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Electronic Document
Management System
The Paperless File Room becomes a reality!
Using the
capabilities of an Electronic Document Management System (EDMS),
Jay Flynn, Manager of Administrative Services in the Employee
Relations Department (ERD), has begun to turn his paper file
room into bits and bytes. By optically scanning, indexing and
storing literally millions of pieces of paper, ERD is saving
space, trees and money. Adding to the scanning initiative is a
workflow component that will allow the county to automate the
handling of certain documents online, from beginning to end.
What does this mean? Paper need not be generated at all.
ERD's central file
room is filled with over 45,000 employee folders jam packed with
documents that track the employee's career with the county. With
some folders expanding up to 2 inches thick, this totals about
seven million individual documents. But it doesn't stop there.
Most departments maintain their own employee files (although not
considered the 'official copies') essentially duplicating much
of the information found in the ERD file room.
Enter technology,
with a solution called Electronic Document Management (EDMS).
Jay's woes resulted in an EDMS working group headed up by CIO,
Randy Witt, and a pilot project supervised by the County's EDMS
Program Manager, Jose Nodarse, applying this technology to
optically image the contents of the employee files, create
intelligent on-line data entry forms, and automate the workflow
and approval process. Using Identitech, the county's enterprise
standard for this technology, the contents of an employee's
folder are now available online to those with the requisite
security access. Access to certain items found in the folder can
be blocked if one does not have the required level of security.
In the case of
Personnel Change Documents (PCD's), departments are able to
enter information, such as promotions and transfers, into an
online form, which then undergoes an electronic routing process
to obtain necessary approvals. When finalized, the form becomes
part of the employee's electronic folder. The new system has
been rolled out countywide to all Departmental Personnel
Officers, who are now able to view employee files online. In
addition, the information in an employee's file is synchronized
daily with the county's mainframe based payroll system.
The benefits and
results of this type of technology are impressive. The entire
process is paperless, secure, reduces data entry by approx. 40%,
allows for immediate location of documents and frees up vast
quantities of expensive office space. In addition, authorized
users can access an employee's folder to obtain the most current
and accurate information, thereby reducing the need to store
duplicate files in departments, or spend hours on the phone
trying to track down the status of any given personnel action.
The implementation
of EDMS by the Employee Relations Department has already
resulted in cost savings and operational efficiencies. Office
space savings are estimated at $45,000 per year for the central
file room alone. Additionally, the automation of system
generated PCD's (PCD's that are produced in mass as a result of
Cost of Living Adjustments and other countywide action) will
allow ERD to reassign three clerks, previously dedicated to the
filing of over 90,000 documents each year, to address unmet
needs in other areas of the department.
And more is to come!
This represents only a pilot of the EDMS technology, and based
on the successes realized thus far, ERD has plans to put more
info online. In the coming months, employee self services will
be provided which will empower employees to access their own
files and update information such as death beneficiary forms and
change of address, to name a few. "The savings we can
achieve through automation of our internal processes are
tremendous."
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About e-Government
