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 Enhance Operations and Improve Services
The energy and utilities industry delivers public services such as water, electricity and/or gas. Whether they are publicly or privately owned, today's utilities must establish a document storage and management system for high volume record keeping, compliance and disaster recovery requirements.
The Public Utilities and Energy Market
“Document management has never been more important for public utilities. Utility managers must keep adequate records, build efficient operations and control expenses. ECM is the key technology needed for the job. It is the most cost-effective means to manage document processes while boosting productivity.”
- Raimond Wasner, Managing Director, Kollabria |
Public utilities face aging infrastructure issues as well as modern day challenges. With tightening regulations, threats of terrorist attacks and the push for environmental responsibility, public utility boards are looking for technologies that ease these burdens. Additionally, utility managers are seeking effective ways to manage information and increase operational efficiencies. Digitech Systems Enterprise Content Management (ECM) technology can help utilities drive efficiency and control document management costs while enhancing disaster recovery and green strategies. PaperVision® Enterprise and ImageSilo enable utilities to:
- Manage information electronically to increase operational efficiency.
- Reduce the cost of managing and archiving documents.
- Enhance security and regulations compliance.
Electronic Documents Drive Productivity
While highly automated technologies have long been used at utility plants to keep operations running smoothly, utility boards are now recognizing that technology is equally valuable in reducing paper use and expediting accounting and back-office processes. By storing and managing electronic files in a single, searchable ECM system, utilities can retrieve information faster, enhancing customer service and increasing productivity.
- Automated systems capture and index any information, including paper documents, electronic files and email messages to reduce administrative burden.
- Powerful search capabilities pinpoint customer payments and safety records in seconds to accelerate responses to auditors, regulatory agencies, customers and freedom of information requests.
- Version controls ensure every department has the most up-to-date operations manuals, maintenance records and other documents for informed decision making.
- Workflow capabilities automatically route documents through standard processes to decrease response times and accelerate services.
After implementing a Digitech Systems' ECM system, United Illuminating eliminated $20,000 in overtime expenses, improved audit efficiency by more than 50% and simplified compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
“We recognized ROI in less than one year with our ImageSilo implementation.”
- Major A. Ruth, Accounts Payable Supervisor, United Illuminating |
ECM Reduces Costs
Maintaining operations manuals, safety records, system checks, tracking logs as well as billing and collection records can be mind boggling and costly for records managers. In addition, utilities must store documents permanently to satisfy disaster recovery requirements. PaperVision Enterprise, the on-premise ECM software and ImageSilo®, the Software as a Service (SaaS), can control the cost of high volume records retention.
- As an outsourced service, ImageSilo requires no investment in hardware, software or IT personnel and enables rapid implementation.
- Point-and-click integration allows the ECM system to work with virtually any line-of-business application for enhanced collaboration and fast access to shared documents and accounting information.
- Records retention and destruction capabilities prevent permanent records from being deleted and also allow outdated documents to be purged automatically, conserving valuable storage space.
- Backup processing and data replication ensure information availability and reduce the risk of information loss.
Key Features
- Automated document routing accelerates processing times and customer service.
- A centralized information source simplifies management and facilitates collaboration.
- Data replication simplifies disaster recovery and ensures information availability.
- System tracking and reporting features provide documented evidence of compliance.
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Extensive Security Protects Information and Enables Compliance
While regulatory compliance initiatives have always been stringent, today non-compliance can cost utility companies $1 million per day per violation, according to the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Meanwhile, utility companies are still struggling to meet reporting requirements and to demonstrate compliance to oversight agencies. ImageSilo and PaperVision Enterprise can control all business documents, safeguard all stored information and provide documented evidence of compliance.
- Multiple security levels allow utility companies to implement information policies and assign access rights for specific users and groups, including the public.
- Redaction restricts the viewing or disclosing of sensitive information within a document and maintains confidentiality even if a document is shared.
- System tracking and disclosure reporting serve as evidence of compliance and provide confidence during audits.
- Document history and user action reports detail system activity and enhance accountability.
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