Taking
COLD To The Bank
Heritage Bank saves time and money by imaging checks,
statements, and reports in two different systems.
The right archiving software pulls data from two servers
for added efficiency.
Employees
at Heritage Bank (Clarksville, TN) no longer
cringe at customers’ requests to research account
information. Research projects that used to take hours,
days, or even months to complete now take only minutes.
A document management and imaging solution installed
by Integra Business
Systems (Safety Harbor, FL) has streamlined
bank operations, according to Frank Wallace, vice president
and cashier at Heritage Bank. Founded 10 years ago,
Heritage Bank operates one main and four branch locations.
The bank’s assets are between $200 - $210 million;
the total number of full-time equivalent employees is
100.
Accessing
customer information from various systems prompted the
bank to look for a more efficient storage and retrieval
solution. Microfilm and file cabinets had been used
for storing loan documents. Paper checks and statements
were stored in file cabinets within the bank, and later
transferred to a warehouse. Retrieving loan documentation
and cancelled checks from microfilm/microfiche, file
cabinets, or the warehouse was time consuming.
"Bank
employees spent time looking for loan documentation
files that their coworkers were already using, or for
files that had been misplaced," says Abby Ross,
vice president and sales manager for Integra Business
Systems. Heritage Bank hired Integra Business Systems
to help solve the storage and retrieval problem.
Heritage
Bank uses FIserv for its data processing. FIserv
brought in Integra Business Systems to help solve the
storage and retrieval problems at Heritage Bank. Integra
Business Systems’ challenge was to combine archiving
software with Heritage Bank’s existing check imaging
system. "Checks were imaged using Wausau imaging
software and an NCR7780 image transport," explains
Integra Business System’s Ross. LaserView,
a stand-alone DOS software package, was used for storing
general reports, but it could not accommodate loan documentation
files. Heritage Bank wanted to image and store all of
its reports. It also wanted seamless access to information
from its various systems."
Combining
COLD And Imaging
Integra Business Systems’ solution was to use Docubase
COLD (computer output to laser disc) and FORM
client/server software. RECOM (now Unisys), a systems
integration company, provided a 60 GB RAID tower
with a 100-platter CD-ROM jukebox for check
storage. An additional optical storage jukebox stores
imaged reports, loan documentation, and signature cards.
"The imaged checks had to be pulled from the Wausau
system, while reports were pulled from LaserView
and FIserv," says Ross. "The challenge
was to have the two servers communicate with one another,
as well as with the workstations throughout the bank
branches. We accomplished this using high-speed T1 lines.
This was the first installation where we had two different
servers running
Docubase applications ‘talking’ to
each other."
The
installation took approximately 10 days. Integra Systems
provided a dedicated employee to conduct training for
several days. While Heritage Bank did not disclose actual
costs, Ross says a similar system with a 50-user concurrent
license costs upwards of $40,000.
New
Solution Benefits Bank Employees And Customers
"Bank employees responsible for researching customer
accounts love the new system," says Heritage Bank’s
Frank Wallace. "Because research time has been
shortened, we’ve been able to move employees into different
positions. The COLD solution did not result in any employee
layoffs."
"I’ve
talked with many customers who are surprised by how
fast we can get information to them," says Wallace.
"One gentleman called and requested a copy of a
cancelled check. Using my desktop PC, I entered his
account information, retrieved the check and faxed it
to him from the computer while he was still on the telephone.
He couldn’t believe it was done so quickly." The
key, says Wallace, is in the correct indexing of information.
"Like a paper file, you can lose an electronic
file," says Wallace. "Unlike paper files,
any number of employees from any bank branch can share
electronic loan documentation files — and signature
cards — on their PCs."
The
new Docubase COLD and imaging system has also helped
speed up audits by bank examiners. "It took some
time to train the bank examiners on how to retrieve
loan documentation," says Wallace. "But, once
they started using the system, it made their jobs easier."
Two bank examinations by regulatory agencies have been
completed since the new system was installed.
Heritage
Bank saves money on paper and postage by sending its
customers their statements without copies of imaged
checks. "Customers know they can get a copy of
any of their checks upon request," explains Wallace.
In addition, Heritage Bank offered a special service
to some of its larger commercial customers. "Instead
of paper statements, we sent these customers their account
information on CDs," says Wallace. "The process
didn’t meet with much success. One customer, for example,
used the CD and liked it. However, he didn’t need copies
of the imaged checks because we could research information
for him so quickly."
Employees
no longer cringe when asked to find copies of cancelled
checks or loan documentation for bank customers. "We
occasionally go back to microfilm/microfiche to find
information from a few years back," says Wallace.
"But it won’t be long before that system is obsolete."
As printed in Business Solutions, August, 1999
by Lisa Kerner
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