The Green Sheet 019

THE

Full coverage of the Document Management industry, in all its forms.

INCORPORATING THE MICROGRAPHICS MARKET PLACE AND THE MICROGRAPHICS NEWSLETTER

also in this issue:ROUND AND ABOUT READERS LETTERS PAGES 20-|1 BACK TO THE FUTURE FOR

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ADVERTISERS INDEX inalphabeticalorder Advance G roup.................................................................... 15 DSS UK...................................................................................17 Film Scan Technologies.........................................................7 G B Products..........................................................................14 GG B a ker...............................................................................10 Global M arketplace..............................................................23 Graphic D ata...........................................................................5 Hugh S y m o n s ....................................................................... 18 In d u s...................................................................................... 21 K odak..................................................................................... 24 MicroVue Products............................................................... 11 Russ B assett..........................................................................10 Solar Microfilm Equipment.............................................. 8,15 Sourcecorp...............................................................................3 The Microfilm S h o p .......................................................... 9,22 Trans Media Technology.....................................................12 Upton Services.....................................................

2

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from ................................................................. £ 650.00

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B ell & H owell A BR 506....................................................................... £ 1250.00 R eal R B20 D iazo D uplicator R eal R B70

latest s p e c .........................................£ 4250.00

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R eal RB121...............................................................................................£ 2750.00 F uji AP5 P rocessor (immaculate) .........................................................£ 3250.00 P hotoclark HE610 P rojection D ensitometer as new .......P.O.A. Various Quality C ontrol E quipment, D ensitometers , M icroscopes, C heck B enches , etc ...................................... P .O A

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T H IS M A G A Z IN E A N D T H E C O N T E N T S

A R E C O P Y R IG H T O F T H E PU B L IS H E R S

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The move is towards early imaging of cheques in the clearing process and a decline in microfdming

by Harvey Spencer, Harvey Spencer Associates One of the outcomes of the tragic attacks of September 11, 2001 will be a dramatic change in the cheque payments system in the United States. After the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, all air flights in the United States were grounded. One consequence of this was that the Federal Reserve Bank had to pump funds into the system just to keep it afloat. The U.S. payments system is still heavily based on the paper cheque; although the number is decreasing there are still approximately 42 billion cheques written annually. These must physically circulate through the system from issuer to recipient and, via the banking system, back to the issuer in the monthly statement. The Federal Reserve estimates approximately $3 trillion moves through the primary U.S. payments systems daily, and an individual cheque can be expected to be transported some 4-5 times by armoured car and twice by plane in the normal three-day clearing process. When flights were grounded, and ground transportation restricted, this circulatory system was almost totally blocked.

The problems encountered after 9/11 gave impetus to the Federal Reserve’s proposal to truncate cheques into images in order to improve the payments system, and also encourage innovation without mandating a move to electronic cheque imaging. Alan Greenspan, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, presented Congress with the first Cheque Truncation Act on December 17, 2001.

Congress deliberated and currently there are two versions of a proposed Act, one from each of the two houses of the U.S. legislative body. The House of Representatives on June 5, 2003 voted acceptance of its version, Cheque Processing for the 21st Century, commonly referred to as Cheque 21. Shortly after, on June 26, the Senate incorporated the House’s language and created its own version, the Cheque Truncation Act of 2003. The unanimous Senate acceptance of the House’s language simplifies the job of getting a bill to the President’s desk for signing into law, possibly as early as the first weeks of July.

The major premise of the Acts is to allow the Federal Reserve banking system to accept an image of a cheque and confer the full legal status of the physical paper cheque on that image.

The ramifications of such a change are enormous, opening up windows of opportunity for vendors of cheque scanning hardware and software. It is also causing a flurry of innovation for paper and electronic security and anti-fraud measures.

Differences between U.S. and European Banking Systems leading to a decline in microfilming The U.S. banking system is more fragmented than the European system with large national and regional banks and many smaller, localised community banks, savings and loan institutions, and employee credit unions, some of which may have just a single branch serving a segmented niche of the population. Under U.S. Banking Law, banks originally could only operate within their own states, but ways were found around this law and banks began a gradual expansion across state borders. Now the top 36 banks in the U.S. have some 32,500 branches among them, the 35th has 75, and then it quickly drops to 2-3 branches per bank. For this reason, the proposed legislation is not mandating the use of cheque images, but provides for the processing of both images and paper cheques.

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Post 9/11 legislation will make changes in U.S. payments process

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The legislation also allows for a substitute cheque to be made from the image, with the requirement that the printer uses magnetic ink for the MICR line, as it must be able to run through all existing equipment. However the many benefits and cost savings of using an image - reduced courier and transportation costs, faster settlement, later cutoffs, quicker identification of fraudulent cheques, reduced mailing costs, less paper usage, etc. - means that many banks will switch to the use of cheque images.

Banks, including Savings and Loans and Credit Unions, are currently using cheque imaging, but the rationale varies from bank to bank. For many it has been a way to reduce the manual costs of entering amounts, but for some it may be prompted by the introduction of Internet Banking Services and offering statements showing the image of cheques via the Internet, or the savings in mailing out cheque image statements or statements on CD rather than the physical cheques. For others it may be to facilitate signature verifications or for microfilm replacement.

(For various reasons, bank microfilming of cheques has gone steadily down in the U.S. Where individual cheques were once microfilmed as many as a dozen times. Today, when microfilming occurs, the average would be in the 2-3 range. This accelerated the decline of duplicate film usage.- Ed)

AGFA ^ For all A G FA Microfilm Products in the United States contact John G lover Microfilm Distribution Services, a division of SO U R C E C O R P 8 0 0 - 9 6 9 - 2 5 5 6 , ext 3 6 7

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LookiNq a Fter t Ihe

old....ANd t Ihe new

Document processing at the Nationwide Building Society An objective overview by David Aspinall If there is one part of business life which has had most difficulty getting away from paper then it’s probably the legal profession. Most people tend to require legal help for two main purposes in the UK - buying and selling property and making a will. It’s the first of these areas - property that I’m going to talk about this month.

Before we discuss this application, let me explain to readers outside the UK the ideas behind a building society. The first building society was set up in the 1770’s during the Industrial Revolution. Workers formed societies to save for land and materials with which to build houses of their own.

Each member contributed regularly until all members’ houses had been built, after which a society was wound up. Two important changes took place in the 1840’s when societies started taking savings from people who had no intention of building a house and the first permanent societies were formed. By the 1860’s there were over 2,700 building societies in the UK. The major difference between building societies and banks was that, whereas a bank is owned by its shareholders, a building society is owned by its members.

As with everything else, there has been a huge amount of consolidation and, today, there are just 65 building societies in the UK. The societies have total assets of around £175 billion ($292 billion), about 15 million adult savers and over two and a half million borrowers. Although mortgages in the UK are, typically, written for 20-25 years, they are specific to an individual and a property and are frequently redeemed in less than seven years as people change job etc. and need to move house.

There have been two key technology changes which have allowed the Society to provide an enhanced level of service: The Automated Document Factory This facility provides connectivity to all current and legacy systems. Print stream processing has been revolutionised. From receipt from the various systems to printing onto the correct paper stock, inclusion of appropriate marketing materials, mail sorting, enveloping and despatch, the process has resulted in reduced staffing costs, better quality control and improved customer service.

A Corporate Document Management Strategy There are three main sources of documents which may need to be retained - computer output reports, personal computer generated documents including e-mail and, of course, paper documents. These can be analysed by function and/or application area such as group purchasing, human resources, board papers, stakeholder documentation, customer selfservice through the internet, pensions and mortgages.

Implemented business wide over call centres, administrative offices and about 700 branches, a central records database provides a consistent view of information regardless of the original source or format.

But an examination of the way the Society has approached the two key applications - mortgages and deposits - gives a better insight into the way various technologies have been embraced to provide the right results.

After over a hundred such mergers, the Nationwide Building Society is the largest building society in the world today.

However, this rich heritage had also endowed the Society with a variety of disparate computer systems including mainframe legacy systems from IBM, ICL and Unisys. And the range of services provided has been extended to include many aspects of modern day living. From secured and unsecured personal loans, home, car, travel and credit card insurance, through to pensions and internet banking, the Nationwide provides a panoply of associated services.

But the core business functions remain those associated with borrowing and lending of money. Bob Stubbs, Micrographics Manager explained the seed changes which had taken place over the last 3-4 years.

Financial Information The original societies that formed to constitute the Nationwide were early adopters of technology to improve efficiency and help reduce errors in the handling of financial data. From early ledger card systems, which were developed in the 1920’s and 30’s through the mainframe systems introduced in the 1960’s and, now, the open system based application suites in use today. The societies also adopted techniques such as computer output to microfilm (COM) for holding working and historical copies of important financial records such as statements. Today such information is held within the corporate document database for a period so that it is easily accessible online but it is also printed to COM for long term reference.

Mortgage payments are, of course electronic and the production of annual statements and interest rate change notifications are managed by the automated document factory but there are still manual paper processes involved in payments to depositors. Cheques are automatically processed and simultaneously microfilmed - typically 150,000 per night. Withdrawal slips were held by branches for twelve months (60 million per annum) and then microfilmed

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centrally but, for newer type accounts, these are now scanned.

Legal Documents The Society holds approximately 1.5 million mortgages and, traditionally, for each of these a paper file is held in the central filing area. This file contains the original mortgage application details, associated reference documentation and any subsequent correspondence (updates). The file can be retrieved if required and delivered to a local branch within two working days.

Graphic Data Document and Data Management

Following redemption of the mortgage, the files are microfilmed and the microfilm retained for a further twelve years.

Graphic Data JOnline

- P ro fe ss io n a l S ervices

New mortgage files are now scanned once the mortgage acceptance procedure is completed by the branch and the paper file is then shredded. Mortgage information is then retained online and is immediately accessible. Any updates to new mortgage files are also scanned and the online file is updated accordingly. New “scanner friendly” mortgage application forms have been developed to ensure a smooth process. The spine of the eight page document can easily be removed and fast, double-sided scanners simplify the process.

Looking to the future, it will be interesting to note what actions are taken each time there is a need for technology change.

Even if the inherent c o m p u t i n g architecture does not change, there will be a need to change the storage devices (and, hence, restructure the associated database) every five to seven years. The Society does, of course, have considerable experience of handling such migrations for the accounting functions over the years and still chooses to hold long term data on microfiche. Given that many of the records are retained for a considerable length of time with minimal reference, I personally would be thinking of adopting a hybrid system approach for older information by outputting them to microfilm using one of the newer COM systems which can produce images. Such an approach would be particularly relevant to redeemed mortgage files rather than seeing an ongoing expansion of online storage.

Next month we will be looking at hybrid systems in more detail and be able to compare and contrast the Nationwide approach with that of a major pensions provider.

David Aspinall, Datum Solutions Limited, Datum House, 4 Priory Close, Fleet, Hampshire, GU51 4ED, Tel: 01252 612805, E-mail: daspinall@datum-solutions.co.uk

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The IMS solution The IMS solution The IMS Solution The Problem The client was a major bank with over 120 branches. They needed to search for historic accounts data, which was held on over 300,000 microfiche, representing over 80 million individual pages of data, spanning 20 years.

The existing system was extremely time consuming and inefficient, requiring a large number of microfiche filing cabinets, microfiche viewers and printers, and employing manual searching of individual microfiche, before finally producing a hard copy if the correct page was found.

To replace this system, the client desired to simply enter any known data such as account number, date, amount etc, and to locate the correct page from their own desktop PC’s. This would completely replace the existing system, and enable any authorised personnel to access the data directly.

The Solution i The IMS solution was to scan each microfiche, and to create high quality images of each page of accounts data. Prior to choosing scanners for this highly complex project, IMS carried out extensive research, and due to their unrivalled image quality, reliability and throughput, chose SunRise production film scanners, which they sourced from Film Scan Technologies Ltd. Four SunRise scanners were used 24 hours per day, seven days per week, and the microfiche were scanned within a 40-week period. In order to maximise output, Film Scan Technologies set up the scanners to scan entire blocks of each microfiche, with each block containing up to 18 separate pages. These blocks were then automatically cropped using Crop-Ix software which IMS developed especially for the project, and which can crop 18 images in less than a second.

The scanned and cropped images were then put through highly sophisticated Expervision OCR software, which interpreted and recognised every character or number on the page, and converted it into text, which it associated with the original scanned image. Finally, the scanned images and the associated text were written to PowerRetrieve software, which was installed on a dedicated server, and which allowed instant searching and retrieval of any record, using standard desktop PC’s.

The Process Flowchart

OUTPUT TO DVD AND UPLOADED ONTO CLIENTS NETWORK

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The Retrieval Software Power Retrieve is a Windows based file management and knowledge retrieval solution, and uses standard PC technology. Power Retrieve will store scanned microfiche or paper based documents, convert the scanned image’s into computer readable text files (ASCII) and automatically index every character within the content of the document, thus allowing users to search and retrieve documents on any information held within the documents contents. Power Retrieve will overcome OCR (Optical Character Recognition) errors, mis-spelt words or inaccurate search queries.

Once the documents have been found, you can save them, print them, fax them, or email them. Power Retrieve provides a simple to use Windows interface that will enable users to find the information they are looking for quickly. Power Retrieve enables you to search across all scanned records, and perform content and/or index field label searches, and, it’s simple to use.

Features: ★ Search using a combination of Fuzzy, Concept and Boolean technologies. ★ Documents may be printed, faxed or emailed.

The Result The system completely replaced all of the archival microfiche. Using normal desktop PC’s, the client was able to locate any required financial record in a fraction of the time it would have otherwise taken. This speeded up their seraching significantly, and the project also resulted in the ability to produce an archival copy statement without having to revert to any microfiche.

Contact: Bob Doyle, I.M.S.Ltd, IDA Industrial Estate, Santry Avenue, Dublin 9, Republic of Ireland Tel: +353 I 842 4144 Fax: +353 1 842 4052 Email: bdoyle@imsirl.ie or visit www.imsirl.ie Other Weblinks: www.fstl.co.uk (The SunRise scanner vendor used by IMS) www.expervision.com (The OCR software used by IMS) www.infocap.co.uk (The retrieval software provided by IMS) *

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DekaBank streamlines customer correspondence capture w ith FormWare German-based DekaBank is one of Europe’s leading financial services organisations, offering a wide range of banking, loan and investment products and services for private and institutional customers.

The bank had revenue in 2002 of nearly 90 billion euros, a fund volume of 122 billion euros and equity capital of 3.1 billion euros. This, and a 20% market share in Germany, positioned the bank for sustained growth in the years ahead.

The Situation: The need to process growing amounts of data With significant increases in new business, DekaBank identified its mail and document management processes as an area it wanted to improve. Such processes included new account applications, account turnovers and changes in customer data that are received daily via incoming mail, fax and electronically over the Internet. The bank utilises more than 150 different form types that have to be captured, recognised, routed and processed.

PAGE 8

The bank’s existing archiving system was mostly paper based and dispersed throughout different departments. This translated to countless hours spent in archive retrieval and high costs for manual processing. DekaBank wanted to decrease these costs and increase customer service performance by improving its ability to provide more comprehensive information to customers faster and more accurately. DekaBank decided to overhaul its mail and data processing system with a faster, more accurate solution to manage such business-critical information.

FormWare would be implemented to capture incoming forms, “read” the information contained on the documents with optical character recognition (OCR) technology, identify the form, classify its importance, route forms to appropriate work , “baskets” for any required completion, then export completed forms to the archive. Employees are able to complete any additionally required processing and can easily access other records necessary when doing so.

Daily outgoing customer mail is also archived in customer folders. This mail volume is typically 1,000 documents a day, but depending on the time of year can go as high as 800,000 documents.

The Results: Faster processing and improved customer service

The Solution: Captiva’s FormWare for form capture, recognition and routing

With the help of Pylon and Captiva, the implementation of FormWare was completed on time and within budget.

DekaBank is now able to process its incoming mail faster, more efficiently and at less cost. Service centre staff employees are able to process between 800 and 1,000 documents per day, and report that they’re able to provide faster, more thorough answers to customer inquiries over the telephone.

With the help of systems integrator Pylon Document Technology, DekaBank selected FormWare, Captiva Software’s award-winning input management software, to address their data management needs and work with a new FileNET archiving system.

“All our expectations regarding increased accuracy of data and reduction in manual keying have been met,” added Jackel. “We plan to add additional FormWare modules in the future to further increase our service offerings to meet customer demands more efficiently.”

“With its strong form recognition and classification abilities, as well as its seamless integration with FileNET, FormWare was the perfect solution to automate the processing of our incoming mail,” said Jurgen Jackel, DekaBank’s lead on the project. “Our goal was to save money through a reduction in manual operators and data entiy, while simultaneously increasing customer service through quicker retrieval of customer information.”

DekaBank customers have also seen improvements, and have commented on the quality telephone service provided by skilled staff members in a timelier manner. Additional benefits to the bank include management reporting function improvements and improved internal security.

Contact: Captiva Software www.captivasoftwre.com

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M u l t i - B r a n c h C r e d i t U n i o n has e d g e with Electronic Signature T e c h n o lo g y T h e C S C Gr oup d e v e l o p e d an E-Signature a p p lic at io n to m ee t t o u g h au diting standards The CSC Group - a prominent software developer and systems integrator headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio - developed an ESignature application to meet the tough auditing standards in the financial market, and captured the business of Lansing Autoworkers Federal Credit Union, a five-branch credit union in Michigan.

Lansing Autoworkers Federal Credit Union (LAFCU) decided to convert a majority of its loan activity to a completely electronic solution, with a main objective of enhanced member service. Cost savings was part of LAFCU’s decision, but being technically advanced and competitive played more significant roles. CSC’s ability to provide a complete document management solution including E-Signature capability was a key differentiator for LAFCU. “Being able to provide answers immediately is key to internal operations and keeps members happy”, states Sean Laurell, CDIA+, Director of Technical Services for The CSC Group.

When E-Signature is used with document management, it speeds up business processes and improves productivity, reduces the expense of handling paper, and allows instant access to information. “A solution is also in development to make images of signature cards available at each teller station for comparison to incoming documents. The technology in place will also help to facilitate automated workflow processes in the future”, states Laurell.

E-Signature applications go beyond financial services.

While E-Signature is the hottest topic among credit union customers these days, it is not limited to the financial services vertical. E-Signature can be implemented anywhere a page is printed out for the purpose of obtaining signatures.

Applications can include invoice approval and medical documents, for example privacy notices, consent forms, and patient check-ins. Adding biometrics technology to ESignature provides an enhanced level of security and control that can be used to protect against identity theft and credit card fraud, as well as controlling access to secure buildings.

Since 1964 CSC has been a customer-focused, innovative leader in information and image management solutions. The CSC Group is also the most comprehensive electronic imaging and microfilm service bureau operation in the Midwest with operations in Ohio, Michigan and Illinois, offering the latest technologies to convert paper, electronic data, engineering drawings, or any type of film-based imaging. Visit www.cscgroupinfo.com for more information on their services and products, company milestones, partnerships and success stories.

Contact: Deborah Perrella, Marketing Specialist, The CSCGroup. Phone: 440-546-4272 Fax: 440-546-4282 Email: dperrelIa@csc-groupinfo.com T O )'

M EM T

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LENDI NG A HELPI NG H A N D The Challenge A mortgage company headquartered in Texas excels at making loans available to borrowers who need help repairing their credit. Through a nationwide network of mortgage brokers and correspondents, they are able to efficiently offer services to a niche of the market that is commonly under-served.

The mortgage company also measures their success by the support they receive from the capital markets when they bring loans to be secured. The company has gained a reputable business standing and is considered to be in the “Top Tier” of those companies who issue bonds backed by mortgage and home equity loans. It is the strength in this market that has caused an increased flurry of activity throughout the company, and a need to improve their operational efficiency while remaining true to their core competencies.

With their tremendous growth in the past few years, the mortgage company faced a challenge in defining current business process flows in its two locations. The existing flow of documentation was cumbersome and did not meet strategic objectives of increased communication, workflow management, storage solutions or file processing. The mortgage company knew that to meet demand, yet remain focused on customer service, they needed to look to a company that could meet and exceed their expectations in the outsourced loan processing arena.

The Solution LASON worked with the company to understand the complete,

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existing process flow. After an in-depth examination of their procedures, LASON proposed a solution that could meet the needs of workflow, production demand, communication and strategic objectives.

The LASON solution created for the company was built in four phases. In Phase One LASON assumed the responsibility of document preparation through a series of steps including file preparation and the insertion of bar code technology. The bar code technology allows LASON to match scanned images with the existing databases the mortgage company utilises, and upon file upload, will produce a complete digital file.

In Phase Two, LASON assumed the tasks of scanning, indexing and coding of day-forward files, which are then sent on as a digitised file to the company. Upon receipt of the completely imaged file, the company processes the loan by working solely from an image, eliminating a significant amount of prep work, retrieval time, and offsite storage costs. This single step streamlined the flow and turned a mound of mis-matched paperwork into readily accessible digital files, and in turn, allows the mortgage company to service their customers quickly and efficiently.

In Phase Three, LASON assumed the additional responsibility of mail processing, and opens, scans and processes all correspondence and trailing documents. Finally, in Phase Four, LASON will index each loan file through first pass OCR/ICR, neural software and offshore data capture facilities to match with predefined parameters set by the mortgage company. With this four phase approach, the mortgage company is able to continue leveraging its Mobius System and integrate to other business processes using LASON Professional Services, data conversion and capture service.

The Result The LASON benefit to the mortgage company is tremendous, as LASON has offered company-wide improved efficiency. They knew that to compete in an ever-evolving industry, they needed a vendor to support and grow with them. LASON offered a needs-based solution that improved their ROI in excess of 35°/o. LASON also provided a technology driven, leading edge solution that can compliment both party’s existing relationship with Mobius Systems. Due to the existing relationship, the mortgage company saw a seamless transition in data from the existing process to the LASON process - a benefit for all. www.lason.com

FREE INFORMATION G G Baker & Associates - suppliers of unbiased reference works for over 30 years - invite you to use their very extensive website at

www.ggbaker.com The UK's most comprehensive directory of document management products and services.

Tutorials relating to electronic document management, micrographics and hybrid systems.

The content is regularly updated and can be accessed w itho ut charge.

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Big C h a n g e s on t h e U. S. H o r i z o n Changes are coming quickly. A Global Concepts 2002 Payments Study forecasts that by 2005 more than 90% of cheques will be imaged. The prediction is that the greatest impact of the new cheque imaging initiatives will be in moving cheque imaging from a back office process to the front office. If a bank is capturing the cheque image to process it through the payments system, the argument is that the earlier in the cycle it is captured, the bigger the savings and the greater the return on the technology investment.

Virtually all U.S. banks have data captured at central or regional sites, so the Act has implications for many segments of the payments processing market, not least of all large banks who may lose market share to other payment processors.

Ultimately this will push the capturing of the image back to the recipient so we can expect to see cheque scanners at POS (points-of-sale) and in accounts receivable departments of even small companies. Capturing the image at the branch instead of the clearing centre can reduce a twice-daily courier run to a weekly event.

Of course, an examination of the payments system leads to the ultimate question: why not eliminate the paper cheque entirely and move to e-payments? The e-payments market is growing, with The Nilson Report 2002 forecasting 16% of all payments (including cheque, card and cash) to be electronic by 2020, from just 2% in 2000. But the demise of the paper cheque is not imminent, with forecasts of the annual rate of decline ranging from 1-3%. And if it is anything like the infamous forecasts of the last 40 years for the paperless office, cheques will be with us for a long time to come.

If the cheque truncation bill is signed into law this July, implementation could be as early as August 2004. It will be interesting to see how quickly cheque truncation through the use of cheque imaging occurs within the U.S. payments system.

It will also be interesting to see how long microfilm can maintain a role in the cheque processing world.

Global Financial Services C o m p a n y turns to D i s tr ib u te d Imaging System Primerica Financial Services, serves more than 6 million customers in North America, Spain and Japan with life insurance, investments and debt consolidation loans. As with most financial services companies, documentation is a key part of the business process, both in writing policies and acting on claims. So it comes as no surprise that Primerica’s headquarters receives 500,000 pages per month - more than one million images - via mail and electronic means that must be logged and made accessible to managers and agents throughout the company.

“We used to film everything with a camera-based system, storing it to microfilm,” said Mark Beauchamp, vice president for Primerica’s Image Technology Center. “But when the technology evolved to make the documentation flow more efficient via electronic means we wanted to migrate it in a way that allowed us to maintain microfilm as the primary archival source. We also wanted to work with a single provider, allowing us to eliminate multi-company hassles.”

After evaluating a number of organisations, Primerica turned to Eastman Kodak. The company first installed two Kodak Scanner 500 units and two Scanner 5500 units to image incoming

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documents. This was supplemented with three Kodak Document Archive Writers. The latter are used to convert digital documents to human-readable analogue images stored on microfilm for low-cost, long-term preservation and access.

“We keep all documents in digital format for six months from the date of receipt. After that the digital copy is destroyed while the microfilm version stays intact,” explained Beauchamp.

To handle the 1,500 to 2,000 requests per day for archived information, Primerica acquired three Kodak Intelligent Microimage Scanners. These units quickly find and re-digitise microfilm images for distribution and display on PC workstations. After the data requisition is received and processed by a Primerica mainframe, an Image Technology Center employee only needs to load the required 16mm package into the IMS unit and verify that the correct images were located.

The Primerica Image Technology Center also supports the company’s Canadian subsidiary. Documents are scanned in Canada and the data is sent over a wide area network for archiving using the Document Archive Writers in the United States.

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Overcoming obsolescence of an older platform but keeping Microfilm as a Storage Medium The Royal Bank of Canada’s (RBC) operations centre in Rocky Mount, North Carolina had a problem. Its existing microfilm system had long served RBC well but it was becoming obsolete. The answer was a newer, more efficient and productive solution for accessing and printing copies of loan-related documents on older film.

Kim Perryman, Operations Team Leader at the centre, noted the loan centre alone, captures thousands of loan documents on film annually. These come in from RBC branches and other associated financial institutions. Her primary initial concern was quick access to, and highquality copies of, cheques, applications and other materials related to the loan process. As processing volume continued to grow, the system was in jeopardy due to platform obsolescence. To find the best solution, Perryman evaluated new technology options from both the incumbent supplier and Imaging Solutions and Services, Inc. (ISSI), an imaging components, services and solutions provider.

ISSI, an Eastman Kodak dealer, came up with a solution featuring Kodak Intelligent Microimage Scanners (IMS).

After careful evaluation, including numerous case histories, Perryman opted for the IMS solution. “With it we got networking, output options, superior image quality and faster workflow,” said Perryman. Soon five IMS were installed and staff received training. However, another challenge soon presented itself.

Three of the four department members who would use the new IMS units had never worked on a computer before,

making the learning curve steeper. The IMS utilises a standard PC workstation for retrieval management, so familiarity with Microsoft Windows and basic computer skills were critical.

“That’s where our supplier (ISSI) was great,” said Perryman, “they worked with us, then worked with us some more. They were very patient and instructive and kept coming back until our staff was trained and > comfortable. It wasn’t just a new machine for us; it was a whole new way of working. In the long run it’s tremendously productive, but we had to get there first and having a good service firm is invaluable”.

Another problem that had to be solved concerned varying film quality. Because of mergers and acquisitions, the bank has to deal with four different types of Film, so ISSI also wrote customised software applications. Now, even though the quality of microfilm - coming from different locations and filming methodologies - varies, the end result is enhanced detail and clarity. Perryman attributes this to the IMS’ high density CCD capture which captures more information from film than conventional scanners. This results in improved legibility, especially for printed backgrounds on cheques.

Today RBC’s loan department is extremely pleased with its new IMS/ISSI solution. “Now all our outputs look like an image copy. We sent out copies to branches and loan office, plus we can now fax directly from the IMS PCs, which is a great improvement in efficiency”.

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PAGE 12

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ROUND <V A B O U T Germany John Mancini, AIIM International president, announced there will be a special AIIM International Zone at the DMS/Digital Management Solutions Show in Essen, Germany, Sept. 16-18.

A German-speaking host will be present in the Zone to direct traffic to appropriate exhibiting companies. For information contact www.aiim.org Canada Canada, looking forward to the digital future, is contemplating combining the National Library of Canada and the National Archives of Canada. The combined institution would be the permanent repository of all Canadian government publications as well as government and ministerial records of archival value. In addition, the new institution would coordinate the library services of government institutions and have as a major goal preserving the documentary heritage of Canada. The intention is to make "documentary material of interest to Canada...accessible to the public without restriction through the internet or any...other medium.”

DSS UK Ltd Bureau Service With many years of experience in the sale and service of traditional microfilm for both large and small format document imaging equipment, DSS UK has an extensive history of working with all formats of microfilm, including aperture cards and other solutions for managing technical drawings, specifications, documents and maps.

DSS UK has an in-house Bureau and can offer the following conversion services: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

35mm microfilm aperture card scanning Large format document microfilm scanning (drawings, plans, maps etc) Indexing of scanned images and Aperture card storage Conversion of CAD and scanned images to aperture card or roll film Duplication of aperture cards, including Aperture card printer production

Contact: Lisa Bayliss on 01344 350527 or visit http://www.dss-uk.co.uk Forthcoming U.S. Events

ROUND <V A B O U T

Also several workshops prior to and during this 48th Annual Conference held October 18, 19, 20, 21 Et 22 will review the benefits of micrographics for the records manager.

U J March 8, 9 ft 10, 2004 The AIIM International Conference and Exposition in New York City, during which the Film-based Imaging Association will meet. Also the microfilm Standards Committees CIO, C23 and DIQP are scheduled to meet during the week.

Anacomp unveils Compliance Service Anacomp unveiled its Corporate Compliance Service for corporations attempting to meet new corporate governance laws requiring electronic document and e-mail retention.

Client documents and e-mails can be automatically routed from the corporate network to a secure and redundant Anacomp data center. There they are indexed and maintained in an on-line database for fast access by authorised users.

Anacomp’s centres can accept electronic print streams or scanned images. With the service Anacomp can also provide documents on a self-contained CD for distribution or stored on microfiche or 16mm microfilm for vaulted archiving.

Digital Check introduces TellerScan 400ES Digital Check Corp. (DCC) introduced a countertop cheque scanner designed for back office and teller window operations, the TS-400ES. With an up-to-90 cheques/minute scan rate, 100 item feeder, and two-sort selectable output pockets, it is designed for back-counter batch processing of cheques. It features a true MICR reader for greater accuracy and it also facilitates passing the magnetic codeline information on to a controlling PC over a high speed USB2 link. With the information taken and put into the system, the actual cheques may later be imaged or filmed for retention at a central facility.

Quote of the month “What we have to fight sometimes is an adversarial relationship between access and preservation - as if allencompassing ease of immediate access were so important that it outweighed any long-range needs for preservation.

“The principal example being certain administration people who push hard for the access panacea o f ’’digital” (they’re not sure what kind of digital, just Digital), while ignoring the fact that we are seriously under funded on the preservation side of things, i.e., we MIGHT dramatically increase short term access, but at the cost of both long-term preservation AND access.

“While it is possible to have preservation without access, you can’t have long-term access without preservation....”

The following are scheduled microfilm events that we are . aware of:

Scott Allen, Film Colorist, University o f South Carolina Newsfilm Library. Contact: sallen@gwm.sc.edu

September 15th, 16th £t 17th, 2003 The 16th Annual Midwest States Micrographics Conference in Frankfort, Kentucky.

Info from: http://www.kdla.net/pubrec/16thmmc.htm

(Thanks to Russ Burkell for bringing this item to our notice Ed).

October 19, 2003 The annual meeting of the Microfilm Services Group at the ARMA Conference is to be held just prior to the Expo opening in Boston, Massachusetts.

Visit T H E GREEN SHEET Web Site at:

www.green-sheet.net

ImageSource goes the ‘Extra Mile’ for the State of Washington Department of licensing ImageSource, a leading provider of professional computer solutions, integration and conversion services is providing the pristine image quality they desire to the Department of Licensing using the Phoenix Scanner by nextScan, a product designed to fit within the housing of older, unsupported scanners.

“Our Conversion Services team specialises in front-end document and film capture,” said Terry Sutherland, ImageSource COO, “We are clearly committed to providing the best service and support to our customers - that is why we procured the Phoenix for converting the Department of Licensing’s film.”

The State of Washington Department of Licensing administers Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) filings. This programme makes the Department of Licensing a single repository for filings of liens by lenders, creditors and other parties and a disseminator of this information. The Department of Licensing had the monumental challenge of converting 3000 reels of 35 mm microfilm to CD to make it available to the general public. This film is in many different forms including cartridges, rolls and pancake reels, with the number of images per reel varying anywhere from 500 to 4000 images. That is where ImageSource was able to offer their years of expertise and experience in the film conversion market.

“We faced multiple challenges with the images being provided on film by the Department. Not only did they want a quick turnaround on the conversion to CD, but many of the images were deteriorated from not being originals when scanned to film, film degradation from the environment creating varying levels of gray or faded images, and there were images that actually had pieces of silver tape in them, making readability a real issue,” said Shad White, CTO. “We needed a solution for this project that was better than what the film

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scanning market had offered to date. We found that the Phoenix was totally reliable and had the ability to produce high quality images with better edge enhancement through its use of a fiber optic light source.”

“Prior to the Phoenix, we were using an older scanner. It was slow there was no variable speed for wind and rewind. The focus options were limited and it was difficult to move the head height on the eyepiece to view the image. With the Phoenix, we have variable speed wind and rewind, we have real time focus AND adjustable filters. The scanner is easy to use with its Fusion software setup interface - and fast. We are running it 24 hours per day, scanning 85,000 to 110,000 images,” said Mr. White, “With this speed and reliability, we expect an R0I on the scanner in less than three months.”

ImageSource has been getting support for the Phoenix through IIRI, nextScan’s US reseller. Ilmage Retrieval can offer a special service with the Phoenix called “Virtual Tech”. This service allows the support team to be more available, prompt and personal to the customer by removing the travel aspect of on site support. The support team can attach and work with the scanner operator from virtually anywhere on the globe via the internet. The support staff at Ilmage Retrieval is able to view the remote users desktop, including the nextScan Fusion scanner software, enabling them to walk the user through setup, scan and software upgrades. Working by this method gives the customer a blanket of security and added confidence in using the scanner, providing a powerful tool to nextScan customers, including ImageSource.

Contact: Erin Dempsey, erin@nextscan.com Tel: +1 (910) 864-2044

nextScan Partners with Ristech for Canadian Sales and Support Ristech Company, a distributor of document management solutions for Fortune 500 companies, have announced they will now be the official Canadian reseller for nextScan’s Phoenix and Eclipse microfilm scanners. Ristech has added the nextScan products to their offerings for the Canadian micrographics market.

“We spent a significant amount of time and effort selecting the best partner in Canada to provide sales and service for the nextScan scanners - one that was absolutely committed to offering only the best in scanning solutions. Ristech was the clear choice with their founder’s 40 plus years of experience in the document management and micrographics markets and their philosophy of superior customer support. They consider their customers, business partners and suppliers of vital importance to their future,” said Steve Butterfield, President and CEO of nextScan.

Ristech will be selling, installing and supporting the full line of nextScan products to include the high performance„Eclipse rollfilm scanner and the Phoenix retrofit - new film scanning technology designed to fit within the housing of older, unsupported scanners.

The Phoenix will scan at 220 pages per minute and even scan grayscale and bitonal image at the same time without a reduction in speed. The faster Eclipse rollfilm system was designed for the most challenging of conversion projects, scanning 300 pages per minute, even in grayscale. With Adaptive Speed Control, Auto Thresholding and the latest in high performance camera technology, nextScan is giving demanding users the power to deliver complex work on time and under budget. Both the Phoenix and Eclipse were built around a robust single board architecture designed for reliability and supportability vs. the multiple boards used in other or competitive designs.

*

Contact: Erin Dempsey, erin@nextscan.com Tel: +1 (910) 864-2044

Duplex scanner offers excellent bitonal and colour performance, fast scanning speeds, autocropping and deskew functions Eastman Kodak Company has this month introduced the new Kodak i80 Scanner - the latest in its family of departmental scanners which will be available in late summer 2003. The i80 Scanner is ideal for business departments with a wide variety of document capture and management needs.

“The i80 Scanner demonstrates our commitment to the departmental scanning market and slots into our range between the i60 and the recently successfully introduced i200 series,” said Robert Young, UK manager, Capture ft Imagelink, Commercial Imaging Components Group. “Kodak’s history of designing leadingedge capture products, plus our global Kodak Service ft Support team, supports customer needs as we expand our presence in this market.”

With features including automatic deskew (squaring up documents during scanning) and autocropping (removal of unwanted borders to render the image to its actual size and thereby optimise file size) available for the first time in a Kodak departmental scanner, the i80 is the right choice for all document management systems, optical character recognition, archiving, web publishing and many other scanning applications. The scanner is also ideal for single user installations, as well as in large organisations with networked applications.

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PAGE 15

>,

New i80 Colour Duplex Scanner from Kodak

The i80 Scanner offers bitonal and colour performance with the convenience of simultaneously capturing both sides of a document in a single pass - duplex scanning. With a 600 dpi resolution, the precision optics and the CCD-sensor provide crisp, exact reproduction of any document. The document background can toggle from white to black, whilst bundled Kodak Capture Software, Lite enables deskew and cropping.

The i80 Scanner also features the drop out colour function. Red, green or blue can be suppressed, which is advantageous when scanning forms for ease and speed of reading.

The i80 Scanner captures documents, photos and colour graphics at speeds up to 35 pages per minute (ppm), with a true duplex speed of 70 images per minute (ipm) at 200 dpi. Colour images are captured at 20 ppm (simplex) and 20 ipm (duplex) at 150 dpi. The i80 Scanner’s document feeder handles up to 75 sheets at a time in a wide range of sizes and weights. The scanner has an automatic document feeder and handles volumes of up to 1,500 pages per day.

In addition, the scanner features a built-in flatbed for scanning exception documents like books and magazines.

The new i80 Scanners feature bundled ISIS and TWAIN drivers as well as application software for document capture with deskew and cropping, scan to PDF and TIFF (Kodak Capture Software, Lite). For document management (PaperPort), text recognition (TextBridge) and photo management (PhotoSuite SE).

Pricing and availability The i80 can be purchased for a recommended list price under EUR 2,999 and will be available by mid-August.

Contact: Robert Young, Kodak Commercial Imaging robert.m.young@kodak.com Tel: +44 (0)1442 844 986

MANAGING BRITAIN'S MICROFILM LEGACY * AMI The Advance Group Tel: 01902 459907 E-mail: docman@ami.co.uk www.ami.co.uk

Back to the Future for Bureaux - the Internet Opportunity

By Rick Crowley - Account Manager, Storwave Ltd Is this article being written by an Internet nerd, keen to demonstrate his expertise in browsers, e-business and the Web? The answer is “NO”. It is written by someone who has been in the industry for a rather long time - longer than he would now care to admit!

I was 6 six years in the Bell 6t Howell camp in their heyday.

The BEtH sales training was second to none, and rather fun. I was responsible for the installation of many in-house microfilm jacket systems in organisations such as major insurance companies, hospitals and various commercial companies. In those days bureaux were not very common, and were seen as competition by a microfilm salesman rather than another potential customer.

After some years the time came for a change and I joined REMoffice in Bristol to promote their microfilm bureau and sell nationwide the Microfilm Fotostat range of microfilm equipment. This included the Maxima rotary 16mm and 35mm camera, a really strange beast once marketed by 3M, and the new 370 camera, as well as silver film duplicators and film processors. This combination, together with Microseal Jacketers and Micobra duplicators, made up a formidable challenge to my previous company. Many, if not most, of the trade were entertained at one time by Denis Bristow, owner of REMoffice, and his wife Lotta at the Manor House in Bishopsworth, Bristol. This was the main showroom for me, and a lovely place in which to work.

Promoting the 370 cameras nationwide to bureaux was very exciting, and through this job I met many other people running bureaux, and saw the different way each bureau processed paper. I am pleased to say that I am still in touch today with many of those customers.

Early in 1983 I decided to go it alone, and with the help of Canon UK started Arc Microfilm, which metamorphosed into Arc Micrographics. Again, these were excellent days; I had the Canon 380 reader printer to compete against the legendary Regma LR6, and the Canofile 100 against the notorious Bell £t Howell Filemaster. Suddenly plain paper copiers came out, firstly Agfa, then the Canon 580, and then the Canon PC70.

This was a dream to sell: cheap, excellent quality, and then a roll film carrier appeared for it, which was eventually motorised!!! They sold like hot cakes.

What happens if you take a customer who needs some documents filmed, mix it with a demonstration Canofile 100, and add a bit of entrepreneurial spirit and ambition? You get a bureau! It was not too long before the camera had 29 colleagues beside it, together with high-speed duplicators and a slight smell of ammonia always pervading the air.

Then one day, at a show in Earls Court, something called a scanner appeared with a scanned image on it. It seemed to be

done with a computer. Weren’t computers something accounts departments used? Well, some of us ignored it, and some of us faced up to it, because it was clearly the shape of things to come.

Gradually the onslaught began and the IT boys baffled the microfilm industry with technology, software, and the very expensive special boards needed to run scanners. All of this was a difficult challenge to face, and it was hard to know which way to turn, since everything was changing so fast and cost so much. Jukeboxes appeared, then the expensive software to run them. Specialist staff had to be hired to speak to your customers’ IT departments. When CD-ROM systems appeared, however, costs reduced and somehow selling CDROMs instead of rolls of film made simple sense, and was relatively easy to do. Once more the sun shone and bureaux were back in business, and making a profit in controlled circumstances.

This had been the situation for around 4 years, but when the Internet arrived and quickly matured into a real business tool, it became apparent that this was something that was not going to go away. This time though, to host images sensibly really required big bucks - very big bucks indeed. If anything went wrong what would happen? Expensive computers running complex operating systems and obscure Web servers?

Hang on, this is rather a large step up from writing CDROMs...

At this time - April 2000 - Storwave approached Arc because its established Fileline Internet image repository required a bureau to feed it. It was an ideal match; as Andy Pegg, chairman of the Khaos Technologies Group that owns Storwave said at the time: “This is a win, win situation.” And, three years later, it has proved to be so. (Wasn’t it Andy Pegg in Earls Court that day showing those images on a computer?

Least said the better....)

So now life is simpler than ever. Only straightforward scanning and indexing software is required, the resulting images are transmitted to Fileline by the most appropriate medium, which presents them reliably on the Web, together with all the security features that customers expect.

Just a minute: what about the customer requiring some software, or network licenses? Not a bit of it, all the customer needs is a standard Web browser. All they have to pay is a storage charge, based on image volume, and an administration charge each month. Then their images can be viewed by authorised users at any time of the day or night, world wide. Fileline's customisable front end means that the customer’s screen can be configured to look like a part of their existing IT system, Intranet, or corporate website.

Fileline is a thirsty beast, and it wants more images. Last year

Storwave launched a campaign to the bureau industry, offering to host their clients’ images and already quite a number have signed up, and have customers on-line. It really couldn’t be simpler. Each bureau can depend upon the technical expertise of Storwave to support them, together with Sales and marketing support. Bureaux don’t have to make any investment in software or hardware - it is no more complex than selling CD imaging. What other advantages are there?

Well, hold onto your seats!

1. Have you ever been turned away by a prospect because he wants the images available to his staff instantly? So they buy an in-house system and go through all the pain of document preparation, scanning, staff training and all of the “challenges” that bureaux cope with day-to-day. Stop! Why not offer to scan these documents each day, and upload them to Fileline overnight? The customer simply looks at them next day, using their web browser. Problem solved; the bureau has the business, and the customer has hassle-free service.

2. Have you ever been told that a company’s IT department is too busy to get involved in installation of scanning systems, or that their network can’t cope? Customers of Fileline don’t need any IT support to start using the system. If they have a browser, they can access their images whenever and wherever they want. And they will be surprised at how speedy the service is.

3. Are you mainly scanning documents - say, delivery notes that are three months old or more, so the only customer benefit is saved filing space? Suppose the bureau scanned them daily, and the customer handled all queries by retrieving these fresh highly valuable documents over the Internet? The customer can view, print, fax or email the proof of delivery image to the client in seconds. Time saved by the customer answering queries is more than halved, the service is vastly improved, archives are non existent, and the bureau could charge extra for this premium service. Any questions?

So, for the scanning Bureau industry Fileline is a win-win situation. A new window of opportunity for any bureau, anywhere in the world!

My role is now to promote Fileline to the trade, and since I know the business so well, I feel I am well placed to talk about the huge potential Fileline could have for any bureau and describe opportunities for income from both new and existing bureau clients. It can only give them more sales opportunities and a chance to compete with the big boys. Can you afford not to have an on-line solution in your sales portfolio?

For more information contact Rick Crowley at Storwave Ltd. Email: r.croivley@storwave.co.uk Tel: +44 (0)1252 401000 Fileline is a registered trademark o f Storwave Limited.

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London Ambulance Service to speed up the capture and processing of Patient Report Forms ITESOFT UK is to supply its new software suite, ITESOFT.FreeMind, to the London Ambulance Service to speed up the capture and processing of 900,000 patient report forms for fast and secure retrieval.

retrieval. ITESOFT’s solution will also monitor document throughput efficiency more accurately, removing paper from the desktop.

“999 services have risen by almost 15 per cent in the last five years,” said Sue Meehan, Management Information Manager at the London Ambulance Service. “At the moment we respond to approximately 2500 calls a day, each call generates a form, all of these have to be manually processed and then sent for microfilming and storage. This makes recovery of patients records an extremely time consuming task.

“The new data capture software from ITESOFT will enable us to gather information more effectively and considerably speed up document retrieval.”

Responsible for managing all 999 calls for the whole of London, the London Ambulance Service NHS Trust is the largest free ambulance service in the world.

ITESOFT.FreeMind will automate the processing and retrieving of data from patient report forms, details of response times and treatment given at the scene of an accident allowing the Services Management Information team to move away from time-consuming data verification and

Business Development Manager North of England Generous basic salary + attractive commission package Hugh Symons Information Management (part of the Hugh Symons Group pic) is one of the UK’s leading document scanning bureaux.

Due to expansion, we currently have a vacancy for a Business Development Manager to cover the North of England. Ideally the successful candidate will already be living within this area.

A proven track record within the Document Management & Bureau Services industry plus a sound basic knowledge of IT and network systems are essential, as are good communication skills.

An excellent package is offered to the successful applicant including contributory pension scheme, vehicle allowance, 20 days holiday per annum rising to 25 days, and staff purchase scheme.

Applications by CV in the first instance to: Sandra B urnett H um an R esources M anager H ugh Sym ons Inform ation M anagem ent A lder H ills Park 16 A lder H ills P oole BH 12 4AR E -m ail: san dra.b urnett@ h ughsym ons.com Tel: 0870 849 0220

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ITESOFT was selected for their ability to provide a complete document and data capture solution. ITESOFT.FreeMind automatically checks all information fields on each form generated from the 999 call against the corresponding patient report form completed at the scene of the emergency, removing manual intervention and improving data integrity.

Colin Dean, ITESOFT UK Managing Director said. “Whatever industry or business you are in, it is essential to manage the information and data that flows into your company on a daily basis in the most effective and efficient way possible.”

ITESOFT.FreeMind is a fully scalable solution, which will enable London Ambulance to achieve high volume data capture of all documents with assured security. Productivity returns will come through accelerated document retrieval, faster filing, and reduced physical storage requirements.

The London Ambulance Service (LAS) is the largest free ambulance service in the world, caring for more than one and a half million patients every year. They are the only London­ wide NHS Trust and are at the frontline of the NHS in the capital. They have two main functions - the provision of an Accident and Emergency service to respond to 999 calls and the Patient Transport Service, which performs an important role in taking patients to and from their hospital appointments. They serve an area of approximately 620 square miles. Broadly speaking, their boundaries run from Heathrow in the west to Upminster in the east, and from Enfield in the north to Purley in the south.

Contact: www.itesoft-uk.com

Application selling, or in other words listening to what your customer actually needs and translating that into appropriate solutions, is an important methodology when large format or book scanners are involved.

This listening to and understanding the customerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s need can be ably demonstrated by a look at five recent sales in Imaging Business Solutions Ltd. These five customers all had one thing in common, they needed to scan documents that were often greater than A3 and, because of binding and or fragility, could not be passed through a sheet fed scanner. For some, speed of throughput was vital for others high resolution was paramount. In short they all bought large format scanners but each system solution was comprehensively different.

The first case was a national museum which needed to scan water-colour paintings of roughly A3 size through to maps ranging up to AO and books, some of which could be opened flat and others only partly. But all had to be scanned at 400dpi in full colour. The solution supplied was the SMA 6650 AO. This scanner has an integrated motorised AO book cradle and an external angle adjustable cradle but of most importance, over other possible solutions, was the optical resolution of 400dpi, no matter what the size of the original.

Case two was a local government community history project.

You can imagine the diversity of material including aged local newspapers, letters, books and photographs. Throughput time was an issue for such a large project operating to a given completion target but, equally, proper book support, good colour reproduction and in this case 300dpi images were on demand. One could argue that the SMA 6650 series would have done the job, but throughput time and budget constraints made the SMA ScanFox high speed A2 colour book scanner the solution of choice. Supported in the early days with a short-term rental of an SMA 6650 A1 to scan larger than A2 community maps.

The third was very similar to the second and immediate reactions were to supply an already known, tried and tested solution. But remember this is a listening and understanding game and there was a vital difference. This county archive had joined forces, for funding purposes, with the adjoining museum and the material to be scanned had expanded to include 3D objects and a wide variety of film transparencies.

This time the solution could only be the Solar M3 camerascanner fitted to an Al platform and book cradle and, of course, removable light box. Besides providing the archive with superb image quality, the overall cost was well within their budget, which enabled them to buy their own colour printer rather than inconveniently share a remote printer over the internal network.

The last two examples are nothing to do with government institutions. They are in mainstream commercial enterprise where time and money are all important and profit is the name of the game. The first scans hundreds of newspapers and magazines every day. Starting in the early hours of the morning their job is to scan advertisements placed by subscribers and upload them to a service website ready for the subscribers start of work. Speed is paramount but so are accuracy of colour and the capture of the dreaded small print.

A side issue, but of some concern to the operators, was temperature output in a confined office space. The ideal fit

PAGE19

Listening is the name of the game

was the cool running S2N flatbed scanner which, at 2 seconds per scan at 300dpi, easily met the speed criteria and , operating with two cold 13W lamps, temperature was just not an issue. And, literally today, hot off the press is the new Vitesse newspaper cradle for the S2N scanner which allows newspapers to be scanned fully opened and face up.

The second of these commercial examples is a financial and litigation support bureau who, quite frankly, never know what is going to be thrown at them from one day to the next.

But it all has to be scanned and reproduced to tight schedules. Whilst they had most of the sheet fed side well catered for, the bound, large format and film scanning was all being expensively subcontracted. Flexibility was the key factor, coupled with cost effectiveness and reliability. With documents ranging from 35mm slides to AO bound plans and maps, the Solar M5 camera-scanner fitted to the Solar AO platform, together with an auto adjusting and removable motorised AO book cradle, was an exact match.

Thus from these few diverse examples we can see the sleeping giant of large format and bound document scanning applications is awakening as funding becomes increasingly available. And the great bonus for the eager vendor is that manufacturers, such as Solar, have the necessary diversity of products ready to cope.

Contact: Matthew Sdlwell at Solar Microfilm Equipment Ltd. www.solar-imaging.com, 01634 290099 or Imaging Business Solutions Ltd. www.imagingbusiness.co.uk, Tel: +44 (0)1442 250025

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RERDERSLETTERS REfiDERSLETTERS David Aspinall's article “The move from microfilm'’ in last month’s Green Sheet certainly appears to have put the proverbial “cat amongst the pigeons”.

There follows responses from two o f the ‘elder statesmen’ of the UK microfilm industry - you would be hard pushed to find any more experienced advocates to speak up for an industry that kept them, and many others, quite comfortably for many years.

I would like to thank David for inspiring such interesting replies - I hope that we get some reaction from the digital route supporters to keep the debate going - Ed Dear Editor, I read the article by David Aspinall on The Move From Microfilm in your June issue with interest as I usually find myself in total agreement with his opinions, but on this occasion I accept his argument but not all of his conclusions.

In particular, I disagree that if analogue systems are to be taken seriously in the future the major players have to come out with automated cassette systems similar to tape library systems, so that users in remote locations can access analogue data without manual intervention.

Automated devices have been developed. The Kodak Kims Autoloader housed 240 16mm cartridges and the Ragen system held 300, while for fiche the Image Systems Carousel held 780 fiche. These units found a limited market during the 1980’s, but the subsequent availability of reliable EDM systems virtually eliminated demand for them and 1 can see no reason for a revival of interest.

The emerging pattern is for active records to be held in digital format and the future role of microfilm seems destined to be the provision of secure and relatively inexpensive long-term storage for older material. The normal characteristics of archival records are that they are high in volume with low access frequency - it is very difficult to justify the cost of sophisticated automated devices for low volume applications.

Providing users only encounter the problem infrequently, a delay while a film is manually inserted in a remote device, searched, scanned and delivered in digital format to the enquirer is usually tolerable. Members of staff are required to administer any archive and their duties can often be widened to include the manual extraction and loading of a scanning device providing it is simple to operate. Total automation would probably require more staff of a higher calibre; film leaders would still snap and film would continue to occasionally come off the reel - it would just take longer to fix!

Micrographics should not attempt to emulate EDM because the advantage will always be with the electronic alternative.

What film can do very effectively is to relieve EDM of its problems concerning ongoing support for obsolete systems while offering a truly archival storage facility. Once an attempt is made to automate access most of the problems concerning system support that bedevil EDM apply equally to the hardware and software needed for the operation of a film image retrieval device.

Gerald Baker, G G Baker fit Associates

Why buy a Ferrari..... ?

I read David Aspinall’s article “The move from microfilm” in the June 2003 edition of The Green Sheet and could go along with most of it until I choked on the last three paragraphs.

As I understand it, if microfilm has a better, quicker, cheaper system and each installation provides a free car for your wife and a games console for each of your kids, it is going to win hands down. Difficult argument to disagree with, David. Just as an aside before I really get going, has everyone forgotten the Raegan System? This was around about 20 years ago (at West Midlands Gas in my area) and it did have microfilm juke boxes and gave instant access to microfilm libraries for remote users. I even saw it at an AIIM show 5 or 6 years ago upgraded to digitise the film images and deliver them where required, upon request.

But all that is a red herring. If only the ‘best’ system was purchased by users then 99% of all reps would be out of a job, all systems, whether good or bad - SELL. What is the old maxim? The best product with the second best sales organisation is not going to do as well as the second best product with the best sales organisation.

Our problem is that we have a good product with a sales organisation that is embarrassed to sell the product. Until the reps get off their backsides and start talking to potential customers about the product that pays their wages, we are only going to sell to customers who plead with us to buy the product.

For many organisations the ‘speed’ of a system is not critical.

They need a reasonable system at a reasonable price. Good management practice, when I was a lad (all snide comments to the editor please), should include fitting cost to usage. If reference is limited why have a fast, expensive system? Why anyone digitises purchase invoices is a mystery to me.

I was talking to a friend whose microfilm system I was involved in for years. A few years ago they moved to digital records. They have just worked out that they only look at 1 image in every 50,000. They are comparing digital costs with the old microfilm costs and the comparison is embarrassing to them. Where are the microfilm reps not revisiting the systems they lost, to push this perspective?

If the main requirement of a business system is to impress people with the bells and whistles rather than value for money, then the only achievement is vanity and we all know what follows that.

So - Why buy a Ferrari when a 30 year old Land Rover can do the job just as well, and more reliably in the long run?

Maybe not as fast, but that only applies while you are on a good road. Over 70% of all Land Rovers ever built are still working today. Plus, as any Hill farmer will tell you, they only need servicing every time you pass the farm over to your son. There must be a moral there, somewhere.

John Negus, The Microfilm Shop (retired) PS. I hope the wind did not change while David had his tongue wedged so firmly in his cheek.

Dear Editor,

that duplicate copies will remain an attractive and necessary option.

We thought many of your readers would appreciate an update on the status of the duplicate film business. In terms of the overall data storage market duplicate microfilm is a niche product. But, if you happen to rely on diazo and vesicular films for distribution and/or storage the market status is of concern.

With the consolidation of Rexam Et SKC into InteliCoat there are two duplicate film suppliers remaining - InteliCoat and Star.

InteliCoat has facilities in Massachusetts and the United Kingdom while Star is limited to a single plant in Switzerland.

The acquisition and consolidation of the SKC plant and product line represents InteiCoat’s ongoing commitment to the duplicate film business. While the market is a fraction of its peak in 1980 it remains attractive and deserves an ongoing commitment.

The InteliCoat and SKC product lines have been consolidated with eight formulations remaining. We have made our best efforts to retain “best in breed” with the six diazo films and two vesicular products. Furthermore, we continue to offer most configurations. Some of the truly unique configurations have been moved into the “special order” category but will remain available.

We believe the decline in microfilm usage is slowing. Users in the private and public sectors are waking up to the limitation of the digital age. The use of microfilm should not be perceived as an either/or situation but rather either/and. Film compliments digital storage as a long-term media. Furthermore, we believe

Diazo and vesicular films continue to offer a number of advantages, which include: ★ Simple duplication in a room light environment with no wet chemistry. ★ Self contained duplicators with no external processing or chemical disposal. ★ Sign maintenance with diazo products or sign reversal with vesicular. ★ Low cost. ★ Both films are certified for long-term storage (100 years).

From a practical standpoint storage life will likely exceed this figure. Neither film contains metals or organic compounds that are subject to deterioration. Diazo films will fade if left inadvertently in a reader. Vesicular films will fade if subjected to very high heat - >150°F. A reasonable storage environment should protect either film from these pitfalls.

In conclusion, InteliCoat believes there is a future in microfilm.

Furthermore, we believe users will continue to need copies. The recent consolidation will provide InteliCoat with the necessary volume to maintain their commitment.

Questions should be directed to Malcolm Jones (+44 (0)1928 579111) in the UK for European inquiries and Jeff Turner (831 425-5858) for United States clients.

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The search for the elusive Records Management “Silver Bullet”

by Laurie Varendorff ARM A My brief for this publication is to report on things here in Australasia. This month I deviate from that brief. In a recent article published by The Green Sheet I asked the question ”Is Records Management to be the next new Buzzword?” and I believe the answer to that question has been identified in an article entitled "File under ‘NIGHTMARE’ Information overload has acquired a regulatory dimension, forcing senior executives to take notice” by Bob Violino, CFO IT found at http://www.cfo.com/article/1,5309,9748%7C%7CM°/o7C606,00 .html Why is this article from outside our normal sphere of influence so important to us in the Microfilm, Scanning and Records and Information Management industry? It is because, as the article defines, senior executives are no longer yawning when records management is mentioned due to boredom, they are yawning due to lack of sleep caused by either working on the issue or worrying about it.

The big boys in town are up and running. EMC, the world’s largest storage management system supplier, has, as its fastest growing product line, Centera, which since 2002 sold the equivalent of 4 petabytes of records retention storage systems to their corporate and government clients. A petabyte equals either 1 quadrillion bytes or 1,125,899,906,842,624 bytes. Is this another challenge to the micrographic industry? Probably! It is a critical time for the remaining small group of micrographic film suppliers to put on their thinking caps and come up with a digital microfilm solution, rather than resting on their past glory in the analogue film world. Why not? I ask. If, as is commonly stated, microfilm lasts for 500 years (I personally have a major problem with this perception which is often quoted, but this will have to wait for a later outpouring) then why not dump digital data to 16 or 35mm film for the long term archiving? My 2 cents worth.

Even though EMC, and no doubt many others, are joining the wagon trail and heading for the reefs of gold at the end of the rainbow some, such as EMC, have obviously hit pay dirt.

PAGE 22

Is the implementation of Retention and Disposal the “Silver Bullet” to fix the lack of records management success in the corporate and government environment? I think not!

The good management practice of addressing Retention and Disposal is but one part of the puzzle and in itself is not the king hit it is being touted to be. Yes, in some processes it is easy to implement, e.g. order and invoice control and other process oriented activities, but in the real records management environment of uncontrolled data with human being providing “FREE TEXT” input to index the coming and going of emails, correspondence etc, ad infinitum, it will not do the job unless we have a quality thesaurus and file classification terminology in place, so that we can link to the retention and disposal schedules and do the job automatically.

Am I indicating that all is lost and that i this movement of records management to the top of the heap in the eyes and consciousness of senior executives is a passing or an imposed fad? NO! Quality records management is not a passing fad; it is the cream that, until now, has been swirling around in the mix of unidentified activities carried out in corporate and government organisations. As is always the case the cream of the crop eventually rises to its position in the scheme of things and follows the rule, as in Darwin’s theory of natural selection, and makes its mark in the hierarchy of things and in this instance the business process.

Laurie Varendorff can be contacted via his email: Laurie.Varendorff@Bigpond.com

THE END OF AN ERA Josef Schaut of SMA Electronic Document GmbH, Germany, has recently sadly passed away. I never had the pleasure of meeting him, so I will leave it to Russ Burkel of Analogue Imaging to pay tribute.

“Over the years I have known Josef and visited with him at CeBit. For the last three years I have been promoting SMA products in North America.

Josef was definitely one the giants o f the microfilm industry. A very nice man. The kind of man you could do business with, with only a hand shake. His word was his bond. I hope he is now in a better place, he deserves it. I for one will miss him”.

Footnote: As of July 1, 2003 SMA Electronic Document GmbH has been transfered to a long­ term business partner from Sweden. The new owner is MSH Holding AB in Stockholm which belongs to Mr. Myung-Soo Han. The new Managing Director of SMA is Mr. Ralph Fuchs who can be reached by phone at +49 172 6888730 or via e-mail at ralph@smaedoc.com.

TH E

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PAGE 23

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bank. Rates are £35 ($50) per insertion with a limit of 25 words. Each additional 25 words or fraction are £35 ($50). There is an additional £10 ($15) charge for the use of Box number. For display (boxed) ads add £20 ($30). To place a classified ad, send copy to Micrographics Marketing Ltd, 65 Winchester Drive, Burbage, Leic LE10 2BA UK, or fax it to +44 (0) 24 7638 2319 or Email it to sales@green-sheet.net. Always specify which issue(s) you wish your ad to appear in.

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