Public sector adopting EDM for more secure, efficient file storage

The public sector is increasingly deploying electronic document management (EDM) solutions to manage growing volumes of records while fueling more efficient processes. These technologies offer organizations in a variety of sectors enhanced capabilities for productivity, disaster recovery and compliance.

Public Servant reported that EDM systems are particularly beneficial in helping capture missing data from both unstructured and structured documents, which can ensure compliance with continually changing record keeping requirements. These systems also play a vital role in allowing organizations to quickly find information through a centralized storage system that also allows easy sharing and updating of files. Further, the source explained that cross-departmental collaboration on projects and processes is much easier with these solutions because users can gain access to data from anywhere and at anytime, facilitating decision-making. Additionally, as new files are added to the system, intelligent capture enables data to be instantly identified and routed to the appropriate workflow or business stream.

Regulatory compliance with certain legal requests is another critical consideration for EDM technologies, as Public Servant reported that a complete audit trail can be kept for every document. And because accuracy is imperative to efficiency as well as compliance, EDM systems are crucial because these tools can identify errors more immediately through data cleansing and resolve mistakes more quickly.

Flexible access and searchability
The Hampden County Registry of Deeds recently upgraded to an advanced EDM system to resolve inefficiencies that impacted the agency's performance. The Registry, which recorded 98,467 documents last year alone, an 18 percent increase from 2011, was able to experience 50 percent faster loading times with the new digital document viewer. Additionally, the EDM solution enables users to access more than 175 different document types from any web browser. Viewers can zoom for specific details, search documents by page numbers, print and export the files in a PDF format. Mobile viewing capabilities allow lawyers, police officers, realtors, college professionals and historians to access the information from anywhere. Register Ashe has also initiated a project to digitize historic records that were obtained when the County offices closed, in addition to daily recordings. 

Collaboration across departments becomes easier and more dynamic with EDM, as employees and third parties gain easier access to data from a centralized resource. This enables quicker and more effective decision-making and project completion.

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