City of Salisbury

What took 15 minutes to locate documents now takes seconds for the City of Salisbury.

SOLUTIONS

  • Online check and document imaging
  • Automated EFT payments
  • Invoices distributed via email for approval

RESULTS

  • Time and effort saved from not using paper
  • Documentation retrieval became more quick and accurate
  • Virtual inboxes created allowing departments to work on multiple jobs effectively

Challenge

The City of Salisbury’s AP department had to manage hard copies of every document, and the manpower involved with writing and filing checks was taking its toll on productivity. Researching past invoices and payments meant having to dig through an enormous file. “The sheer volume of paper going through AP was unbelievable and growing,” said Mark Drye, Senior Management Analyst, “Right along with the amount of filing space we were using and number of man-hours spent managing paper.” The city also lacked an automated invoice approval system – often resulting in important papers piling up on desks, awaiting approval or eventually becoming misplaced. “At times,” said Drye, “we’ve had to run up and down the hallway to find a missing invoice or document.”

“We were expecting a 'scan and save' type of solution, so having workflow and robust search capabilities, and the ability for employees to access images has been a big plus."

MARK DRYESENIOR MANAGEMENT ANALYST

Solution

Intent on a centralized system to scan, store, and access documents, the city worked with its Microsoft GP partner, Cogsdale, to identify the perfect software. Ryan Cawley, Account Executive at Cogsdale, said, “Several years ago, we made the decision to recommend Altec. For us, it’s the norm. Any time we have a customer where document management is required, we include DocLink.” Key criteria included online check and document imaging, ERP integration, and seamless workflow from PO issuance to payment remittance. “We contacted Cogsdale and said we needed a solution. Knowing their success with DocLink was good enough for us,” said Drye.

During implementation, AP learned that DocLink could also handle automated EFT payments and now scans all paper invoices to distribute via email for approval. When complete, the invoices are dropped into a queue for further processing and payment. “The one thing that we absolutely loved was online approval,” said Drye, “and being able to set documents in appropriate queues with the click of a button. We no longer worry about documents languishing on approvers’ desks.”

Benefits

Using DocLink, the city has saved man-hours, sped up AP approval processes, and cut down on paper to file. Through remote connection capabilities, department heads can approve documents from their desks or while they’re out – an automation bonus that wasn’t feasible with the previous system. “More importantly,” says Drye, “we’re not shoving paper from office-to-office anymore.”

The municipality’s next steps will be to set up an automated process for check requests (currently handled with an Excel document) and a DocLink expansion that will extend the value of the Cogsdale Customer Service Management application, allowing for viewing of documents from the CSM screens. The expansion will also include customer agreements, contracts, and payment agreements for the city’s 20,000 utility customers. “Right now the paper comes in and we may keep it or throw it away,” says Drye. “Using DocLink as a central repository, our goal will be to create a backup of those documents for future use and reference.”