfiche Workflow™ to its correct location.”

In the meantime, Annunziello has many current projects to attend to, such as refining the TRCA’s records series for implementation in Laserfiche Records Management Edition. The TRCA also plans to create an organizational knowledge base for internal reference purposes.

Given the TRCA’s success with Laserfiche so far, these goals seem well within reach. And of course, there’s the larger goal of preserving the local environment for future generations. Says Annunziello, “Although a totally paperless office is not possible, it’s always our goal to conserve resources whenever possible. Laserfiche is a major part of that initiative.”