Challenge
United Illuminating is a Connecticut-based, 800+ employee regional distribution utility that provides electricity and energy-related services to more than 320,000 customers in the greater New Haven and Bridgeport areas.
The microfilm-based system they were using to manage their Accounts Payable files was inefficient and time-consuming. It took an average of 10 minutes to retrieve invoices and A/P documents as only one person at a time could access the information stored on microfilm.
A/P employees were spending 4-6 hours a day to prepare documents for filming and to retrieve, print, and fax requested documents to employees in other departments, resulting in high overtime costs. Furthermore, access to critical data was severely limited during the 1-2 week filming process.
Solution
United Illuminating switched from an in-house microfilm-based system to an outsourced, integrated document management solution from Digiscribe.
Thousands of A/P files are picked up biweekly by Digiscribe, scanned at their production facility, indexed for easy retrieval and stored off-site on ImageSilo®, a secure, redundant Web-based repository. Employees company wide can now access the A/P documents they need in seconds, 24x7, directly from their computers. And scanned files are available in as fast as 48 hours vs. 1-2 weeks.
The entire document management system was integrated seamlessly with the company’s accounting platform, with no custom codes or programming fees required. Now, when employees are working in Oracle® PeopleSoft®, they can view linked A/P documents with a single keystroke.
And the system’s advanced audit capabilities—including access-level privileges, security logs and utilization reports—help ensure compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley and other regulations.
United Illuminating was so pleased with this document management solution that they now also send their work orders and general ledgers to Digiscribe for scanning, indexing and hosting on ImageSilo.
Benefits of this Digiscribe solution
- Improved employee efficiency.
- Immediate access to A/P invoices and documents from any department by computer, 24x7.
- A/P staff can concentrate on their core responsibilities.
- Payroll costs reduced by $20,000 annually.
- ROI realized in one year—faster than the client expected.
- Fast and easy integration with Oracle PeopleSoft.
- Simplified compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley and other regulations.
- Non-disruptive audits due to tracking functionality.
- Quicker turnaround – from 1-2 weeks to 48 hours.
- No capital investment in IT hardware or infrastructure.
- No need for IT staff involvement.