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IDEAL Solutions, Applications and Success Stories Teachers Retirement System (TRS) of Georgia Background
In the state of Georgia, as in most of the southeast, all retirement plans are privately handled with oversight by the state government. The Teachers Retirement System (TRS) of Georgia maintains, tracks, handles billing and payments, and manages the investments of retirement funds for Georgia teachers.
Problem
The Georgia state legislature decided that it was good idea to allow teachers to apply their accrued sick leave toward their individual retirement plans. The government mandate created additional workload for the TRS staff. TRS was bombarded with paper forms coming in by traditional mail and FAX. With 50,000 teachers in the system, there was a lot of paper work and tracking required in managing the retirement system. TRS began collecting information from schools across the state regarding the amount of time teachers had in their sick leave bank. It was time consuming to manually enter all data on forms. The data collected then had to be processed with the correct data applied to each teacher retirement fund. The data was not easily accessed since files were in various places based on the processing stage. Additionally, the TRS staff on various floors would need to see the data and would have to go up or down several floors to track down one piece of paper. TRS experienced a high response time to their customers. Papers shuffled from hand to hand. Some were even lost. As a result of the new legislation, TRS was unable to promptly manage the new workload with the work flow systems then in place.
Contact
Kandy Hamby, Business Development Representative with Metamor Industries Solutions contacted her colleague Jim Roppell, Imaging Practice Manager with Metamor Government Solutions regarding the wants and needs of the TRS of Georgia. Metamor Government Solutions in turn teamed with IDEAL Scanners & Systems, Inc.working with Jeremy Cook, ScanDEX Product Manager to provide the TRS of Georgia the right, cost effective solution to their document management problem. Both recognized that the solution had to allow the TRS staff the ability to quickly and efficiently enter and access data.
Old Work Flow Process
Under the old system, TRS of Georgia did everything in paper. TRS used about 3,000 square feet of office space to store hard copy files on floor to ceiling shelves with manila folders indexed by an ID number. Under their then current filing system, state compliance took one week. TRS recognized that this was a costly problem. TRS recognized that they needed to migrate from paper to digital, but they wanted to test pilot a migration path before making a major, across the board commitment.
Pilot Program
TRS chose a sick leave form as a testing mechanism to measure the effectiveness of a digital system. TRS processed about 200 sick leave forms per day. The state government required TRS to provide copies of these sick leave forms and or specific information from time to time.
Solution
Metamor provided one small format Fujitsu 600C scanner, which scanned 15 pages per minute, IDEAL provided one seat of ScanDEX/Pro, and ten concurrent user licenses of ScanDEX/View. Additionally, both companies provided the TRS with two day on site installation and training. IDEAL provided the TRS scanner operator with ScanDEX/Pro and installed ScanDEX/View on 25 other workstations.
New Work Flow Process
Under the new work flow process, all incoming sick leave forms that come in by mail and FAX are scanned and indexed using IDEAL's ScanDEX/Pro. eMail forms are digitally archived, as well. Once the forms are indexed, they are immediately available to all users in real time through IDEAL's ScanDEX/View.
Results
The entire IT solutions package put together by Metamor and IDEAL cost the TRS about $13,000. This investment compressed the turnaround from one week to one minute. This was made possible because multiple users can access and retrieve properly filed on line data using ScanDEX/View. TRS was able to identify duplicate entries, which eliminated errors. Also, because of the compressed turn around time, in forms processing, TRS no longer needed to hire outside temporaries. Finally, regardless of location, the TRS staff was able to access data without leaving their desk.
"Jeremy and Jim listened to the customer. They provided the customer exactly what they wanted - they did not complicate or make it elaborate," said Hamby. "I see Metamor and IDEAL again working together to finish the paper to digital conversion for the TRS of Georgia, as well as providing similar IT solutions for organizations facing similar challenges."
Highway 1: Procurement Officers "Oooh and Ahhh" IDEAL Product Line Highway 1 - December 1999
IDEAL closed out the 1999 Highway 1 presentation series on a strong note with solid audience turnout predominantly from the metropolitan Washington area. The event was held just blocks from the U.S. Capitol where IDEAL and Kodak teamed to provide an overview on integrating both large format paper drawings and small office type documents to the computerized desktop. IDEAL focused its presentations on advanced imaging and web based solutions to the mission critical applications of US federal, state, and local agencies.
"Our web solutions focus on unusually heavy bandwidth requirements related to engineering and technical documents serving such agencies as NASA, NOAA, USGS and various DOD offices," said Ed Delaney, National Sales Manager for IDEAL."We had a great turnout and the reception to the technology was excellent," he added. "We look forward to offering these solutions on various IDIQ and GSA vehicles for our federal government customers." A Few Comments
DC Water & Sewer Authority (WASA)
"We are revising the management of our 1,200 water and sewer maps throughout the city," said Al Street, Supervisor of Project Development with the DC Water & Sewer Authority (WASA). "Our maps are wearing out and it is no longer economical to keep them in paper. We need to convert our maps from paper to digital because we have a real need to preserve, archive, edit, and view them on line," he added. Street noted that the WASA has a need to have the maps in DXF format so that they can work with them in AutoCAD. "We are a little behind on our maps to incorporate the 'as built' changes that happened on site," said Street. "We came out to the IDEAL sponsored Highway 1 seminar because we are in the market for these tools," he added.
Engineering Design Group, Inc. (EDG)
"We are interested in scanning for our documents and AutoCADD drawings," said Matt Khodadad, CADD Manager with Engineering Design Group, Inc. "Right now, we put our drawings on a stick set and after we finish using them, we bundle and store them," he added. "At EDG, we scan everything. We need to upgrade from the slow HP scanner we now have to something like the Kodak 3500 we saw at Highway 1."
National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
"We came to the Highway 1 seminar because we are looking for color scanners to scan aeronautical and nautical charts," said Thomas Dade, Graphic Specialist (Lithographer) with the U.S. Department of Commerce NOAA. Dade stated that NOAA has a need to archive and edit their large format documents as well. "The ScanDEX software is pretty impressive because it enabled you to locate files quickly," he added.
"I was quite impressed with Rob Traster's demonstration of the color SuperWIDE 50." NOAA exists to warn of dangerous weather, chart the seas and skies, guides the usage and protection of the globe's ocean and coastal resources, and conduct research to improve the understanding and stewardship of the environment. EarthData International
"We have been doing online research for large format scanning. We wanted to see the SuperWIDE 50 demo and were happy to see it at work," said Morgan Campbell, Cartographer with EarthData International, a leader in the airborne imaging, mapping, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) profession. "EarthData International is the perfect customer for the types of scanners and software IDEAL provides," said Kevin Armentrout. "Our scanners and software are suited to digital mapping," he added.
Highway 1
Highway 1 is a non-profit organization funded by Microsoft, Cisco, IBM, Kodak, CSC, and other leading technology corporations to help government leaders understand technology and use of information.
History
Since 1993, more than 2,500 companies and Government agencies have trusted IDEAL to move their paper assets to digital. IDEAL enjoys relationships with numerous Fortune 500 clients, which include Bechtel, Boeing, Caterpillar, Cornell University and Lockheed Martin to name a few. Federal Agencies implementing scanning solutions from IDEAL include NASA, U.S. Navy, Army, Air Force, U.S. Geological Survey, U.S.D.A and NIMA.
Hardware Solutions IDEAL scanners have the capability of taking in a variety of documents in a number of applications, noted Delaney. IDEAL has increased the number in the monochrome line of scanners to seven over the last several years. The number of color line of scanners has also increased over the last several years to nine, noted Delaney. Input from IDEAL and customer comments fed to Contex, the manufacturer, has allowed for ongoing improvements and diversification in the monochrome and color scanner lines. "IDEAL scanners are customer driven and have consistently met the demands of the market," noted Delaney. For more information on the diffrent IDEAL scanner lines, please see Scanners or call 1-301-468-0123.
Software Scanning Solutions IDEAL-CloudOS
Document acquisition, indexing, and distribution for large and small-format documents is made easy with IDEAL-CloudOS. "IDEAL-CloudOS is an all in one suite that provides a simple interface to Scan-to-File and Scan-to-Print," said Jeremy Cook, the IDEAL-CloudOS Product Manager. IDEAL Scan OS allows users to scan their images, store and index them with a single field for easy retrieval.
IDEAL-CloudOS supports all IDEAL, Contex, TWAIN, and ISIS Scanners, the KODAK Digital Science 3500, and also contains custom-written printer drivers for faster printing with Xerox 8830 and 8825, Océ 9400, KIP Starprint 3000, as well as any Windows-compatible printer. Real-Time Prescan and Scan for the best quality scans is also one of the built in features. IDEAL-CloudOS features the Archive Station, for single-field indexing. This allows quick indexing of engineering drawings and related technical documents scanned with KODAK 3500 Scanner. The Printed Records Archive feature also gives print-accounting features. For more information on IDEAL-CloudOS, please visit Software: Scanner Operating Systems or call 1-301-468-0123. ScanDEX/CD
ScanDEX/CD enables users to export the archive or any part of it to a CD-ROM with a built-in viewer and search engine. "Distributing documents to your customers has never been easier," said Jeremy Cook, IDEAL ScanDEX/CD Product Manager. "Archiving and indexing on CD is a great document management solution." The software consists of a complete Windows95/NT based CD-ROM mastering capability. Allows View, Browse, and fast Pan & Zoom, and Print capabilities. For more information on the ScanDEX line, please visit Software: Scan To Index And Archive.
Scan to CAD
I/Vector is the fastest easiest way to get scanned raster drawings into an intelligent vector. It supports the following native CAD file formats such as DXF, DGN, and DWF.
It runs independent of AutoCAD and does not require a skilled CAD operator to achieve excellent results. For more information, please visit Software: Scan to CAD or call 1-301-468-0123. Color Scan to Print
IDEAL Color ScanCENTRAL provides fast, accurate color reproductions and supports ICC device profiles. It provides more precision than closed loop calibration and allows the user to print to multiple Inkjets across Networks. Color ScanCENTRAL comes with direct support for most major plotters and supports PC and Mac. For more information on Color Scan to Print software, please visit Software: Scan to Print or call 1-301-468-0123.
ReproWEB
ReproWEB is a large and small format document repository for the Web and LAN and enables authorized users to access and view any type of document. Hypothetically, an out-in-the-field engineer can access an aerial shot of an oil pipeline, zoom in to the finest detail while noting recommended modifications to his counterpart who is also viewing the same section of the document. This on-line, real time collaboration eliminates the need for the FedEx of large format documents for review and comment and closes a crucial gap in project management - time. Just as important for that low bandwidth modem out in the field, download time is not an issue since viewing takes place from the server side via THIN client technology. Moreover, ReproWEB enables clients to submit remote print jobs through the Web. For more information on ReproWEB, please visit www.reproweb.net or call 1-301-468-0123.
Staying Ahead of the Curve
Because technology is rapidly developing, IDEAL constantly incorporates more features and benefits into both scanning hardware and software. The result for the consumer of IT tools is the need to stay abreast with ongoing changes in the market place. To meet this need, IDEAL has chosen the Highway 1 venue as one of many means of enabling end users and decision makers the latest information to make the best decisions. The Highway 1 seminar benefits attendees by providing first hand product over views and demonstrations of cutting edge, powerful productivity tools.
IDEAL Releases Free JETimage Software to Improve High Quality Color Processing in Wide-Format Scan-to-Print Market December 10, 1999, Rockville, MD - IDEAL Scanners & Systems, Inc. announced today the release of its innovative color copying software JETimage 2.0 that can be downloaded for free at Software: Scan to Print. JETimage is a complete color copying software designed as a free interface tool between the IDEAL line of wide-format scanners and a wide range of inkjet printers. "One of the problems with the current color scan-to-print copy process is matching the original input colors with the color output from the printer," says Bert Magenheim, Director of IDEAL. "Scanners see many more colors than printers can actually print, so a solution had to be found for all those unmatched colors." JETimage's closed loop calibration is able to provide a joint hardware and software solution to the problem that allows the scanner to read the entire color range of the printer before copying. The software calculates the best possible mapping of scanner colors to printer colors using the selected paper type as one of the parameters. Guided by a calibration wizard feature, test patches are printed and then scanned to automatically generate a color-matching map that will be applied during copying. As a standard, the JETimage software includes optimal color mapping schemes for the most popular printers and media. "With JETimage," adds Magenheim, "you can control all aspects of your printed output with convenient options for output size, margins, print quality, media type and even copy layout." The JETimage interface includes a preview window that provides not only control of settings, but also a wide range of on-screen copy manipulation tools such as zoom, pan and align. The copy frame indicates how selected ouput size will effect the margins and crop the image. Copying color originals with tonal adjustments include lightness, black/white point and saturation. JETimage is a powerful, professional tool enabling easy production of vivid color-corrected copies and also exploits the monochrome scanning features for perfect black and white copy assignments. A free demo version of JETimage 2.0 can be downloaded from the IDEAL website at Software: Scan to Print. For additional information please contact Kathy Magenheim at (301) 468-0123 ext. 1230 or contact via email at kmagenheim@ideal.com. |
