Customer Solution Case Study
/ / Meridio, a Microsoft-based Electronic Document Management and Records Management solution, enables the Town of Claremont to meet legislative and regulatory compliance.
Overview
Country or region: Australia
Industry: Government
Customer Profile
The Town of Claremont, Perth, WA has 9,000 residents served by a Council staff
of 60.
Business Situation
New legislation and the need for greater efficiencies prompted the Council to replace its convoluted manual records management system for storing all records including building permits, development approvals, health licences and other statutory records.
Solution
Meridio, a Microsoft-based Electronic Document Management and Records Management solution, enables the Council to simplify administration and meet legislative and regulatory compliance for the storage and retrieval of records.
Benefits
n Compliance
n Increased security
n Improved efficiencies
n Greater ease of use / “The Council now captures and files 40,000 documents per year compared to just 8,000 using the manual system. We are meeting all of our compliance requirements confidently.”
Alan Hart, Manager of Finance and IT Services, Town of Claremont
The Town of Claremont, a local authority in the Western Suburbs of
Perth was looking to meet new compliance requirements as a result of the introduction of new legislation. By replacing a complex manual system with Meridio, a Microsoft-based Electronic Document Management and Records Management solution, they were able to meet the new compliancy requirements and gain significant other benefits including: strengthened security; greater efficiencies through automation; and improved ease of use. They also plan to leverage the system’s integration with other Microsoft-based solutions to create an aggregated portal view for each citizen which shows their current and past interactions with Council.
Situation
The Town of Claremont is a Perth metropolitan Council serving 6,500 ratepayers and 9,000 residents. In addition to its core local government functions, it supports the community by providing a number of recreational and cultural facilities including a museum, golf course, swimming pool, library, 18 parks, an annual Christmas carnival and regular community events. The Council has a staff of 60 with ten elected members including the mayor. Their annual budget is approximately $8million.
In 2003, the Council was using a manual records management system to process all records including building permits, development approvals, health licences and other statutory documents. Not only was this system proving cumbersome and time-consuming, but Council had concerns as to how it could meet the compliance requirements of new legislation that was being introduced in Western Australia.
Alan Hart, Manager of Finance and IT Services, explains: “Our first step was to develop a record-keeping plan which specified how we would keep our records internally. Once we had developed this plan, we set about looking for an electronic document management system that could meet our requirements. We had three key criteria: firstly we wanted a solution that integrated seamlessly with our existing applications; secondly we wanted a solution that was easy to use; and most importantly, we needed a solution that stored and retrieved records automatically in a secure environment in order to meet legislative and regulatory compliance.”
Solution
After due investigation, in 2004 the Council, in association with their development partners, PSU International settled on Meridio, a Microsoft-based solution which provides complete lifecycle electronic document and records management (EDRM), from document creation and modification to record declaration, retention and disposal. The functionality is provided seamlessly through Microsoft® Office System interfaces. Documents and records are held securely and can be located quickly and easily. There is also complete integration with Microsoft .NET Technology resulting in a very simple but powerful user interface.
Meridio has been designed to meet the latest national and international EDRM standards. It has been formally approved according to the DoD 5015. 2 standard recommended by the US Government, and according to the National Archives standard recommended by the UK Government.
Benefits
Compliance
One of the most important benefits of the system has been compliance. Alan Hart comments, “When a document such as a building licence is raised, Meridio automatically captures the document, converts it to a record and files them appropriately. This allows us to seamlessly capture documents, which may not have been filed under the old system. As an indication of how effective the solution has been, the Council now captures and files 40,000 documents per year compared to just 8,000 using the manual system. We are meeting all of our compliance requirements confidently.
“Meridio also ensures a robust security and audit trail of information as Council staff cannot delete records. This ensures there is a complete audit trail from document creation to record declaration.”
Efficiency
Equally important, the system enables them to service the community more efficiently and minimise paper wastage, helping them to achieve their environmental goals.
With Meridio, all documents, files and folders are automatically archived. This has led to a substantial reduction in desktop and server space and human resources. This solution has increased system efficiency with a reduction in errors and lost data.
Meridio has also been easy to learn and use with Council staff enjoying automation of what was previously a convoluted processes.
“Meridio has saved us time and made us far more efficient” says Alan Hart, “It’s also part of our ongoing plans to deliver more e-services internally and externally. We’re working very closely with Microsoft through our partners PSU International, to achieve a number of solutions that enable us to use technology to gain greater efficiencies.
On top of this, using a Microsoft solution, PSU International has been able to develop or provide additional products that enhance Meridio.
For example the Town of Claremont Council recently deployed a correspondence tracking system, which operates seamlessly with Meridio to manage the workflow of the Council’s records.
Cost Savings
“For the past decade every Council has been under pressure to streamline their operations and deliver a greater level of service to the community without increasing rates above Consumer Price Index (CPI) increases. The only way we can do this is by using technology.”
To achieve these objectives Alan Hart and his team are working towards aggregating all ratepayers interactions with the Council into a single portal solution so that the Council and ultimately ratepayers themselves can log on and see where they stand with regards to rates, dog registrations, development applications and so on. With this goal in mind, PSU International and the Town of Claremont Council are developing systems that allow real time updates on the progress of applications online. They are also expanding the Web site to include the library catalogue and enable citizens to renew borrowings online without visiting the library. The Web site already allows ratepayers to make rate payments online, download application forms and view associated procedures, Council agendas, minutes and other general information.
Consistency
In order to create a consistent environment and ensure that all of their Council solutions integrate seamlessly, the Council has chosen to standardise their IT applications using the Microsoft platform.
Alan Hart comments: “Everything we’re building is Microsoft-based and we want to keep it that way so that new developments can be easily integrated easily with existing solutions and with high levels of security.
“This ensures flexibility and enables us to scale resources as and when we require.
“We also want to minimise training by retaining familiar Microsoft interfaces across systems and devices.”
Microsoft Office System
Microsoft Office is the business world's chosen environment for information work that provides the software, servers, and services that help you succeed by transforming information into impact.
For more information about Microsoft Office System, go to:
www.microsoft.com/office