Solving the Paper Problem: Department by Department
The Town of Greece is a large and growing municipality in Upstate New York. With over 90,000 residents and the accompanying residential developments, businesses, schools and other infrastructure, the Town generates large numbers of documents, including marriage and death certificates, permits, minutes and maps, which it is legally required to maintain on a permanent basis. Looking for a more streamlined, efficient technology solution to help manage the thousands of documents, the Town turned to General Code for help.
The Town chose Laserfiche® from General Code as its document management solution in 2002, and our Scanning Services Department scanned and indexed approximately 6,800 pages of documents retained by the Clerk’s Office, including marriage records, Town Board meeting minutes, and water, sewer and lighting district files. The Town’s goal was to get the bulk of its archived paper into an electronic format and, from that point forward, to maintain the scanning in-house. The scanning project converted piles of paper documents into easily retrievable and searchable electronic files. When these valuable information resources are converted from a traditional paperbased system into an electronic system, the resulting improvements in accessibility, office productivity, and information distribution can be quite dramatic.
Over the years, as the Town began utilizing the Laserfiche system more regularly and became more comfortable with it, departments outside the Clerk’s office recognized a similar need for having electronic access to paper documents. In 2007, using a state records management grant, the Town, again contracted with General Code to scan and index 7,300 maps, including subdivision maps and various infrastructure drawings, some up to 34 inches by 44 inches in size. These maps, largely maintained by the Engineering and Public Works Departments, were housed in map drawers and required by state law to be retained permanently. The large documents were sometimes awkward to handle, and the condition of some was showing wear from regular handling. “We were looking for a method through which the various Town departments could all have access to the documents they needed,” says Patty Anthony, Greece Town Clerk.
Prior to signing the backfile contract, General Code worked with the Town to demonstrate
how its documents would look once converted to an electronic format. “The Engineering Department was particularly interested in the clarity and readability of the maps,” points out Ms. Anthony. General Code’s backfile experts scanned some of the Town’s maps to provide samples, which convinced the Town that the documents would be legible and easy to navigate. The Engineering Department was particularly impressed by the feature that allows users to zoom in to particular portions of a map.
As part of the project, General Code worked closely with the Town to create a folder and indexing system that matched the index card and drawer system the Town was accustomed to using to find maps.
General Code’s Backfile Department examined the Town’s current file system to develop the electronic indexing system. In the end, the transition was so smooth that, as the Clerk pointed out, it didn’t require any training beyond what she could provide to the new users herself. Having electronic access to documents has been a time-saver and efficiency boost for the Town. Utilizing General Code’s document scanning services was a big step in enabling the Town to maximize the use of its Laserfiche system, allowing the Town to get the bulk of its documents into the system so it could move forward with scanning future documents on its own. For municipalities without the capabilities of doing large-format scanning on their own, however, Ms. Anthony suggested that an ongoing relationship with General Code’s scanning services might be beneficial.
Wide-format scanning is available in color, greyscale, or black and white, in a variety of formats and resolutions, up to 42 inches wide. When the resulting images are archived with the powerful Laserfiche document imaging software, you will have a searchable and reliable archive for all of your largescale documents for years to come.
Contact General Code at 855-GEN-CODE (855-436-2633) or by email at info [at] generalcode [dot] com to discuss your own document scanning needs.
Read More Customer Solution Profiles
Read about Enterprise Content Management Solutions powered by Laserfiche®
Read about General Code's Scanning Services
