Utilities

Document Management Case Study

The Situation

Customer service and cost were the two primary issues that motivated OPPD MIS to research possible replacements for the Records Management Department’s COM (Computer Output to Microfiche) system. Customer inquiries were taking anywhere from five minutes to a full business day to answer, and were rarely resolved during the initial call. This was in large part due to the fact that relevant customer information was often only accessible in a separate floor or building. In return for this inconvenience, OPPD was paying a service bureau over $100,000 per year to replicate thousands of daily mainframe reports onto microfiche.

In order to store both host-generated reports and paper documents, OPPD’s MIS Manager anticipated that OPPD would require a COLD (Computer Output to Laser Disk) system and a document imaging system. After a rigorous evaluation of several software applications, OPPD selected the OnBase Enteprise Content Management (ECM) solution. Unlike other applications under consideration, only OnBase offered the ability to store COLD and image documents in one integrated system.

Through a customized OnBase demonstration that incorporated the utility’s own sample data, , OPPD’s MIS Manager learned how OPPD users could quickly and easily access all information from their own workstations simply by “pointing and clicking” from one related document to another. OPPD’s MIS Manager was also impressed by the openness and scalability of the OnBase solution.

Compliance with ODBC (Open Database Connectivity) meant that the client/server software could be easily integrated with OPPD’s existing IT infrastructure and leverage their investment in Oracle database software. It also meant that OnBase could accommodate OPPD’s plans to migrate from Windows 3.11 to Windows NT.

The Solution

The initial solution called for the implementation of three OnBase processing modules: COLD, Document Imaging, and CD Authoring. COLD would process over fifty different types of mainframe reports, including 18,000 billing statements per day. Document Imaging would operate in conjunction with a scanner to scan and index paper forms detailing every operation performed by the field service technicians. CD Authoring would save backup copies of all stored documents to CDs housed in three 7- drive Procom CD Towers.

OnBase Client licenses have been rolled out in phases — first to 19 customer service representatives and then eventually to a total of 150 users in over 20 locations. In addition to the original installation, other OnBase modules have been implemented: Full Text Indexing, OCR, Web Server, and DIP (Document Import Processor).

The Result

OPPD’s adoption of OnBase has accomplished exactly what it was intended to do— improve customer service and reduce operating expenses. Customer Service Representatives now access customer account information directly from their own workstations through the graphical interface of the OnBase Client. With the ability to search for any type of document by keyword or textual content, inquiries that once required several hours of research now take just seconds to perform.

“OnBase is particularly useful in addressing possible billing discrepancies,” says , OPPD’s MIS Manager. “With first hand access to all relevant documentation, it is very easy for a customer service representative to determine whether or not a mistake was made.” This increase in efficiency, coupled with the savings in microfiche processing, resulted in a complete return on investment in less than 6 months.

OnBase has proved to be of tremendous value to other departments as well. Among the information routinely accessed by analysts are materials management reports, financial reports, employee information reports, and a 20,000-page “all-system usage” report. OnBase is also used to process a year-end volume comprised of one million pages. “The improved access to information has helped many operational departments not only do their jobs faster, but better,” says , OPPD’s MIS Manager. “Our analysts don’t know what they would do without it.”

Document Capture Case Study

Exelon Nuclear, the nation’s largest nuclear power producer, relies on an ECM solution accessed by more than 6,000 users to manage millions of service, maintenance, and certification documents for their 17 nuclear reactors.

Using capture technology, Exelon has enabled engineers across the country to securely access work orders and surveillance reports right from their desktops, instead of having to physically access the duplicate documents via film. By electronically managing the 800,000 paper work orders and surveillance reports created annually for any repair or preventative maintenance to a nuclear facility, Exelon has truly embraced the power of distributed capture.

Read full story on Exelon Case Study

Why Choose MTM

MTM is a platinum OnBase solutions provider specializing in Enterprise Content Management solutions. A leader in the fields of document imaging and workflow, business process management consulting, micrographic service and supplies, document conversion services, and offsite records storage, MTM supports more than 5,000 individual pieces of equipment within more than 1,500 public, private, and government organizations.

MTM is also a certified KIP Starprint printer distributer for the full-line of KIP Starprint printers, including the KIP 1020 that prints A, B & C sized documents.