Biel's DM - The Document Management Blog

Company Stays On Top of Trends in Technology

2012-03-05T10:32:00.002-05:00

Technological advances have changed the way business is done. But for Biel’s Information Technology Systems, it changed the business itself.

The West Seneca-based company began as a microphotography lab in 1939, carved a niche in microfilm reproduction in the 1950s; then became a copy machine dealer in the ‘60s. In the 1970s it moved into computer-assisted microfilm; and in the 2000s, it evolved into the document scanning and management software operations it is today.

But as a company that responds to the whims of technology, Biel’s metamorphosis is ongoing. It’s now eyeing mobile and tablet applications and software.

“Although technology is constantly changing, and we constantly have to be nimble and stay on our toes, we’ve created a wonderful business over the years, and it’s been very rewarding for us,” said Dennis Kempner, president of the company.

With its numerous incarnations, simplifying the business process has remained at the core of the operations, Kempner said.

Whether it’s microfilm or electronic documents, the “goal is to provide our clients the most efficient ways to store, find, retrieve and distribute information,” he said.

Adhering to that principle has made Biel’s the oldest document management business in the country, Kempner said. After more than 70 years in business, the company successfully developed and sustained a customer base, with clients like Erie County, local school districts and hospitals, that have remained loyal through decades as the company shed its various skins.

Today, Biel’s has 50 employees and operates out of a facility in West Seneca. It also runs a sales office in Rochester. The dawn of 2012 has signaled improved sales for Biel’s as more clients appear to be rebounding from the down economy and are less apprehensive about investing in document management services, Kempner said.

For the full story, click here.

5 Things to Remember When Retaining Documents for Compliance

2012-03-02T12:38:00.001-05:00

Read the news, peruse the paper, review blogs and you will usually find the word compliance within minutes. You know it is more than the latest buzzword, though. It's a serious subject with severe penalties for businesses not following regulations.

With that in mind, there are 5 things you should remember when retaining documents for compliance:

1. The old adage, “When in doubt, leave it out,” doesn’t apply. If you’re not positive you won’t need a document in the future, keep it until you do your research on how long you are legally required to keep it.

2. Retaining documents doesn’t mean drowning in a sea of paperwork. A paperless office is still possible! Using a document management system that’s electronic and easily accessible dramatically decreases your need to keep hard copies and increases your ability to find documents when you need them.

3. When it comes to compliance, security is essential. Housing documents in your office or storage area puts your company at risk. Are the files locked away? Are they in fireproof cabinets? Will a fire sprinkler system ruin them? Are you keeping track of who is looking at the files? Look for a solution that monitors who has access to your information and keeps an audit trail on activities that surround that document, including who has viewed or altered it.

4. Storage and safety of documents is only half the battle; the other half is accessibility. Can you get the information you need immediately? Using an document storage applicationsolves accessibility and timeliness challenges; you retrieve what you need anytime, anywhere, as long as you have access to the Internet. In the case of a company audit, rather than providing boxes of files, you may decide to give the auditor a temporary login to access only the information requested, and nothing more. You certainly do not want an auditor finding a file that you should have purged years ago.

5. Do not keep documents longer than necessary. When the expiration date arrives, purge them if there is no pending litigation. You can set timers to notify you when the document’s retention period has been met, freeing up storage space and minimizing the risk of litigation. Remember, if an auditor or legal firm discovers a document, it can be used in the legal proceedings, potentially causing further compliance or legal issues.

When retaining documents for compliance, it’s as simple as having a secure system with fast and easy searching capabilities, and automatic disposal of files. The right application will save you time and money, and will leave you feeling secure that your business is meeting all regulatory requirements.

How Do You Protect Company Info With Remote Workers?

2012-02-24T09:06:00.000-05:00

Your company has already suffered from budget cuts, and you have transitioned a portion of your employees to "virtual" home offices. The LAST thing you need is to feel insecure about where your business files and information are as they leave the company network...

So how do you protect your valuable documents with remote workers? Here's a checklist with the most important aspects to consider when looking for an affordable and secure solution for information access and file storage:

Look for a solution with access via the Web - By using a software-as-a-service document storage application, you can save money by paying a low monthly subscription and allow your virtual workers easy access from anywhere they can connect to the internet. The secure web access and storage allows you to maintain vital documents with the company, rather than on a worker's laptop, and also allows you to easily turn-off access for employees when necessary.

Use a method that ensures strong authentication - Using a system that requires access with a secure log in, and information that is encrypted as it travels across the internet should be required. This easily restricts who can get to mission critical documents and their information. But remember, it is also important to log out of the system when you are done working so information is not accidentally left on the screen for unauthorized eyes. Look for an application that will automatically log you out of the system once a certain period of time has passed.

Your system should have administrative controls - When deciding how to properly set up virtual worker teams, make sure you implement a system that can restrict visibility and only allow employees access to the information they are permitted to see. The system you choose should allow you to store information in a single repository, yet set-up restricted access for each user only allowing them to see information they have access to versus system-wide information.

Monitor document edits and changes by individuals - This not only keeps you informed of what is going on in your business, but also is useful for audit compliance. Never worry about last minute audits or discovery; always know the history and changes related to your documents.

Allow for online collaboration - One of the biggest challenges you will have in transitioning your employees to a remote office is collaboration. Without the opportunity to walk down the hall, or gather in a conference room to discuss a contract, proposal or other company information it will be challenging to collect information from a group to create final versions. Luckily, the right online document management system can help you overcome this challenge by providing an easy way to upload information, collaborate and track versions of each change within the document. Never again clog up your inbox with attachments, miss an edit or worry which version is truly the FINAL version.

Automate a Virtual Workflow - Some document management solutions allow you to easily create and automate a workflow from within in the application. The documents are pushed to the appropriate employee's task list as soon as they are uploaded in the system and are ready for review. Additional benefits include the ability to stop sending documents using e-mail. Instead, the application will send notifications that documents require review. The documents are maintained and secure in one location giving the company complete control of their mission critical information.

Share and Collaborate More Efficiently with Document Management in "The Cloud"

2012-02-17T09:16:00.001-05:00

With virtual meetings becoming more commonplace in today’s global community, it’s never been more important to enable easier and more effective online collaboration. Working across geographically diverse locations and accommodating more and more telecommuters is impractical, if not completely impossible, if your business processes still rely on paper files for information dissemination, input, review and approvals.

With the assistance of an online document management, collaboration and messaging platform you and your colleagues can view and share documents, make changes and automatically save and store each version using an Internet connection. This allows multiple users in different departments -- even different countries -- to instantly collaborate.

The ability to manage and process documents through a web-based software application allows teams to streamline the process of reviewing, editing, and securing appropriate approvals.

Ideas and data and can be exchanged quickly and efficiently, thus eliminating the need for time-consuming office meetings, back and forth email correspondence, interoffice mail, overnight express, or courier services.

Users can communicate clearly and concisely with colleagues by inserting detailed notes and messages directly linked to individual documents or processes. This information is stored with the document; not lost in a trail of emails that need to be manually searched. Doesn’t that make more sense?

Users can add documents to the business processes as needed so that all documents related to any given task are grouped together logically and conveniently.

With this type of seamless workflow, you can create and automate business processes that coordinate between people, applications, and services.

Uploading and Storing Documents in a Folder is Not Online Document Management
While it is tempting to use free or very low cost web applications to solve your document management challenges – these are not viable solutions. File storage folders, while on the web, provide Internet access and storage but they do not provide a structured and controlledmethod of uploading and indexing documents for easy retrieval by a diverse group of users.

Picture this: One worker uploads a contract document file named ABC Company 2011 Contract. Does anyone else know how to find that document? What if someone edits that version and renames it ABC Company 2011 Contract_edits and someone else edits it and names it ABC Company 2011 Contract_pp.

Does anyone know how to find the correct or final version?
What if you were able to query using more information? If the file had been uploaded identifying Contract Name, Contract or Document Type, Contract Date, Status, Originator, or Contract Officer, it would be possible to search and quickly retrieve documents using any or all of this or other Meta information; ensuring your team is collaborating on the correct version of the document.

Additionally you would be able to see the previous versions, located in one central location further improving your overall process.

Stop Relying on Emails For Document Histories!
E-mail trails are not reliable document histories. Using secure online collaboration that tracks the collaboration creates a logical and more importantly, certified history of every document and a fully compliant audit trail including date, time and user access data.

Think how much more efficient if would be not to have to scroll through endless emails with their “forwards,” “cc’s”, or “bcc’s when trying to track who’s done what -- to which version of a document or file.

With dynamic online document management, all vital document history information is captured, recorded, and tracked automatically.

Eliminate Workflow Bottlenecks
With secure online access, you can instantly check any workflow tasks, alleviating the potential for process “bottlenecks” that might result in unacceptable delays. Notifications will alert you and your colleagues when there are new or pending tasks to complete or documents to review and approve.

This will help you stay on task and reduce the possibility of missing important deadlines.

Once you cross over from file storage to “document management” you will wonder what took you so long!

Accounts Payable Departments Find Success with Document Management

2012-02-10T09:09:00.001-05:00

According to a study done by the Accounts Payable Network, the three major challenges facing Accounts Payable departments during a struggling economy are:

1. Cost Reduction
2. Process Improvement
3. Increased Control

The story of this accounts payable department will show you how an AP department that was once over-burdened with too many invoices and purchase order (PO) documents (suffering with late payments and overpayments because of lack of organization) implemented an electronic process that reduced their costs, improved their business processes, increased their security, and organized the information in their department.

The economic fury strikes yet another business, and its AP department is forced to reduce their headcount requiring them to manage the same amount of work with half the people. What to do? The business process had to be restructured now that the department only had half of the initial staff.

This presented some major challenges, resulting in a domino effect. The staff couldn't keep up with the workload... forcing invoices to be paid late... charging the company an excess in late fees... and tragically missed opportunities for savings because they could not get organized and on track to pay invoices early or on-time.

With fewer employees, the staff was having an extremely difficult time locating and matching PO's to invoices, resulting in overpayments or even duplicate payments. They knew it was time to re-evaluate their process and come up with a solution. After thorough research, the company decided to implement an electronic document management and workflow system.

So how did this change their accounts payable process and the way they processed and managed documents?

In many instances, the vendor faxes the invoice to the organization which is then picked up by the document management application. If the invoice comes in via mail, a scanner is used to capture the document or if by email, the email/fax manager would receive the invoice, index and route the new electronic document through the system. The invoice(s) are indexed according to the associated purchase order number(s), eliminating the tedious process of an employee manually matching the incoming invoice with its purchase order.

The paper document is never touched by human hands again! The employees were also thrilled to discover that the new solution would allow them to take their existing batch of invoices and PO's and bulk-load them into the system all at once.

Now with all vital information entered into the content management system, the AP department could easily open the image of the actual invoices, allowing them to instantly review and collaborate electronically.

The best part of the document management system and greatest time-saving feature is the automatic invoice routing. When an invoice comes into the system, the application follows pre-defined routing rules and automatically routes the document to a specific employee's task box based on the document's attributes. Then the employee/user can electronically review and approve the information so that it will continue through the workflow process. The application can also be integrated with the accounting system so that as incoming data is pushed through, users can view the document images from either the electronic document management platform or the accounting system itself. With the implementation of the electronic document management system, the AP department now enjoys many benefits:

They can electronically schedule payment alerts so early-pay discounts can be realized.
Duplicate payments and over-payments are never made!
Paper file storage needs are eliminated, resulting in tremendous savings.
Reports can be run with ease as the information is simple to locate.
Their information is protected securely and they have a built-in disaster recovery plan.

What about security?

Because the information is stored online, this AP department was initially worried about the security of their information. Their fears were calmed when they found out that the data resides in a globally known data facility that provides protection to the top ten global financial institutions. Incorporating multiple layers of security, only approved users have access to the information in the system. The administrator has the ability to restrict visibility as well so that users are only permitted access to the information they have been approved to access.

What about records retention and compliance?
AP also needed a solution for their records management compliance. They must retain the accounting documents for several years and were having challenges tracking the records and their disposition dates of the records in various locations. Some were stored in the buildings and some were stored in outside facilities. This cost money and time trying to locate the documents when audited. Since it was not cost effective to send staff digging thru boxes of paper they were able to solve this problem instantly since the document management platform was a suite of solutions that also included a records management tool. Now the system notifies them when a document is ready to be purged and they no longer worry about lengthy audits that use multiple staff over a course of a week. They can now give the auditor access to the area of information needed and not worry that they are not in compliance.

And the best part of all is that in the end, this accounts payable department realized that they didn't need extra staff... they just needed a better document management and workflow system.

Taking Document Management to the Next Level with Business Process Automation

2012-02-03T09:53:00.000-05:00

Automating the capture, storage and retrieval of your documents is the first step towards improving your efficiency. Reducing paper storage, having immediate access to documents regardless of your location and eliminating lost documents all have tremendous benefits for any organization. Just making document electronic however, does not address the human element.

Making Decisions
People make decisions using documents all day long. Many of these decisions are routine. Some may not be. In either case, if you can define the business logic that drives these decisions, you can automate them. It’s this automation that truly frees up an organization. Routine decision making is not where your staff adds the most value to your organization. Business is fluid and so new issues arise all the time. Thinking up new solutions for new problems is why you need experienced staff.

So how does this relate to document management? One of two things happen in business all the time, either a document triggers a process to start, or a process starts that triggers the use of documents. Even more often these are combined into a larger process where documents are triggering actions and are then being created or routed, and on and on.

Without a document management system in place, documents are routed via interoffice envelopes, the mail, fax or e-mail. Once they get to the recipient, there is no guarantee that this person will act upon the document in a predictable timeframe. Further, there is no guarantee that the person will make the same type of decisions in a consistent fashion. People are prone to error and distraction.

The Human Factor
The human factor is what makes a difference in any organization. These differences can be both good and bad. People innovate, they create, and they solve problems. People also procrastinate, make mistakes and may not be consistent. When you examine both the good and the bad, usually routine is what causes many problems. People need to be stimulated. If something is routine, then automate it so that the human factor does not negatively affect the outcome.

Think about the process of contract review. Many people could be involved in the review and approval of a contract. There is the legal department, the issuing department and some level of management oversight.

When a contract is created, a department might ask the legal department to draft it. Once drafted, it might be routed back to the requesting department and then back again to legal. This back and forth, or collaboration is one of the first steps in business process automation. Here we have two groups who are marking up and tracking a document. When one finishes the other is notified. At any point in time there is no confusion as to who is responsible for the next review.

Once finalized by legal and the department, other business rules could continue the routing. If the document was to buy equipment, it might be routed to facilities to approve, or if the contract had a value over a certain amount it might be routed to management. These routing decisions can be automated based on your business logic or certain values. Further, if someone in the routing chain is unavailable, then your business process might automatically route it to an alternate person. This eliminates the bottleneck of a contract sitting on someone’s desk while they are out of the office or otherwise unable to follow up. Notifications can keep everyone in the loop. Gone will be delays because of any one person being a bottleneck.

The contract example illustrates a simple workflow. For some businesses, their processes can be very complex. Automating as much of these processes as possible reduces the time needed to complete them and dramatically reduces the chance of human error.

Because every organization has different business processes, the best way to start your business process automation is to consult with a company that has experience automating processes across a wide range of business issues. You understand your business and your processes better than an outsider can. However an outside vendor brings process automation expertise to the table. Combined, you and your vendor can have a major impact on your organization’s productivity.

What's Your Document Management Strategy?

2012-01-27T10:50:00.001-05:00

Implementing a document management system does not have to be a long drawn out process. It does not have to be hard or overly expensive. From our perspective, there are three key factors to a successful document management implementation:

1. Establish a good working partnership with your document management vendor.
2. The document management platform needs to be an easy-to-use tool and not a burden on your staff or financial resources.
3. Don’t make it more complicated than it needs to be.

The first step in any document management implementation is analysis. This is true with any type of project. And as with any analysis, you need people who know the details of your business and people who understand the details of the technology. Typically, this means that your implementation team will have both your staff and your vendor’s staff working together to design the system.

Picking a vendor that you can rely on is a critical step in this process. In this case, not only must the vendor understand document management, but they need to be able to translate business requirements into an actionable plan. However, it’s more complicated than that. The good vendors almost act as if they were detectives at a crime scene looking for clues as to what really happened. We’ve seen this time and again, companies don’t really pay attention to their business documents. When asked about a particular document, the answers are usually superficial. Your staff knows what the documents are and how they are used, but they don’t think about documents as much more than paper that is processed.

A document management vendor looks at a document and asks the following questions:

- What is the document?
- Who needs to see the document?
- What do you need to see on any given document?
- How do you find the documents?
- What other documents is this document related to?
- Does staff need to access other documents or systems when they look at this document?
- How is the document used?
- Does the document need to be approved?
- Does the document cause something to happen in the organization?
- How often is the document accessed?
- Does the document have a life cycle?

Your staff just does not think this way about documents. When asked, they will answer specific questions. This is one place where a document management vendor can truly make a difference. By asking not only the initial questions, but by following up with enough detailed questions, a document map can be established that shows where a document fits in the organization. It’s this detailed map that is used to create the storage structure, the retrieval paths, links to other documents or systems, the routing and approval paths, and even the retention schedule.

Document Management Implementations

Implementing document management requires detail oriented people to analyze the documents and the flow. What makes a partnership important is that even the most detail oriented people who act as document detectives will not find all the answers prior to implementing your system. Once the system is being prototyped, the remaining details tend to emerge. When you have a true partnership with your vendor, they not only anticipate this, but they work with you to make sure that the end result provides real benefits to your organization, not just an implementation of the latest technologies.

True partners not only learn your business, but they respond as if it is their own. This means that your implementation takes into account not just the way you do things today, but ways that you could potentially do things better. Again, we’ve seen this over and over. Organizations follow procedures, sometimes unofficial rules, which have been in place for a long time. While the original reason for the procedures may have been long forgotten, the practices are still there. Many times the original reason is not even valid any more. When you have a partnership with a document management vendor, they not only find out what your current processes are, but they also look for ways to improve your processes and thus improve your efficiency.

To have a document management partnership, your vendor must specialize in document management. That may seem like an obvious requirement; however, there are many different types of companies that sell document management as an add-on technology. These can be hardware vendors that sell copiers, scanners or multi-function machines. These can be resellers that sell many types of applications and may include a document management offering as part of their suite. In either case, while these vendors can implement basic document management, they cannot deliver the results that a true partner will deliver.

The last step in creating a document management partnership is to have a basic understanding of the technology they represent. While the vendor may be everything you want, the technology they implement should not be a burden on your staff or financial resources. The best way to ensure that the technology is not a burden is to implement your solution with a Software-as-a-Service architecture.

Business Process Management and Workflow

2012-01-20T09:29:00.001-05:00

While Business Process Management (BPM) is a separate topic, it can be very closely associated with document management and workflow. Almost all business processes involve documents. Business processes also include decision making. Workflow, or at least automated rules-based workflow, includes the process of identifying and electronically documenting, or mapping, your business process and the rules associated. This enables systems to make rules-based decisions thereby speeding up your organization’s ability to conduct business.

Today, all of your business processes are known by employees who perform various functions in different departments. Your processes are an invaluable asset for your organization. Yet every day, your employees go home at night taking this knowledge with them. When they call in sick, or resign, or get promoted, who takes over their responsibilities? And, most importantly, do their replacements know what to do?

Even worse, are you paying your employees to do mundane tasks? An employee’s value is not in performing repetitive tasks, but in making decisions that cannot be automated. Why then do we pay to have people do the same thing every day? Sure, not all tasks can be fully automated, but the more that are automated, the more productive your staff will be.

Business Processes

What is Business Process Management? It is taking the time to understand your business processes so you can determine what the right processes should be.

Just because an organization has been following the same process for years does not mean it is an efficient process. BPM first analyzes what the current business processes are, the as-is state. The next step is to determine what the optimal processes should be, the to-be state. Once you have identified, mapped and streamlined your processes, you can then automate the workflow to eliminate the steps that previously required staff. This is the power of BPM and Workflow Automation.

Workflow Automation

If you choose to automate workflows with your document management system, this involves identifying the documents as well as the steps for each individual process. Take an invoice for example. We might add processes where the department requesting the original purchase submits a purchase request. The system might review the request to determine if it is within budget, or has an approved vendor.

If everything satisfies the defined rules, the purchase request could be automatically approved and a purchase order could be generated. If something is outside of the automatic approval rules, the purchase request could automatically be routed to a higher level person for approval. Once that person approves or declines the request, the next automated step in the process can take place.

Let’s skip ahead to when the vendor ships the purchased goods. A receiving document could have been scanned in at the loading dock, triggering an automated notification to the department to pick up or inspect their shipment. The next step might be for a departmental approval of the shipment. Again, once the shipment was accepted a notification to accounting could be generated to pay the invoice and take the discount that was offered.

The above scenario may, or may not, be even close to what your business rules are. It does not matter. BPM is the process of indentifying your rules so you can automate your processes. Further, BPM is not just for an accounting process. You can use Business Process Management to analyze any business process in your organization from sales to HR and from contract generation to processing claims. Every business is different and has different needs.

What never changes is that most processes can be automated to improve efficiency!

Accounts Payable Processing with Document Management

2012-01-13T09:52:00.002-05:00

Accounts Payable (AP) is a need of every company. No matter what your business, you have bills to pay. But there is no need for your AP department to cost your company extra money. Missed early payment discounts, late fees, lost invoices, dozens of calls, emails and faxes.

How much is each invoice really costing you? The IAPP (International Accounts Payable Professionals) estimates the average cost by a company to pay an invoice, in time and resources, is more than $10 per invoice. This is an additional cost you pay on top of every invoice, shipping bill, utility bill, etc. All because you are still in a paper-based environment.

Document Management AP Solutions are an easy to use, affordable, on-demand service. There is never any hardware to maintain, software to install or upgrade fees to pay. And you can be up and running in hours or days, not months. Streamline the entire process - from document creation through document management, routing, approval, collaboration and even records retention scheduling - all for a low monthly subscription fee.

Secure and keep track of all incoming invoices and related documents (PO's, notes, disputes, etc.)
Ensure early payment discounts and eliminate late payment fees
Virtually eliminate data entry errors with automated OCR
Compare approved purchase order amounts to invoices and eliminate overpayment
Ensure all of your accounting procedures and approvals are adhered to using automated routing for review, approvals, and processing

Beyond invoices and payments, there are many compliance issues surrounding accounting. For example; Sarbanes-Oxley requires you to keep track and report on all aspects of your accounting system including Accounts Payable. Well, now you can ensure you are covered and fully compliant.

In audits, lost documents can mean large fines. Don't gamble with your files.

And it isn't just an accounts payable solution; you can share the same system with your co-workers in other departments. One solution for all your companies document and records management needs. All your information at your fingertips, from anywhere, anytime.

Additional Benefits:

Cut invoice processing cost down to pennies
Rapid Deployment = Rapid ROI
You can be up and running in days
Guaranteed user adoption with the user friendly, flexible interface
Take advantage of every early payment discount
Easily manage and store invoices with less staff
Never double pay an invoice
Know the status and location of every invoice in your system
Increase vendor satisfaction by ensuring payment questions are answered in one call
Enable staff members to view invoices simultaneously
Easier compliance, faster reporting and staffing efficiencies
Never misplace a document again
Eliminate rows of filing cabinets and the costs associated with file storage
Integration for production scanning needs
No hardware, software or IT resources needed; we manage the application 24/7

The Importance of Indexing with Document Management

2012-01-06T09:29:00.001-05:00

Document indexing is the process of associating or tagging documents with different “search” terms. If we take an invoice, for example, there are a number of ways we might want to search for that invoice:

- Invoice number
- Vendor name
- Purchase order number
- Or maybe even what was bought

However, every organization is different; you might need to search by date or department. The point is that indexing is a path to the documents. That path is based upon your business and your staff.

There are also different types of indexes. If your documents are text documents, you might have indexed the documents for full text search where you can find a phrase contained in the documents. All electronic document management systems (EDMS) have some level of system indexing too. Default system indexing might be the date or document type or some other identifier that describes the document. In our example we’ve been using an invoice, we might search for invoice number. Or we might have given the document a document type of “invoice” so we can search on all invoices.

No matter what indexes we use, the power of document indexing is revealed when we do a search later on. Using our example, imagine there is a problem with an invoice. Now imagine that the invoice and all associated documents were related via a sales order number so that when we searched for the invoice in the system all the related documents also were immediately available.

Setting up the indexes is one of the key factors in having a successful document management implementation.

The 3 Biggest Risks Your Organization Faces and How Document Management Insures Against Them

2011-12-30T10:24:00.001-05:00

Managing information effectively is perhaps the number one challenge your business faces every day. Whether you run a large or small organization, information management is the key to success and survival, especially in these uncertain economic times.

Since business information is found, for the most part, in the form of documents or records of some type, organizations that have already adopted a true Electronic Document Management System (EDMS) have a significant competitive advantage over those that still rely heavily on manually based paper processes. Not having a viable EDMS that’s geared for future growth and sustainability presents three key business risks:

1) Information Loss Due To Natural or Man-Made Disaster

Imagine if one or more of your office locations were destroyed in fire, flood, or hurricane? What if your company was vandalized or broken into and business critical information and data were severely compromised? How would you explain and provide services to your valuable customers? Could you continue to operate without missing a beat or would they have to call on your competitor?

Although these are certainly worst-case scenarios, they are not uncommon. Your business, just like your family, must have a plan to be prepared for and power through these types of situations.

One of the best ways to protect your business information is to adopt an EDMS platform to help manage paper-based documents as well as digital files. This ensures that all your business information, whether operational or industry-related documentation, insurance policies, contracts, leases, employee applications and personnel files, or accounting and financial records are always protected and secure, yet fully accessible when needed.

In the event of a disaster, EDMS software enables continued, yet highly secure access to your documents through a convenient portal via any Internet connection. Only authorized users can access securely encrypted documents and records in seconds; facilitating your business’s continuity and future sustainability.

2) Time and Expense Losses

There is no way around it -- processing and retaining paper archives is simply too time-consuming and labor intensive in the long term--period.

Paper is expensive to buy and even more costly to store securely in unsightly and space-hogging steel cabinets or warehouse in off-site facilities. Not only is it difficult to retrieve information from a physical document in a timely manner, it carries with it a range of tasks, leading to subsequent project delays and cost overruns.

An EDMS allows users to instantly access all documents from their desk, even if located remotely or internationally. Documents can be captured, imported, shared and collaborated on, stored and retrieved with a few clicks of the mouse and keyboard. Documentsare indexed as they go into the system allowing the user to search index values or do keyword searching for fast retrieval. This saves incredible amounts of staff time, which can be better spent on more worthy business goals.

By improving real-time collaboration and communication, lowering overhead expenses, and shrinking “time-to-market”, transitioning your organization to a cost-effective web-based EDMS solution is an important step toward increasing production and profits.

3) Non-Compliance with Legal Requirements

Using a safe and secure EDMS platform, (not a "drop your files" in a network folder or virtual box out on the web) makes meeting compliance laws such as Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) and HIPAA easier and more organized. These requirements and others mandate that compliance records are stored in an organized fashion so they are always secure, yet immediately accessible and producible, even in the most distressful and direst of situations.

Electronic documents are easily created, captured, transmitted, and stored securely and permanently based on your legal retention requirements. Automatic audit trails will track each user’s activity and every document that resides on the system, which provides unparalleled document control that paper -- quite simply -- just cannot match. Clearly, organizations continuing to hedge their bets by not using an EDMS platform will have an uphill battle when it’s time to organize critical in formation so that it complies properly with all the applicable laws.

The 2 Best Ways Financial Services Firms Can Stay Profitable with Document Management

2011-12-27T09:55:00.001-05:00

The financial services industry has traditionally been a paper-heavy business. As it becomes more highly regulated however, businesses large and small are starting to implement document management software solutions to increase efficiency and security…without sacrificing profitability.

Financial institutions such as investment services firms, wealth management, insurance and credit institutions, CPAs and accounting firms, as well as mortgage and brokerage companies can leverage document management solutions in two major ways:

1. Streamline workflow for increased efficiency
2. Comply with regulatory requirements

Streamlining Workflow

Maintaining client privacy using paper files can be an administrative hassle and logistical nightmare. A secure, cost-effective, and practical alternative is capturing, processing, storing, and sharing client information electronically.

A comprehensive document management software package can easily and affordably accomplish all of these objectives. Document management software can help financial services professionals manage all of their confidential client paperwork, such as:

- Tax Return
- Applications / Appraisals
- Fund / Investment Statements
- Transaction Confirmations
- Quarterly Statements
- 401k Statements
- Accounts payable and receivable

- Loan applications
- Credit applications
- Signature cards and account applications and authorizations
- Employment applications and documentation
- Membership applications

Manually storing, copying, printing, faxing, and mailing these types of documents becomes an exponentially larger part of operating budgets for financial institutions that still rely on paper. Expenses related to paper usage include smaller items such as ink, toner, and postage, as well as more expensive on-site or off-site storage. With an affordable and simple to use document management system, these expenses are reduced dramatically so ROI is quick and sustainable.

Regulatory Compliance

Financial services are one of the most highly regulated industries in the country. They are required to comply with and document their continued compliance with dozens of regulatory laws such as Graham-Leach-Bliley, SEC 17a-3 and 17a-4, The Patriot Act, Sarbanes-Oxley sections 302 and 404 for public companies, IRS Rev. Proc. 97-22 and NASD 3010 & NYSE 342.

With a web-based document management system, meeting the specifications for data storage and records retention is easier, cost-effective and more efficient. This keeps your financial services company compliant and avoids potential fines or penalties.

Driving Towards an Electronic Document Management System

2011-12-16T09:38:00.001-05:00

With gas prices climbing higher and higher, many people become strategic trip-takers. They do not drive unnecessarily, they plan their routes, and make sure they have enough gas and travel directly to where they need to be without passing “GO.”

Time and money are valuable resources. These resources are to be used wisely to achieve the maximum benefit. Have you ever heard the statement, "I want a Bentley for a BMW price”? This means you want high value for a good price. Not necessarily asking for something cheap, but be given value for your money.

This is the approach that information management professionals who are seeking or using electronic document management systems (EDMS) should take when justifying, buying and implementing an EDMS solution. When the idea of an EDMS solution first surfaces in your company, somebody must take the driver’s seat. It is the goal of the driver to determine where the company is going to end up with the new solution and what the reasons are for moving the company in this particular direction. Going for a drive, looking for a solution, without a purpose or business case can keep you driving in circles.

Many professionals are using information management tools to create, manage and/or share information within their company. It makes sense. You don’t want to be driving around trying to find the right resource, answer or tool to help one of your clients. Their time is important.

When companies begin looking at technology to solve problems, they are about to embark on a long drive. These drives can last as long as the company has the car. Once you select a tool, you have begun a long relationship. So start by asking what perfection looks like. What problems or issues are you trying to solve? Technology cannot solve training problems. Technology can remove process problems. However, it can add new problems if the flow of work through the solutions is not mapped out. And finally, what do you want to get accomplished, what resources you have, and how much will it cost you?

Then you can determine if the trip is worth the drive. It usually is.

The Time is Now

2011-12-09T09:31:00.001-05:00

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statics, labor costs are at an all time low, and technology and scanning capabilities are at an all time high—so the question is no longer “if” but “when?”

But it’s important to keep in mind that not all backfile conversion providers are created equal. Like in any industry, you’ll find plenty of quick-fix providers who are in it for the money rather than the quality. Keep these five points in mind when you start the process of finding the right backfile conversion partner.

1. Planning and Analysis
Make sure you have a well prepared project plan with full analysis of the type of documents, quality of documents and indexing requirements. A good service provider will offer to help you with this. A great service provider will insist on it.

2. Scanning Quality Control
Select a vendor with the proper equipment and the right quality control (QC) procedures. Demand 100% page-for-page QC to guarantee not a single page is lost—even when scanning millions of pages.

3. Document Control and Security
What happens if you need access to a document during the actual backfile scanning process? Will you be
able to locate it rapidly and return it to the conversion process without missing a beat?

4. Auto-classification and Auto-indexing
Look for a vendor that has established procedures for auto-classification and intelligent classification. For those jobs that require human classification make sure you choose a vendor with a strong knowledge transfer process. This becomes critically important the more documents types you have. A system that can automatically classify documents on will enable faster, smoother indexing with fewer exceptions to bog things down. The right vendor will also be experienced in helping you determine the proper taxonomy and number of fields to index. Too few index fields and you’ll lose your document in a sea of electronic documents. Too many and you could incur exorbitant costs.

5. Image Storage and Retrieval
Make sure the indices and electronic documents images can be quickly and easily uploaded into your EDMS—or find a vendor that will host the electronic documents as a service, and will link them into your business systems seamlessly.

How to Budget for a Document Management System

2011-12-02T08:58:00.001-05:00

Recently, New York State announced the 2011-2012 SARA LGRMIF (Local Government Records Management Improvement Fund) Grants. These awards must be used for the conversion of paper to electronic records, electronic document management systems, and any function that will help local governments become more efficient in organizing and maintaining records. This year, there was over $3.5 million funded! But not everyone has the luxury of receiving a grant for their document management project.

Businesses and government offices use document-management systems to enable them to track where they've filed hard copies; monitor the conversion of old paper documents to digital copies; and to store and find official emails, PDFs or power-point presentations. Bringing order to your office document stream will take both effort and money; to minimize the amount of money and time involved, figure out your priorities and needs before you implement the system, then draw up a budget after you know what you're going to need.

Planning the System

Step 1
Set your priorities. Basic goals for a document-management system should be to help you find information quickly, identify the relevant documents to a particular project and to retrieve hard-copy documents when you need them. To set up a good system requires you to know what types of documents your company creates, what data to make available about each document, where to store documents at each stage of the life cycle, who needs to have access to the documents, how they're handled in the organization and what the legal and company requirements are for record-keeping.

Step 2
Plan your system based on your priorities. Decide how you and your company want to organize the documents, how information will be shared and moved between parts of the organization, which documents should be preserved and which can be trashed and how to control access to documents that should not be shared with everyone.

Step 3
Talk to the people who actually deal with the documents. Find out if what you have in mind will work for them. If they have objections, decide if the objections are reasonable or just a lack of interest in change. If they see valid problems, find a way to fix them.

Budgeting the System

Step 1
Evaluate the start-up costs of converting old documents to electronic form. In addition to any new computer equipment you might need, scanning old documents into electronic form will take time and manpower.

Step 2
Price the labor hours involved in handling material in hard copy. The upfront costs are steeper when converting paper files to the computer, but searching, sorting and analyzing documents manually costs more in labor than doing the same tasks on the computer.

Step 3
Put together a budget that covers both the start-up costs and operating expenses. If you have a budget limit and exceed it, see if there are places you can cut costs without sacrificing function.

Think About It

Physical and electronic document management is not always the same as managing the information in the documents. An effective system not only helps people find one document among thousands, it also helps them find information, regardless of which document its on.

Yet Another Case for Document Management

2011-11-18T09:07:00.001-05:00

Document management is increasingly seen as a “bottom-line” organizational application with clear objectives such as reducing administrative costs, improving efficiency, and enhancing profits. Everyone has experienced the frustration of not being able to find that file or piece of paper with the answer to an important looming question.

One company estimated that, "The typical enterprise with 1,000 knowledge workers wastes $2.5 million to $3.5 million per year searching for nonexistent information, failing to find existing information, or recreating information that can’t be found."

BAE Systems conducted a study that discovered that 80% of employees waste an average of half an hour per day retrieving information, while 60% spend an hour or more duplicating the work of others.

More statistics supporting the need for document management come from Coopers & Lybrand:

1. 90% of corporate memory exists on paper.
2. 90% of all paper documents in the average office are merely shuffled and moved from place to place.

3. The average document is copied 19 times.
4. Companies spend $20 in labor to file a document, $120 in labor to find a misfiled document, and $220 in labor to reproduce a lost document.

5. 7.5% of all documents get lost while 3% of the remainder are misfiled.
6. Professionals up to 50% of their time looking for information, while they spend only 5-15% of their time reading the information they retrieved.

7. There are over 4 trillion paper documents in the U.S. alone, and that figure is growing at a rate of 22% per year.

These statistics easily support the fact that most businesses will benefit from a well-deployed document management system. It is not an issue of “if” but “when”. From Accounting and Human Resources to Product Development and Customer Service, every department can realize productivity improvements. The sooner a document management solution is in place, the sooner the benefits begin to affect business bottom-line and become the basis for efficiently conducting every business function.

Records Management Failures Create Business Failures

2011-11-11T11:29:00.001-05:00

Imagine a company with a perfect business model. This company has found the best leadership, has the most sound and profitable business plan, and has its coffers full of capital from willing and wealthy investors.

It owns two warehouses on both coasts, and has worked out wildly lucrative deals with their suppliers. They have a successful e-commerce platform, are scoring number one in web searches receiving well over a million hits per year. Their employees are satisfied and happy with their pay and their pension, and the company is about to go public and expand to the competitive and profitable world of international business. Investors could not be happier. Nothing could possibly be going any better for this company.

Except for one little thing: the founder of the company was strangely averse to filing and hanging on to documents. As a quick fix, he found an empty room on the third floor of the office and simply dumped all of the company's records in the room. Whenever a record was created, it was unceremoniously dumped into this room, never to be seen again.

So, as the company expanded, the room kept filling up. Every time an invoice was created to order products from a supplier, it was dumped in the room. Every time a contract was signed or drawn up, the copies were thrown down the tubes. Every time the customer made a purchase from the company's website, the receipt was sent down to the room, never again to see the light of day.

Still, this minor bit of oversight couldn't hurt the company, right? The fundamentals and the statistics were simply too sound. It could afford to look the other way on such a petty issue as records management and still maintain its expansive success.

Unfortunately, in spite of all of the fantastic potential, there are at least five ways that this business can encounter problems because of their laissez faire approach to records management. Let's take a look:

1. The business can be the subject of a government audit: There are many laws and statutes that regulate what types of records an organization or business must keep. If a business fails to meet these standards, the resulting fees and penalties can undermine the value of favorable earnings statements.

2. The company's headquarters can become inaccessible: Due to a malfunction in the manufacturing process, the offices may become inaccessible for weeks or months at a time. Because all of the records of the company were stashed on the floor of this room, and there were no tracking systems in place, the company isn't able to reconcile its debts or track its customers or shipments, resulting in decreased efficiency and poor customer service.

3. The business can be sued: If an angry customer sues this company, and this company cannot produce proper evidence of waivers, disclaimers, company policy notices and proof of insurance, the company may lose a major lawsuit and be forced to pay settlements that they otherwise may have avoided.

4. The business can waste money buying new space for the files: If the first file room fills up, the business will need to rent a second, and a third, and a fourth, and so on, all the while spending more and more money per month on costly rent for the office space. The business does not have an individual assigned to decide an expiry date for the documents, so they continue to pile up, with no end in sight.

5. Inefficient Access can Create Customer Service Issues: Without any proper Records Management, the company's employees spend enormous chunks of their time searching for the proper points of reference and critical files. Thousands of potentially valuable man hours are thrown down the drain.

So, as demonstrated in the points above, even though this company had the perfect business model, the best employees, and the largest customer base, it can easily experience growing pains on those five (and many more) counts. The seemingly mundane and tedious chore of keeping the records was neglected in favor of lower short-term costs, and this company is now paying the price. This should illustrate to you the importance of establishing, maintaining, and enforcing an effective Records Management strategy.

Congratulations to Kate Kramer!

2011-11-04T13:29:00.000-04:00

Congratulations to the newest Biel's Support Specialist, Kate Kramer, for completing the EMC AX6: ApplicationXtender Fundamentals for Administrators and AnyDoc Core Training.

The EMC AX6 course is hands-on training for individuals responsible for installing, configuring and supporting ApplicationXtender document imaging systems. The training covers installing, configuring, and supporting Desktop and Web Access .NET connectivity to documents and images stored in the ApplicationXtender Repository, combining the former ApplicationXtender Fundamentals and ApplicationXtender Web Access courses.

The AnyDoc Core Training is an intensive, accelerated, 5 day course condensed from the normal 10-day, based on the foundation of the entire training program. It covers AnyDoc Software's flagship software product, OCR for AnyDoc®, and includes the software's basic and required features.

The training is comprised of Template Design, focusing on designing, creating and testing master form templates, the heart of OCR for AnyDoc; Batch Processing, focusing on form family management, batch processing, system maintenance and creating a complete solution; and OCR for AnyDoc additional software products - AnyDoc CAPTUREit, AnyDoc EXCHANGEit, and AnyDoc MANAGEit.

Kate joined the Biel's Support Team in August of this year after previous stints as an IT Technician and Technical Support Specialist. She has been working tirelessly training, demoing, and installing imaging software with new and current customers.

Backing Up Your Electronic Document Management System

2011-10-28T13:21:00.001-04:00

A generally adopted definition of "backup" in the IT world refers to "a copy of data that may be used to restore the original in the event the latter is lost or damaged beyond repair." It is a safeguard for data that is being used. When the backup is stored in a different geographical area, far from the original site, we have a disaster recovery backup.

Server-based Electronic Document Management Systems (EDMS), like all electronic systems, needs to be backed-up. Often times, people think that their EDMS is a backup for the original files, so they do not invest the time or money researching necessary back-up procedures.

There are a number of system fault issues that can occur if your EDMS is not backed up:

1. Important or reserved data can be lost or corrupted

2. Business processes can cease because they are no longer supported by the EDMS

3. Employees may be unable to work because they are unable to retrieve or share the needed information

The Role of a Document Management System

The Document Management System plays a central role in your organization, since it is not only a mere repository for your files, it is much more. As well, it represents your unique and central Corporate Knowledge Base in which all information is maintained, shared, and searched.

The EDMS is so important that all your business processes depend on it, since each process produces documentation and requires that the correct documents are sent to the right person at the right time.

Suggested Practices for Backup

1. Concentrate all your documents and knowledge base in the EDMS

2. Do not store important files outside your EDMS
3. Concentrate your budget and efforts in backing-up your EDMS server

4. Evaluate the option to add disaster recovery to your backup procedures

World Paper Free Day!

2011-10-21T09:34:00.002-04:00

Next Thursday, October 27th, we celebrate something very dear to our hearts... World Paper Free Day!

For many years we have heard the mantra of going paperless. Business organizations of all sizes and industries of all types have sought to minimize their paper use and reduce costs and carbon footprint while at the same time increasing operating efficiencies and profitability. This is no small task and it requires not only the proper use of technology but also change. Change in our Ways of Working (WoW) and change in our corporate culture. It requires change in the way we think. This is perhaps the hardest challenge of all. Going paperless and the change required to get there.

Moving businesses into the 21st century without the paper trail is our goal.

Paper is a costly crutch and one that may be handicapping your office more than helping. Paper Free Day asks you to commit one day to:

1. Conscientiously make a point to not PRINT
2. Investigate a business process or technology that can cut the paper waste in your office
3. Participate or Produce a local Paper Free Day event

Research shows that we will have close to 10x more information in 2011 compared to 2006, which means that organizations with paper based processes and archiving will drown in paper. Going paperless will therefore not only help the environment, but make an organization more efficient with easier and simultaneous access to valuable information from across the organization.

Last year over 57,000 people participated in the first World Paper Free Day. Grow this group and bring your office into the 21st century without the paper trail. Contact Biel's at marketing@biels.com for more information and be sure to check out the World Paper Free Day (#wpfd) video here.

Choosing the Right Scanner for Your Needs

2011-10-14T09:30:00.000-04:00

A question asked all the time is "What kind of scanner should I buy?" The second most asked question is "I already have this scanner, will it work with your software?" The answer to both questions should be, it depends.

There should be an analysis of the entire setup before a scanner selection is made. Remember, when producing an electronic image of a paper document, it is imperative to capture the essence of the original. The goal is to get rid of the original paper document. The electronic copy will be used as the legal document moving forward. The scanner is the key component in reproducing the original characteristics of the paper document.

There are many key factors to consider during scanner selection. Below are six criteria to evaluate in the scanner selection process:

1. Will you be scanning at a central location or have scanners on the desktops?
2. What type of documents will you be scanning? (legal size, odd size, receipts, …)
3. How many documents will you be scanning a day?
4. What type of image quality will you need?
5. What software packages do the scanners need to be compatible with?
6. How easy is it to get service for the scanner?

The Technical Service Representatives at Biel's are factory trained in both micrographics and in the digital field, servicing a large range of Digital Scanners. Our line of products consists of Canon, Kodak, Eye Com, Alos, Minolta, 3M, Fuji, Panasonic, Fujitsu, Hewlett Packard, and Bell & Howell.

Aside from the equipment itself, Biel's offers great service plans to cover the costs of time and material along with custom and preventative maintenance agreements.

To find out more about your options, register for the Biel's 2011 User's Expo here and attend the Hardware Users breakout session featuring Chris Herb of NewWave Technologies. Learn how to choose and maintain your equipment covering topics such as speeds, durability, maintenance agreements, and tips.

Document Management Going Mobile?

2011-10-07T10:58:00.001-04:00

The world of computing has changed.

These days it seems archaic to have to wait until you get home or to the office just to check your email, because now your email is in your pocket. The idea of printing off maps before heading out on a journey seems crazy because GPS on our phone gives us turn-by-turn directions. Lively pop-culture debates over a pint are now a thing of the past, because we can look up the answers on the internet immediately.

Yes, mobile computing devices have changed the world and changed us. We expect instant access to information from wherever we are. The iPhone and the iPad, Android, Windows Phone 7 and the Blackberry give us this access like never before.

So what does the explosion in mobile computing have to do with document management? Everything.

Think about it. What is one of the primary driving factors behind an organization developing an document management strategy? The need to get critical business information into the hands of the right people at the right time. That’s what it's is all about.

But what if the right people are in the wrong place at the wrong time? What I mean is, what if the people who are responsible for making important decisions, from approving a critical business expense to agreeing to hire the perfect candidate, can’t physically get access to the information and systems they need in order to execute business decisions, simply because they are travelling or not in the office?

The reality is that these individuals spend a lot of time on the road and out of the office. This lack of real-time access causes bottlenecks in your processes as the decisions have to wait until they get back online. This causes on-the-fly workarounds with emails and phone calls to get someone, anyone, with authority to make the decision. And once that decision has finally been made, it is very difficult to track all the activity that supports it.

The world of computing has changed. If the ability to access email from anywhere in the world is not only a reality, but expected in today’s world, why is it any different when thinking about your other important business content and processes?

Today you can put your content in your pocket. With mobile document management applications you are able to not only able access your important content, but also participate in business processes, reviewing, approving and denying requests from wherever you are, directly from your mobile device.

For your business this is both simple and profound. No more waiting to get back to the office. No more driving to coffee shops just to get access to your system to approve a request. No more bottlenecks caused by business travel. No more un-documented workarounds. It is that simple. It is that revolutionary. Because now your content is right there in your pocket.

With the tremendous growth in the market for Tablets & Mobility Solutions, companies are rapidly expanding their solutions to include mobile capture technologies that automate paper-forms processes and capture real-time accurate data from mobile devices such as Tablet PCs, iPads, Android tablets, Digital Pen devices and more.

To learn more about these mobile solutions, register for the Biel's 2011 User's Expo here and attend the breakout session featuring Chris Herb of NewWave Technologies on Innovative Devices!

The 2011 User's Expo

2011-09-30T11:23:00.002-04:00

The Biel’s Document Management 2011 User’s Expo affords users and potential users a hands-on opportunity to gain more information and learning with like-minded colleagues. Explore best practices and experience additional features first-hand.

The event is a great opportunity to break away from the office for the afternoon, learn from the experts and see innovative uses of highly flexible document management software. Each of our 9 breakout sessions (led by you - the user) will create an environment where we can learn from each other, develop expanded use of products, and understand the true value of your inverstmant to increase efficiency.

Breakout sessions are divided departmentally to provide learning experiences that include live customer case studies.

Aside from the Breakout Sessions, walk-up stations will be available for one-on-one and small group discussions about your software and hardware. ApplicationXtender, ImageSilo, E-Forms Management by Formatta, Conversion Services, and various equipment will be featured along with a presentation on the “Future of Document Management” to kick-off this half day event.

Please join us on October 27, 2011 at the Fillmore Room in the Millennium Hotel and Conference Center located at 2040 Walden Avenue in Cheektowaga, New York 14225) with lunch starting at 12:00pm, with free giveaways, and drawings to win a Canon Scantini Desktop Scanner, Buffalo Bills Tickets, Buffalo Sabres Tickets, and an Amazon Kindle!

Click here to register today!

Increasing Efficiency in the Accounts Payable Environment

2011-09-23T11:18:00.000-04:00

The Situation

A few years ago a national manufacturer decided to “move into the 21st century" by implementing a series of technology solutions that have dramatically streamlined business operations while improving customer service and cash flow.

The company’s controller informed us how they were hindered by a paper-intensive order processing system that put undue pressure on staff, taking away from more productive duties, and was often inaccurate. Initially the company utilized an platform for control but quickly realized that they needed another solution to tighten up their processes for tracking vendor activities in the accounts payable area.

An Improved Process 
The Biel’s AnyDoc INVOICE solution automated invoice processing to reduce manual data entry costs, which resulted in a 75% decrease. They can now automatically extract, process, and store data from invoices to speed up processing and be comfortable with the accuracy of that data, which had been a major problem in the past.

Biel’s AnyDoc INVOICE is integrated with the company’s MAS 90 financial system. Data flows from AnyDoc into the application. Additionally, it delivers images and indexing data to the company’s electronic document management system for storage and retrieval.

Basically, the company completely reversed its invoice processing procedures. Invoices are first scanned. Invoice data and images are automatically extracted and processed. Data is then routed to the company’s MAS 90 financial application where an accounts payable voucher is created. The voucher, with a due date, gets posted into the document management system, where it sits until the payment is due. This entire process occurs seamlessly and without any human intervention.

With this system, it’s very easy for the company to cross-reference payments to invoice date to assure accuracy. This is a common problem with manual systems. Documents got misplaced and to manually manage a checks and balances procedure was time-consuming and not always 100% correct.

The Payoff 
Data extraction and processing are now automatic, a huge advantage. For example, two of the company’s accounts payable employees have been reassigned as auditors, a scenario which has been terrific for their goals as well as providing a much higher value to the company.

Invoice processing happens more quickly. Decision-makers have faster access to invoice images and data, speeding review and approval. Digital routing has ended the days of paper invoices sitting in someone’s inbox awaiting action. They can also track who has reviewed and approved invoice information – quickly and efficiently.

Bottom line, the company operates a faster, more accountable accounts payable operation. Invoice data gets into the business faster and can be immediately cross-referenced to purchase orders. The cost is lower because they don’t have to utilize the time of data entry clerks and they can move information to those decision-makers in the company that need to generate approvals. Worrying about, investigating, or rectifying overpayments or underpayments is no longer an issue because the Biel’s AnyDoc INVOICE batch balancing insures accuracy. Payment decisions happen faster because decision-makers have faster access to current and historical invoice information. And the financial department has gained increased accountability with a clear trail of who accesses, approves, and makes decisions about any given invoice.

Document Management: Going Green

2011-09-16T10:27:00.000-04:00

There’s a great deal of buzz surrounding the idea of becoming more eco-friendly, not just in your own kitchen, but inside your office. Unfortunately in a large number of cases, that’s just what it is... buzz. Things will be much better for some time, but chances are that things will get back to the way they were within a couple of weeks. This isn't necessarily because people don’t want to make an effort, we have just become so set in our ways when it comes to the way we do our daily tasks.

However it could be fairly easy to create a handful of minor improvements within the office which will have a big impact. Document Management and how you handle your paper on a daily basis will be the key to successful businesses finding efficiency in dealing with a large number of documents, and there are many different ways you can become more environmental about your own particular office’s paperflow.

Now that we are in the "digital age", there is far less need for paper due to advanced and easy to use document management software. This will be the change that will revolutionize the workplace. With an electronic document management system, you can store and look up all your company’s documents instantly, reducing the paper trail within the workplace.

If a larger number of company's connected went digital (and also paperless), we’d be consuming a reduced amount of paper along with ink, which is one of the biggest contributors to global warming. There still tends to be a good number of paper producers world-wide that aren’t handling their trees ethically. Not adequately updating supply means there will be less paper in the future and less O2 production into the atmosphere. The usage of ink is a serious point. One can argue that the use of ink simply omits a small amount of fumes to the eco system, but consider the countless number of printers that run every day. That can cause a significant amount of damage.

“Going Green” is becoming more and more pervasive as responsible organizations and individuals uncover ways to protect the environment – from recycling to energy consumption. One practical step is to address the paper trail that follows many people around and adds hundreds of pounds of waste. The average American office worker disposes of 100 to 200 pounds of paper per year.

Instead of copying documents in triplicate and shuffling papers from file cabinets to desks, digitize your documents. Working with electronic files can help your organization streamline processes, reduce costs and increase efficiency … and help to protect the environment. The more work your organization performs in an electronic document management system, the shorter the paper trail and the less waste produced.

5 Ways Document Management Makes Your Company More Profitable

2011-09-09T10:50:00.000-04:00

1. Instant Access
One of the largest benefits to using an electronic document management system gives you the ability to access documents at any time from your computer. No more running back and forth to the file cabinet or asking an assistant to track down a relevant file or document. Think of the time savings that can be felt across a company when it only takes seconds to find a document.

2. Electronic Workflow
Workflow has been around since man has done any sort of ‘work’. Any process that takes place involves workflow. Whether that process is limited to a single individual or multiple people, a series of steps is completed to formulate the workflow process. Every company has some sort of document workflow process in use. Whether that document workflow consists of a client medical record, report, email, snail mail, or other document; workflow of documents occurs every single day. Once the realization occurs regarding how often document workflow occurs each day, one begins to consider ways to improve and streamline the document workflow process so as to maximize time and cost savings. The easiest way to implement electronic workflow is to select a software package that can mimic the way documents are currently routed physically.

3. Search and Retrieval Capabilities
Before we get in too deep with the technology side of searching for documents, it is important to review how businesses perform routine document searches. Most businesses today store documents across three or four separate locations: centralized paper-based file cabinets, paper-based file cabinets in employee’s offices, folders on shared server drives, and local desktop hard drives. As a result, multiple searches are often required when the exact location of a document is unknown. This is especially true when the person who created or filed the document is unavailable. Most companies try to centralize all filing to a single file room and a server, eliminating storing of business documents on local hard drives and file cabinets in people’s offices. This is usually the first step toward making the transition to an electronic document management system. With structural searches, keyword and document title searches, and even full text searches, the bottom line is you can find what you are looking for, faster.

4. Integration with other office applications
It is now possible for small and medium-sized companies to achieve levels of application integration historically reserved for large practices with deep IT pockets. Specifically, how a document management system can be integrated with other core firm applications to drive efficiency and manage IT costs. One of the bigger problems firms face is the need to enter the same data more than once to satisfy the requirements of different software applications such as a case management system or an accounting software package. Frequently these applications do not communicate data with each other. As a result, data is entered twice, which take additional time and increases the possibility of data entry errors.

But now you can integrate with other software applications without custom programming. As a result, it make sit much easier to justify a Biel's system, rather than deploying a non-integrated document management solution.

5. Disaster Recovery
Thousands of businesses are dislocated, disrupted or destroyed every year by natural disasters, suffering catastrophic data losses. Some of these businesses survive, while 43 percent never reopen and 51 percent close within two years. Paper documents stored in file cabinets are susceptible to fire and flood. You cannot recover a paper document that has been destroyed by a fire or a flood. But the problem goes beyond your paper files. Electronic documents stored on workstations and servers across your operation are equally vulnerable to catastrophic loss.

Nobody wants to think they might need to implement a disaster recovery plan, but proper planning could enable your firm to survive a disaster. What processes do you have in place for backing up critical data? Consider where and how your paper documents are stored. Think about important electronic documents within your network. Now, lock the doors and walk away. How would your company re-establish operations? If you take that thought process and expand it and begin thinking about what you would need to resume operations then you have the beginnings of a disaster recovery plan. Using an electronic document management system allows multiple backups to be stored at offsite locations providing a means to recover your data in the event of a disaster.

The Top Three Business Drivers

2011-09-02T09:58:00.001-04:00

The advantages of using document management software are numerous and well-known, but for many organizations it’s not so much the decision to adopt this type of technology, but setting priorities for use once it’s been implemented and deployed.

According to recent survey of organizations conducted by the Association for Information and Image Management (AIIM), the top three business drivers when considering document management software projects and priorities are the following:

1. Improving Efficiency

2. Optimizing Business Processes

3. Maintaining Compliance

Cost, compliance, customer service and collaboration are top drivers that just happen to coincide with the most immediate and longest lasting advantages of a document and records management solution.

Improving Efficiency
Document management not only means the end to lost, misplaced, or misfiled documents, it saves incredible amounts of time that might otherwise be lost performing mundane or repetitive tasks.

Consider that it takes an average of four minutes to retrieve and re-file paper documents if the person knows the exact location of the document. Assuming a staff person files and/or retrieves 100 documents daily, that employee would spend over 1,600 hours a year just on filing. That represents over 75% lost productivity time!

In contrast, document management software enables files to be instantly and securely captured, shared, stored, and retrieved.

Documents are indexed and filed electronically and stored centrally so every authorized user has access to them through an Internet connection, no matter where they are located. With Text Search and the Optical Character Recognition (OCR) features, retrieving documents is as quick and easy as a Google search so employees no longer have to go searching through dusty bankers’ boxes or file cabinets to find a file.

Optimizing Business Processes
Most web-based document management systems have some type of built in workflow capabilities to help streamline business processes by eliminating repetitive manual tasks and freeing up staff for more important activities. With rules-based workflow, you can create and automate business processes to coordinate between people, applications, and services. Documents can be routed, reviewed and approved quickly and seamlessly. You can even integrate your document management system with back office applications for even more efficiency.

Automated workflows enable you to define tasks for a department or for business processes that cross various departments while enabling greater collaboration across multiple users, even in geographically dispersed locations. Notifications can be created for pending or new tasks. Collaboration with colleagues is simplified through notes and messages that flow automatically with individual documents or processes.

Maintaining Compliance
Audits are a daunting reality for any organization. Today businesses are making considerable modifications to their IT systems and internal processes to comply with federal regulations and mandates such as Sarbanes-Oxley Act, OSHA, and SEC. Document management systemsmake this easier with built-in audit trails that provide access histories and transactions for each document.

Some solutions make records management more convenient as well by integrating with the document management application, thereby allowing users to set retention parameters for relevant files and documents. Document management is an outstanding way to better prepare your organization for audits and protect it against litigation, thereby eliminating the potential for fines and penalties.

How Can Automating Document Workflow Help Your Business?

2011-08-26T09:27:00.000-04:00

Virtually every business has documents that flow through some sort of work process. Expense reports, purchase orders, and travel requests are some common examples. As the document passes from one person or department to the next, someone acts on the information and files it or passes the document on for review or further action. The process of accurately tracking the document’s progress from its originator through to its final destination is known as document workflow management.

Many of the processes involved in document workflow are repetitive and time-consuming. However, they are essential to your business and require that accurate records be kept. Consider something as simple as a purchase requisition. In this case, a form is usually filled out with information about an item that is needed, along with its estimated cost. The form is taken to accounting and, assuming that some standard criteria are met, a purchase order is generated and returned. The purchase order is approved for the item to be acquired up to a specified cost.

The workflow for the aforementioned document began with the person who generated the requisition, progressed to the purchasing authority in accounting, and ended back at its source. While the document’s journey sounds simple, such paperwork is easily mishandled or lost when it is just one in a stack of many. An electronic workflow system prevents mishaps by tracking the document’s progress through, to completion. This becomes increasingly true when the document requires signatures from multiple individuals who may be sidelined for a host of reasons.

Here are a few example documents whose workflows must be tracked:

Manufacturing - A manufacturing firm might handle packing slips, purchase orders, invoices, item receipts, bill of materials, engineering change orders, and others.
Service Business - A service business, such as a heating and cooling firm, might have call records, work orders, parts inventory, item receipts, and other documents.
Professional Services - A professional services firm, such as an accounting and bookkeeping service, might maintain tax records, invoices, payments, and any number of transaction-supporting documents.

What type of workflow system do you need?

As you can imagine, the efficient flow of documents through any organization is essential to remaining competitive. Misrouted, misplaced, or lost documents can cause a number of problems that impact productivity and cash flow.

The document management and workflow solutions previously found on custom mainframe-based systems for large corporations are now available on PC platforms and are cost-effective for almost any small- to medium-sized business. The efficiencies they provide are enormous and typically provide a return on investment in less than 12 months.

An effective workflow system has the following characteristics:

A central repository where documents are stored and indexed.
A security system that allows only the appropriate personnel to view cabinets, folders, and documents.
A flexible workflow methodology with rules that mirror manual processes, and can adjust the flow of information dynamically based on logical criteria. For example, “If a P.O. is more than $100, route to Joe for approval.”
The ability for knowledge workers to have anywhere, anytime access to the documents they need to get the job done.
Integration with popular office applications; for example, it might have the ability to view supporting documents for a transaction from within your accounting system.

For more information or to contact your local Area Manager today, visit biels.com.

How Do I Get My Paper Files Scanned Quickly and Efficiently?

2011-08-19T13:43:00.001-04:00

This is perhaps the number one question our conversion team gets when they are asked how to scan all of the old paper documents offices collect over time (frequently years). Companies have historical and current paper based business documents that must be digitally captured to be used with document management software. During the capture process, the documents must be labeled with index information so they can be easily located once stored. Various document types may require different scanning parameters and index information depending on the type of document and how the document will be searched in the electronic archive. Scanning thousands and perhaps millions of pages of paper requires a well thought out efficient capture solution.

There are five functions the Biel's conversion team performs get the old documents scanned efficiently:

Document preparation – prep old documents for scanning, determine document types, etc.

Scanning – determine volume of documents, how to scan, what to scan with, etc.
Quality Assurance – verifying the documents are scanned correctly.
Indexing or Classification – index the documents, automatically with OCR or barcode separation, manually by looking at each document, separate based on document types.
Migration to the document management solution – after scanning and indexing the documents are moved to a document management solution.

The keys to deploying a successful scanning solution begin with the planning stages. Understanding the document types to be scanned, hardware requirements, indexing methods available, and realistic timeframes to convert paper to digital images are all vital considerations. Without reviewing and testing the physical documents in our facility and understanding the level of effort required to prepare the documents, the results may be disappointing. With careful planning and trial runs of the entire process, reasonable expectations can be set and met with our help!

Indexing with Document Management

2011-08-05T09:28:00.007-04:00

Conversion from paper-based filing to an electronic document management system requires some planning. Indexing digital documents is one option at the conversion stage that can provide many benefits to the end result.

Organizations have traditionally relied on paper filing systems for document storage and retrieval. However, paper records are extremely difficult to manage because they have to be stored and retrieved from only one place. Electronic document management systems solve many of the storage and retrieval problems in paper filing systems while simultaneously reducing business costs.

Indexing can be field-based, full-text, or a combination of the two. Indexing field data makes unique identification of documents possible. Adding other indexing fields provides additional, controlled ways to access individual records or groups of similar records. Retrieval from index fields is consistent and accurate because it is based on a controlled search vocabulary.

Now you can selectively capture information from a piece of paper and store into a database or document management system to be retrieved at a later date by the field(s) that you have chosen to be indexed. One individual equipped with indexing and right document management software can do the work of an entire data entry team, and save your company time, money, and a many headaches!

Cloud Computing and Remote User Productivity with Document Management

2011-07-22T15:04:00.000-04:00

Companies are increasingly relying upon cloud computing and remote employees driving their sales and customer service efforts. Embracing a geographically disbursed workforce makes perfect sense for both the employee and the employer because it promotes greater access to customers while reducing the costs of business real estate and travel expenditures. In addition, studies indicate that companies benefit from increased employee satisfaction, productivity, and retention as a result of allowing their employees to work outside of the office.

Providing a fast, scalable, and secure network infrastructure for remote employees requires that IT departments rethink their existing architectures. Historically corporate networks minimize their exposure to the outside world of hackers and malware by limiting entry points into the system from outside of the company’s firewall. However with the increased demand to support remote employees, IT departments are researching new technologies that improve how they control and manage information flow from offsite resources.

Biel's is engaged in developing solutions for many companies that provide simple, secure online access to their enterprise document management systems. The user interfaces are tailored to specific roles in the organization in order to align the application functionality with the user’s specific job function. This customized design provides a quick and efficient means for looking up account information and uploading company critical documents in seconds.

The online portal solutions provided by Biel's support interactive searching against a company’s backend database system. By interfacing the document management system with other mission critical systems, the web interface design promotes minimal data entry along with accurate spelling and auto-populated supporting fields. Biel's also provides web-based drag/drop functionality allowing users to quickly drag multiple attachment files from Microsoft Outlook or Windows Desktop environments directly into the clients’ document management system.

Storing corporate records in a document management system provides numerous benefits enterprise wide that support both management and IT functions within an organization. This includes fast searching on metadata and file content, records management capabilities, email archive, routing documents for digital signature and approval, compliance audit trails, version control, and much more. By providing simple, efficient solutions for external resources to share corporate documents, companies operate smarter and allow their workforce to focus on their core job functions.

How Do You Manage Your Paper?

2011-07-15T11:58:00.000-04:00

When was the last time you thought about the cost of paper? Most people believe that paper is cheap or even free, but in managing your business, paper is expensive – in physical cost and personnel cost.

A Coopers & Lybrand study published in 2004 stated that the typical organization is growing its paper-based storage 25% per year. With this growth, you will double your paper storage and the related costs of handling every three years. Paper is not free!

Consider the following statistics from the same study:

- 90% of the documents that are consulted daily are handled without any appropriate management.

- 70% of the “white-collar” workers time is spent processing paper documents.

- 15% of all paper documents are misfiled or misplaced.

- 30% of the documents used daily contain obsolete information.

- 50% of an employee’s work time is spent searching for information.

- 40% of a worker’s time is spent searching for misfiled, misplaced, or lost documents.

Paper-based processes are hard to validate for compliance to governmental regulation.

Translated into dollars cost, Coopers & Lybrand studies have stated:

- Companies in the United States spend $20 in labor cost for every document filed.

- Companies spend $120 of labor cost to find a misfiled document – with 15% of all documents being misfiled or misplaced at any given time.

- It costs $220 to reproduce a lost document – and statistics show that 7.5% of all documents are lost.

The answer is simple. Look to Biel’s for all your document conversion and management needs!

Do You Need to Better Automate Your Office Processes?

2011-07-08T11:50:00.003-04:00

At Biel’s Document Management, we want to share a new and exciting tool that is gaining wide acceptance: Electronic Forms.

75% of data needed to run organizations today is trapped on paper and paper equivalents, such as word documents, PDF files and printable forms.

At Biel’s, these “e-forms” are more than just electronic versions of paper forms. They are tools that enable organizations to quickly capture recorded data, route forms to appropriate team members for approval, and then move the captured data into other documents and core business systems automatically.

While fitting applications in every department, just one example of this innovative technology is E-Forms for HR. An employment application with an attached resume can now be routed for approval and its data, perhaps along with an employee information sheet, can populate fields in everything from I-9s, to W-4s, direct deposit to the new Wage Theft Prevention Act forms, health records to benefit enrollment, leave requests to expense reports, and training requests to performance reviews. The possibilities are endless.

The result: improved efficiency, smoother processes, reduced cost, better organizational collaboration, and enhanced customer service.

A Team of EMC Proven Professionals

2011-07-01T12:17:00.008-04:00

Congratulations to the entire Biel's team of Area Managers and the Support staff on their EMC Proven Professional Sales Accreditation.

EMC Sales Accreditation provides industry-recognized credentials to position and sell EMC products and solutions. It also recognizes the knowledge of Biel's employees providing Instant Document Management SE Accreditation.

If you would like to learn about the benefits of Document Management, contact us today to discuss industry challenges, share ideas and expertise, and participate in popular discussions. Visit biels.com today!

Introduction: Janelle Chlebowy Welcomed as New Production Manager

2011-05-31T12:39:00.008-04:00

Janelle Chlebowy started with Biel's in 1999 as a typist. She was selected for this role after working at Biel’s for nearly 12 years, spending the last 5 as Digital Operations Manager.

She will oversee all facets of the production facility including the review and preparation of records for digital scanning, microfilming, and archiving. Aside from working at Biel's, Janelle has tutored math and accounting at the Audrey Bard Center and interned in the Finance Department at Rich's Products. She also has an Associates in Business Administration in which she was a member of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society. Janelle has a 6 year old daughter, is an active member of the Blasdell Elementary PTA, and is a participant in the United Way Day of Caring along with several other community and professional organizations.

Canon ScanFront 300/300P Certification

2011-05-25T13:16:00.005-04:00

Please join us in congratulating Biel's Service Representative, Brian Grutkowski for completing his training and certification on the Canon Scanfront 300/300P.

His efforts promote our mission to “Be the leader and first choice for imaging and diverse information management solutions…by utilizing… the most effective technology … through our skilled and dedicated family of employees.”

Remember, Biel's Technical Service Representatives are factory trained in both micrographics and in the digital field servicing a large range of Reader/Printers and Digital Scanners. Our line of products consists of Canon, Kodak, Eye Com, Alos, Minolta, 3M, Fuji, Panasonic, Fujitsu, various models of Hewlett Packard and Bell & Howell.

Introduction: Paul Jones Welcomed as New Rochester Area Manager

2011-04-11T10:39:00.001-04:00

Paul Jones joined the Biel’s team as Rochester Area Manager in 2011 after working for four years as a Sales Executive at CentriLogic, a provider of cloud computing, managed hosting, and data center solutions.

Paul’s responsibilities at Biel’s include business development, customer maintenance, and coordination of services in the Rochester area market.

A 20-year sales management veteran, Paul has built a solid reputation for creating ideas that benefit his customers’ bottom lines. A member of the Association for Information and Image Management (“AIIM”), Paul maintains a broad understanding of various document management and technology applications.

A graduate of Miami Dade College and numerous industry training programs, Paul is a resident of Penfield, New York and is active in a variety of community and professional organizations.

Welcome to the team Paul!

Introduction: Rob Dimmer Welcomed as New Marketing Manager

2011-04-11T10:28:00.006-04:00

Robert Dimmer joined Biel’s as Marketing Manager in 2011 after working for over four years as Marketing Manager at The Colad Group, a custom presentation and promotional packaging company in Buffalo, New York.

Rob is responsible for managing sales support, coordinating and implementing marketing strategies, developing various product campaigns, and expanding awareness of the company brand.

His work involves development of advertising and email campaigns, coordination of trade shows, designing and maintaining the website and promotional collateral, direct mail, radio advertising, social networking, and administration of the customer management database.

A graduate of Canisius College with a BA in Communications, Marketing, and Digital Media, Rob is a nationally published graphic designer and is involved in several community and professional organizations.

Biel's is very exited to have Rob as the newest member of our team!

Happy New Year to All!

2011-01-01T10:00:00.004-05:00

On behalf of the team, we at Biel's wish you and yours a happy holiday and prosperous 2011!

- The Biel's Team

SARA LGRMIF Grants: Important Dates

2010-12-20T10:00:00.041-05:00

There are multiple steps to completing a LGRMIF SARA Grant. Use the timeline below to mark your calendars for important dates!

February 1, 2011: Application deadline

June 31, 2011: Scheduled notification of awards

July 1, 2011: Earliest start date of your project

**Insider tip** Did you know that although you are technically able to start the project on July 1, 2011, the more realistic (and suggested) date is October 1st, 2011. This is due to the grant review and approval process, and the release of grant funds. Biel's learned this from a NYS Archives Regional Advisory Officer and Grant Reviewer, at the "Dishing up a Delicious Grant" workshop.

When you are completing your Project Narrative: Plan of Work Timeline, keep this tip in mind. If you start the timeline in July, it may cause concern with the Grant Reviewers that you will not be able to complete the project as projected.

June 1, 2012: All Budget ammendments are due

June 30, 2012: End all work

July 31, 2012: Final reports are due

It's December 20, 2010... there's only 44 days until applications are due (including weekends)!

Dishing up a Delicious Grant!

2010-12-17T13:19:00.000-05:00

Two members of the Biel's team just completed the "Dishing up a Delicious Grant!!" LGRMIF Grant Application Information Session, hosted by James M. Tammaro of the New York State Archives.

James took us through the application process and gave wonderful inside information to make the grant process more successful. He is a Grant Reviewer, so I think it's safe to say that he knows his stuff! He gave very informative tips and tricks to attendees, from changes in the 2011-2012 year to specific points they look for in the project narratives.

If you missed your area workshop, stay tuned to Biel's BITS in the upcoming weeks. We'll be dishing out all of the helpful information we received today, that you won't find hiding in the 60 page LGRMIF Grant Application Guide.

Introduction: Salvatore Alfano Joins the Sales Team

2010-12-16T10:00:00.008-05:00

Sal Alfano joined Biel's in 2005 as Marketing Manager after working for nearly eight years with Quaker Boy, Inc. in the same capacity. He has been responsible for coordinating and implementing numerous product marketing campaigns. Sal has personally spearheaded Biel's customer communications effort, which has become well-known for its website and learning opportunities.

A member of the Association for Information and Image Management, his responsibilities also include general area management, as well as the coordination of efforts to meet customer needs for scanning, storing, retrieving, and using document information more accurately, efficiently, and securely.

He presently serves as a board member of the Buffalo Niagara Sales and Marketing Executives (BNSME). He received a BS in Business Administration from the State University College at Buffalo.

Biel's is very excited to have Sal as the newest part of the Sales team, taking on Niagara County and Southern Erie County. A man of many trades...good luck, Sal!

Happy 25th Anniversary to Sue Generoso!

2010-12-15T14:17:00.000-05:00

The first thing that I learned about Biel's upon my arrival? That there is a long standing and dedicated team working here.

On behalf of the Biel's team, I would like to say congratulations to Sue Generoso and wish her a Happy 25th Employment Anniversary! Sue has been a very important member of the Biel's family since 1985!

Exactly what was life like back then? Well, I'm not sure because I wasn't born yet, but thank goodness for Google and Mr. Dennis Kempner, our President, who filled us in at Sue's luncheon yesterday, with some facts about life in 1985...

Cost of Living:

1 gallon of gas cost $1.09
Movie Ticket $2.75
Average Price for new car $9,005.00
Average Monthly Rent $375.00

Technology:

The first .Com domain name, symbolics.com, is registered by the Symbolics corporation. However, .edu domains, for educational institutions, still predominate over the commercial .com ones
Compact Discs are introduced to American Consumers
Microsoft Corporation releases the first version of Windows, Windows 1.0.

Popular Films:

Back to the Future
Rambo: First Blood Part II
Rocky IV
The Color Purple
Out of Africa
Cocoon
Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment
A View to a Kill
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome

Popular Musicians:

Duran Duran
Simple Minds
Madonna with "Crazy for You"
Bruce Springsteen
Dire Straits with "Money for Nothing"
The Cure
David Bowie
Phil Collins
"We Are The World" By USA For Africa featuring many artists for Aid For Africa
Simple Minds

Life without Google? I can't even imagine it!

Thanks Sue, for all of your dedicated hard work over the years.

And personally from me, the newest member of the team, thank you for showing me how to work all of the office equipment. If it weren't for you our phone system and printers may have sent this millennial into a nervous breakdown!

Great Moments in Document Mangement - 2010

2010-12-15T10:00:00.017-05:00

Document Management- how important is it? Well, lets recall Wikileaks, FAA troubles, Toyota recalls, the housing market collapse...and the list goes on! Security, ease of use, storage, retrieval...are all important components of Document Management.

Below are some great (or maybe not so "great") moments in Document Management via John Mancini's Digital Landfill.

FAA Loses Track of 119,000 Aircraft
Yahoo News Article

"The records are in such disarray that the FAA says it is worried that criminals could buy planes without the government's knowledge, or use the registration numbers of other aircraft to evade new computer systems designed to track suspicious flights. It has ordered all aircraft owners to re-register their planes in an effort to clean up its files.

About 119,000 of the aircraft on the U.S. registry have "questionable registration" because of missing forms, invalid addresses, unreported sales or other paperwork problems, according to the FAA. In many cases, the FAA cannot say who owns a plane or even whether it is still flying or has been junked."

Afghanistan WikiLeaks Made Possible by Lady Gaga
Gothamist Article

"It seems the private who allegedly downloaded the huge trove of secret data from military computers in Iraq exploited a loophole that permitted the use of compact disks on secure computers. External hard drive ports were disabled, but Pfc. Bradley E. Manning allegedly spent six months downloading documents onto a CD that he disguised in a Lady Gaga CD case. The Times reports, 'He was able to avoid detection not because he kept a poker face, they said, but apparently because he hummed and lip-synched to Lady Gaga songs to make it appear that he was using the classified computer’s CD player to listen to music.'"

Toyota Memo Brags of Saving $100M with "Limited" Recall
US News

"As Toyota officials head to Washington for a series of Congressional hearings this week, a potentially damaging internal document is grabbing headlines. All three TV news networks and hundreds of newspapers nationwide led with the story this weekend, adding to a public relations nightmare for the Japanese automaker.

The Detroit Free Press explains, 'Toyota’s leading U.S. executive boasted to the automaker’s Washington staff last summer that they had saved the company more than $100 million by limited any regulatory action on sudden acceleration to a recall of equipment such as floor mats, according to documents turned over to a key U.S. House committee holding hearings on the issue Wednesday.' The News notes, 'Earlier this month before the hybrid recall, Toyota executives estimated that the unintended acceleration recalls would cost $2 billion in lost sales and cost of extra parts for repairs.'"

Arlington Cemetery's 'Disgraceful' Records
The Week Article

"The Army says more than 200 graves at Arlington National Cemetery are marked with the wrong headstones, or not at all. What went wrong?

In a scandal that has outraged veterans and the families of fallen U.S. soldiers, a seven-month Army investigation has concluded that the remains of hundreds of soldiers may have been misplaced or misidentified at Arlington National Cemetery due to lax management."

Man Who Had No Mortgage Faced Foreclosure Anyway
Bloomberg News

"This bad record-keeping became an enormous problem for banks when the housing market collapsed and borrowers defaulted. Missing the proper paperwork, foreclosure mills turned out documents misidentifying mortgage holders and containing multiple errors and omissions.

Breakdowns

Signing hundreds of documents a day, bank personnel never checked for accuracy but said they did, sometimes forging other people’s signatures. Notary publics lied about witnessing those signatures and judges with civil dockets bulging with foreclosure cases didn’t inspect the papers before granting the foreclosures in a matter of seconds."

So, are you convinced yet? Is Document Management important?

Visit John Mancini's Blog Digital Landfill for more "great moments in document management" articles...and please, leave some of your memorable document management moments of 2010 in our comments.

10 Major Changes for the 2011-2012 SARA Grants

2010-12-14T11:30:00.006-05:00

Since 1989, the Local Government Records Management Improvement Fund (LGRMIF) has been providing funds to help local governments establish records management programs or develop new records management program components. With hundreds of applicants every year, it is a competitive program with precise guidelines.

Listed below are 10 of the Major Changes for the 2011-2012 SARA Grants that should be noted.

• Grant applications must be electronically submitted through eGrants at www.eservices.nysed.gov/ldgrants.

• Shared Services has been added as a type of project. Applicants may request up to$150,000 for a Shared Services project. Only the five highest ranked Shared Services projects will be funded in the 2011-2012 grant year.

• The highest award for Cooperative projects has been reduced from $125,000 to $100,000.

• All bonus points have been eliminated for LGRMIF projects.

• All Geographic Information Systems (GIS) projects must be conducted as Cooperative or Shared Services projects.

• The preparation of needs assessment for implementation of new technology as an eligible project has been eliminated. Applicants may either use government funds to pay a consultant to prepare a needs assessment or work with their Regional Advisory Officer to develop a needs assessment or a detailed project plan.

• The Inventory project category has been subsumed under Inactive Records.

• The Educational uses project category has been subsumed under Historical Records.

• Questions in the project narrative have been modified.

• Requirements for project budgets have been modified.

Please visit http://www.biels.com/saragrants for more information!

...or Watch the NYS Archives Video here.

Congratulations to Norm Baker

2010-12-13T12:38:00.012-05:00

Congratulations to Norm Baker who is now certified on the Fujifilm AR-1000. Not only did he pass, but he received a rare perfect score on the certification exam!

Norm has been providing document management services for over 40 years and has been part of the Biel's team since 1981. As our Buffalo and Northern Erie County area manager, he continues to participate in educational training and certification programs. His commitment to education furthers his innovative consulting in equipment, software and conversion service.

Way to go Norm!

Click the link to learn more about the Fujifilm AR-1000 Document Archive System, which provides convenient and safe long-term preservation of stored information.

New Biel's SARA Grant Resource Site

2010-12-08T16:45:00.000-05:00

Biel's Document Management is launching a new NYS SARA Grant Resource page on our web site. It will feature the latest updates and information to aid in your SARA Grant planning from year to year. Go to: www.biels.com/saragrants

Congratulations

2010-10-06T10:02:00.001-04:00

Congratulations to the following employees who have
recently completed training or certification.

Mark Downey
**DRX10C Scanner Training**

Marge Monin
**Duplication**

Ann Marie Stradtman
**Processing**

Duane Trapani
**Duplication**

And a special mention to. . .

Teena Kosminski
**For on-going training as a backup to Linda Hodge**

Their efforts promote our mission to “Be the leader and first choice for imaging and diverse information management solutions…by utilizing… the most effective technology … through our skilled and dedicated family of employees.”

Biel’s Document Management Expands in Syracuse NY Area

2010-10-01T12:49:00.002-04:00

Biel’s Document Management, the oldest document conversion firm in the country and a leader in the evolving document management industry, is embarking on an aggressive growth plan to build on its existing business in the Syracuse area. In so doing, Biel’s has assembled a team of well qualified professionals.

Biel’s, founded in 1939, is a value-added provider of products and solutions that enable companies to scan, store, retrieve, and use documents and information more efficiently, accurately, and securely. Leveraging decades-long business partnerships with such well respected companies as Canon, Kodak, and EMC, Biel’s is expanding its customer sales, support, and service functions at its Liverpool location. John Hamms has been promoted to area manager...more Syracuse Press Here

Biel’s Document Management Expands in Rochester NY Area

2010-09-21T16:33:00.000-04:00

Biel’s Document Management, the oldest document conversion firm in the country and a leader in the evolving document management industry, is embarking on an aggressive growth plan to build on its existing business in the Rochester area.

Biel’s, founded in 1939, is a value-added provider of products and solutions that enable companies to scan, store, retrieve, and use documents and information more efficiently, accurately, and securely. Leveraging decades-long business partnerships with such well respected companies as Canon, Kodak, and EMC, Biel’s is expanding its customer sales, support, and service functions at its Linden Oaks Office Park location...more Rochester Press Here

NEW CANON CR-190i CHECK TRANSPORT OFFERS FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS RELIABLE, HIGH-SPEED IMAGING SOLUTION

2010-07-07T12:54:00.000-04:00

Production-level scanner addresses diverse requirements of Electronic payment processing market

LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y., June 2, 2010 – With the continuing adoption of high-speed check transport technology by financial institutions, utilities and other companies that handle large volumes of checks, Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in advanced digital imaging, today introduced the imageFORMULA CR-190i High-Volume Check Transport. Containing a number of new features and functional capabilities, the new product provides a flexible, high-performance, production-level check processing platform that delivers Canon's extraordinary image quality in an efficient, counter-top design....more

AnyDoc Data Capture earns "100 Companies That Matter in Knowledge Management"

2010-07-07T11:40:00.000-04:00

AnyDoc Software, Inc., an industry-leading developer of automated document, data capture, and classification solutions, announced today it has been named to KMWorld magazine’s annual “100 Companies That Matter in Knowledge Management” list for 2010.
AnyDoc Software’s solutions automatically capture data from nearly any form or document, as well as classify, sort, and index the document images.

AIIM "State of the ECM Industry 2010"

2010-07-01T09:45:00.000-04:00

New research available. Get your copy at http://ht.ly/1L2Mx Free download.

bielsbunch's webcam video June 16, 2010, 09:21 AM

2010-06-16T16:07:00.000-04:00

Biel's Open House Starts Tomorrow

2010-06-15T11:33:00.000-04:00

Check out the Biel's Open House featuring the special presentation: "Social Media in Your Business" - We will have the latest in Document Management on display and of course prizes and surprises! Come on out-

Congratulations

2010-06-02T13:56:00.002-04:00

Join me in congratulating Darrell Londos & Matt Praus!

Darrell recently completed training on the Large Format Graphics and Image ProGraf technical web based sales training!

Matt recently completed DR3020/3080C/3080CII Assessment!

Their efforts promote our mission to "Be the leader and first choice for imaging and diverse information management solutions...by utilizing...the most effective technology...through our skilled and dedicated family of employees."

Keep up the good work gentlemen!

Biel's Open House & Technology Fair

2010-05-27T16:36:00.003-04:00

2010 Open House & Technology Fair - r u Social?
Wednesday, June16 & Thursday, June17
11:30am to 3:30pm both days

Feature Presentation:
"Social Media in Your Business" @1:00pm both days
Presented by: Alyssa Mayer & Courtney Quattrini of Travers Collins & Company

Live Social Media Stations:
Fan Us on Facebook/Follow Us on Twitter/Use Interactive Webcams

Subliminal Message?

2010-05-13T11:31:00.002-04:00

Subliminal Message?

Is Your Information Trapped? Free It! Lunch & Learn

2010-04-06T09:17:00.000-04:00

Is Your Information Trapped? Free It!
Seventy-percent of the data needed to run your organization is trapped on paper and paper equivalents such as word documents, .pdf files and printable forms. It's not making its way into the critical business systems that need it the most. The resulting "information gap" is costing you:

* Lost Revenue Opportunities
* Poor Customer Service
* High Operating Costs
* Lengthy Cycle Times
* Increased Compliance Risk

Lunch & Learn:
* Fill the information gap by using the best document management tools and techniques available from Biel's. Featuring Canon Scanning Technology. Biel's is Document Management.

2010-03-05T11:39:00.002-05:00

Congratulations to Brian Grutkowski
for successfully completing certification on the following Canon products:

DR2000
DR9050C/7550C/6050C
imagePROGRAF W2200
imagePROGRAF 8000S/8100/9000S/9100
imagePROGRAF W7200/8200/6200 & BJ-W7000

Brian's additional knowlegde will help us to contine providing TOP QUALITY SERVICE
to our customers.

Impact Your Accounts Payable Bottom Line-Biel's Lunch & Learn

2010-03-02T09:32:00.002-05:00

Impact YOUR Accounts Payable Bottom Line & Automate Invoice Processing - Attend our Lunch & Learn being held in both the Buffalo & Rochester areas. Wednesday, March 24th in Buffalo & Thursday, March 25th in Rochester. Both days are from 12:00 to 1:30 and lunch will be provided.

Dramatically improve the way your company processes incoming invoices. You will lower costs, process invoice information faster with less staff and take
advantage of more early-pay discounts. No matter how many invoices you process—or where you process them—you will minimize manual data entry and
automatically capture and deliver accurate invoice data into your financial and document management systems.

Attend the Biel's Lunch & Learn to see how you can:
* Capitalize on every early pay discount
* Improve cash flow cycle management
* Increase invoice data accuracy
* Reduce manual data entry costs
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP

February 24 Webinar: A Guide to Removing Paper from Doc-Centric Business Processes

2010-02-22T11:23:00.000-05:00

February 24: A Guide to Removing Paper from Doc-Centric Business Processes
Presented by James Watson, Doculabs
Time: 2:00 - 3:00 PM ET

Every business has to deal with invoices, accounting applications, taxes, insurance, and/or healthcare paperwork. Routing, filing, audits, getting to your documents when you need them. We've all heard about the benefits and ROI of using capture technologies, but just how do you implement and streamline your document-centric business processes?

This webinar will recap the need for, and the value of automating your paper flows. It will focus on the "what's next?" and the strategic approaches to automating your document-driven processes. Walk away with valuable action items to apply today and ideas on how to marry IT's objectives with business strategy for your documents.

HURRY! Register for this webinar today.

Congratulations!!

2010-01-18T13:09:00.001-05:00

Congratulations to the following employees whom
recently completed training or certification ...

Darrell Londos
**ImageFORMULA DR-2020U**

Norman Perry
**Silver Duplication**

Their efforts promote our mission to
“Be the leader and first choice for imaging and diverse information management solutions…by utilizing… the most effective technology … through our skilled and dedicated family of employees.”

Automate existing H1N1 Vaccine Consent Forms using the Biel's Formatta solution

2010-01-06T14:16:00.001-05:00

County Health Departments across the United States can quickly and easily automate existing H1N1 Vaccine Consent Forms using the Biel's Formatta solution, allowing your County to report vaccine usage to State and Federal health authorities in near real-time, allowing your County to receive new shipments of the H1N1 flu vaccine more quickly.

The Biel's Formatta forms-driven optimization solution is helping state and local health department officials optimize the existing process for reporting usage of the H1N1 flu vaccine supplies they receive from their state health department. Counties don’t get their stock of H1N1 vaccines replenished until they report that they have used the current supply. By leveraging the Formatta solution to automate and optimize this process, county governments are able to take days of delay out of the current process, which allows more rapid replenishment of H1N1 flu vaccine supplies. This results in improved public health and safety of citizens.

Click here to download the H1N1 Reporting Solution Sheet.

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-22T15:53:00.002-05:00

Wishing all our customers, vendors and employees the best this Holiday Season! Have a great time and stay safe.

“Biel’s Information Technology Systems met with North America’s largest consortium of Independently Owned Document Management Companies in Carefree Arizona”

2009-12-08T17:03:00.000-05:00

Phoenix, AZ – Dec 01, 2009 – “North America’s largest consortium of Independently Owned Document Management Companies had their last meeting for 2009” The Independent Information Management Dealers Association (IIMDA) Fall meeting was held in Carefree, Arizona. Since December 1989 or 20 years this association has been meeting twice a year to discuss relevant issues and resolutions for our industry. Click for the full Press Release

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Biel's

2009-11-25T10:12:00.000-05:00

Enjoy your Thanksgiving feasts everyone. As always, we are truly thankful for all of our great customers, vendors and employees. Let me know what you're thankful for by leaving a comment.

New Biel's Site is Live

2009-10-26T12:07:00.001-04:00

Go check out our completely redesigned and improved website. It is much easier to use and has more useful information based on your needs by department or industry type.

WWW.BIELS.COM

2009-10-14T08:50:00.002-04:00

Congratulations to

Carl Dettelis

who completed AX 6.5 & Captiva

training earlier this month!

Carl's additional knowledge will help us to

continue providing

top quality support service!

A New Biel's Coming Soon!

2009-09-23T19:16:00.001-04:00

Look for our completely new & improved website launching soon!

Searching for a way to make your HR department stand out?

2009-09-03T12:56:00.002-04:00

You Found It! The easy way to make your Human Resource department STAND out

Find out how to enhance your existing HR system

Reduce paperwork

Automate personnel forms

Eliminate manual data entry

Simplify Recruiting

Biel's Lunch & Learn /Webinar Series
Wednesday, September 30 in Buffalo
Thursday, October 1 in Rochester
Friday, October 2 Webinar

Biel's Employee Training & Certification

2009-08-28T09:04:00.004-04:00

CONGRATULATIONS
to the following employees whom
recently completed training or certification.

Adam Yearley
**Network + Boot Camp & Certification**

Kelley Hartman, Carl Dettelis,
Dennis Kempner & Norm Baker
**EMC Certification**

Darrell Londos
**DR-9050C/7550C/6050C service training**

Their efforts promote our mission to
“Be the leader and first choice for imaging and diverse information management solutions…by utilizing… the most effective technology … through our skilled and dedicated family of employees.”

K-12 Business Process Optimization Solutions - Save Time, Money, and Aggravation

2009-07-29T16:07:00.007-04:00

K-12 Business Process Optimization Solutions - Save Time, Money, and Aggravation

Many schools are stuck with antiquated business processes, such as paper forms. A typical school uses more than 50 forms across all its business processes, from enrollment and student services, to human resources, finance, and compliance. Traditional forms business processes are labor intensive, slow, costly, and error prone.

Come learn how leading K-12 schools are using Business Process Optimization solutions to unstick their processes and save time, money, and aggravation. We will cover, 3rd-generation e-forms, direct data capture, open forms management, and automatic business systems integration.

This complimentary Webinar is brought to you by Biel's Information Technology Systems and Formatta Corporation, a leader in Business Process Optimization solutions - Improvement without the Pain of Re-Engineering. Sign up now, space is limited.

Time: 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM EDT

Duration: 1 Hour

Webinar Code: WC40

September 10th

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

Carving a High-Tech Path Through a Paperwork Bottleneck

2009-05-20T09:31:00.000-04:00

Biel's Information Technology Systems helps the City of Buffalo: Bureau of Parking Violations overcome their paperwork bottleneck. Read more here.

70th Anniversary Open House Coming Soon!

2009-05-06T11:17:00.001-04:00

We are celebrating our 70th year of being in business! The special celebration will be Wednesday, June 17 and Thursday, June 18th. More details coming soon....

Our 70th Spring!

2009-04-24T15:53:00.003-04:00

Hello everyone and welcome to spring. Hopefully the nice weather is here to stay. Right now we are working on getting ready for our annual Open House which takes place in June. It keeps us busy and time goes by fairly quickly so we like to get a good head start on sprucing things up around our beautiful building.

This year marks our 70th year in business, pretty amazing for a company these days to stay around so long. It definitely says something about our great management team and the wonderful staff we have to be around so long. The great services we provide has a little something to do with it. I wish everyone a successful year ahead in business and I'm optimistic things will get better and our economy will get back to where it belongs.

Remember to keep your paper in a cool environment before the warm weather comes. Moisture can be a real paper killer. Blog you later

IT'S BACK!!

2009-04-08T14:47:00.000-04:00

Come find out how Paper Conversion Services will convert your everyday documents into a valuable asset. Plus – We'll even show you how digital document management can help you bring in more money, more quickly.

TURN YOUR "PAPER MONSTER" INTO DIGITAL DOCUMENT RECORDS.

“LUNCH AND LEARN”
THURSDAY, APRIL 30TH
NOON TO 1:30
BIEL’S HEADQUARTERS
1201 INDIAN CHURCH ROAD
WEST SENECA, NY 14224

Biel's Service Manager is a Guest DJ!

2009-03-13T11:58:00.004-04:00

Make sure you're around a radio this Saturday beginning at 4pm. Our Service Manager, Darrell Londos, will be a guest DJ on 97 Rock-WGRF! He will be spinning some of his favorite tunes and I'm sure giving a few "shout outs" to friends, family and co-workers. Here's the link to check out his pic and info on 97 Rock's website.

Biel's is Hiring

2009-03-12T10:30:00.001-04:00

We are looking for a part time Telemarketer/Marketing Assistant. Main duties would include calling existing and potential customers and setting appointments for our Sales staff. Click here to find out more and apply.

Biel's offering Unlock Your Company' Potential Lunch & Learn Series

2009-03-05T10:58:00.006-05:00

We are offering a very timely Lunch & Learn series called "Unlock Your Company's Potential." These presentations will show you the latest techniques of putting your documents to work for your company. We will discuss an online document management solution that requires little or no initial investment. Sign up today to put this recession fighter to work for your company.

Here's one example:
"Productivity has increased 100-fold. They're able to access the information in almost real time. we've managed to clear out tons of space and without the cost of folders, boxes, rubber bands and storage space, we save money."

-John Hamdon, Manager of IT, Patient Accounts
University of Illinois Medical Center at Chicago

Go to www.biels.com

Formatta e-forms provider launches new website

2009-02-24T08:40:00.003-05:00

Formatta, an e-forms solutions company, has launched their new website. Go here to see what's new.

Formatta's affordable software quickly extends the reach of applications to all users so organizations have the information they need to operate efficiently and effectively. More than just an electronic version of a paper form, Formatta quickly captures, verifies and moves data into the critical business systems you use to run your organization.

Document Management for MS Office 2007 with EMC ApplicationXtender Podcast

2009-02-18T12:21:00.002-05:00

Check out this Podcast from EMC:
In this podcast Chris Chidgey hosts a discussion with Phil Wong and Mark Hansen on the newly designed, AX for Microsoft Office 2007 module. Helping make document management even easier to use and more accessible, and each user more efficient, the AX for MS Office 2007 (AXO) module drives cost savings across the department or organization.
Click for Podcast

Dennis Kempner of Biel’s Information Technology Systems Appointed to IIMDA Executive Board

2009-02-12T16:32:00.001-05:00

Biel's Information Technology Systems today announced that Dennis Kempner, President, has been appointed to the Independent Information Management Dealers Association (IIMDA) executive board. IIMDA is recognized as North America’s leading consortium on the document management industry, providing professional development opportunities, education and also forecasting upcoming industry trends for its members. Comprised of independent industry leading organizations, IIMDA members are positioned to provide their clients with the ideal solution to meet their needs. “We are excited to have Dennis join the board and look forward to his insight and input as we continue to grow our organization.” said Ron Thompson Jr., Board President.

Dennis will be joined on the board by Ron Thompson Jr. of OSAM Document Solutions in Phoenix, Irene Price of West Canadian in Calgary, Jim Sheridan of the New York based DRS Group and Kevin D’Arcy MES Hybrid Document Systems of Ontario. "I have always had high regard for IIMDA and I'm honored to join the executive board,” said Dennis. “I am eager to work with the other members of the board to help build on the tremendous work IIMDA does for its members. As companies look towards document management solutions to help increase profits and become paperless, it’s wonderful to know I can be part of an organization dedicated to the cause.”

Biel's Blogger Rewards

2009-01-21T15:14:00.004-05:00

Congratulations to Darrell Londos our Biel's Service Manager! He again is our Blogger of the Month. As a reward, he has received a $10 Tim Horton's gift card. He usually writes some pretty informative and interesting post. If anybody out there has missed out, please get back here and check them out. Leave us a comment or two and you might end up with a surprise reward!

Happy New Year from Biel's Service Department

2009-01-19T15:40:00.004-05:00

Happy New Year everybody. I hope you all have a successful and profitable 2009. Hey, does anyone out there know of any groups that get together for Service Managers to meet and discuss things on a regular basis? It certainly would be nice to bounce a few things off some people that are doing the same things or having the same problems. I'm not complaining but it's always nice to hear other ideas. Our department is very busy right now and that's a good thing considering the economy these days. I have definitely noticed that parts costs have gone way up over the past year and I'm hoping that the gas prices will not kill us this year. Gotta go do some maintenance on a scanner, talk to you soon.

BIEL’S RAISES $750 FOR THE WARM THE CHILDREN FUND OF WESTERN NEW YORK

2009-01-07T11:16:00.002-05:00

West Seneca, New York (January, 2009) – Biel’s Information Technology Systems raised $750 for the Warm the Children Fund of Western New York.

Motivated by the efforts of deceased Finishing Department Manager, Donna Burger, Biel’s holds an annual Theme Basket Fund Drive. The basket themes this year were: “Day Off,” “Tool Time,” “Everything Chocolate,” “Travel in Style,” “Our Fine Feathered Friends,” “Holiday Spirits,” “Hickory Farms,” “Warm up for the Holidays,” “Lottery” and “Soups On.” The Donna Burger Memorial Fund Raiser, as the effort is now referred to, has raised over $3,000 since December 2002 for the Warm the Children Fund.

Tickets are sold to employees and they are placed into raffle boxes for corresponding baskets. The winner is then drawn at the annual company Christmas party. This year Biel’s went full circle with this event by becoming volunteer shoppers and taking needy families shopping.

Happy Holidays from Biel's

2008-12-24T09:19:00.001-05:00

Happy Holidays from all of us at Biel's! We hope to make this blog more useful and interactive in the coming year. So, keep coming back and checking it out.

Next Generation E-Forms Sponsored by Formatta and Biel’s

2008-12-02T10:25:00.004-05:00

Join us for a Webinar on December 3
Learn how school districts and universities automate, perfect and streamline data capture and processing. Our electronic forms processing relieves managers of tedious form processing and data integration to freely focus on other tasks. With Formatta data management solution, you can automate business rules to enforce compliance with policies & procedures. Drive approval process electronically and integrate with back end database systems such as payroll, direct deposit or tax.

Let Technology Work for You and Your School!

Register today to learn how Formatta e-forms solutions will cost-effectively reduce time wasted and streamline your business processes.

Biel's Bash

2008-11-10T13:59:00.002-05:00

Hello everybody. Just received our first snowfall of the year here in Buffalo. It was only a few inches and it has already melted. Now you know that Thanksgiving and Christmas are not far behind. Speaking of eating and drinking, our company recently held a little get together for all the employees. What a great time we all had. We had it at Dave and Busters which is like a large video arcade for adults. They also have a bowling alley and pool tables. The food was fantastic and I hope we get a chance to do it again next year. We are getting to the end of another year already. What happened to 2008. I hope it was a great year for all of you and I wish you all good health and happiness in 2009. Talk to you soon

Biel's Featured in Business First of Buffalo

2008-10-28T11:36:00.007-04:00

Check out this great article featuring our company in Business First of Buffalo. Here's a small excerpt - click the link for the rest:

"Strategies-Digitizing the docs

Company can store files minus the paper

Business First of Buffalo - by Allissa Kline Business First

Paper is the basis of business at Biel’s Information Technology Systems.

There’s so much paper, in fact, that it has its own room – boxes and boxes of it stacked from the floor to the ceiling.

Those papers, many of which are confidential records, are transformed into electronic documents at Biel’s, a nearly 70-year-old company in West Seneca that specializes in scanning and digitizing paper documents. The purpose? To allow customers to store, retrieve and distribute important documents without the hassle of paper files."

Click Here for the rest of the story

Canon's PosterArtist Free Demo Download

2008-10-22T08:46:00.005-04:00

Hello everybody!
Here's a great little site from Canon featuring PosterArtist. It's the software packaged with the ImagePrograf Wide Format Printers. You can go to this site and see some great tutorials, case studies and download a free demo. The software is great fun to use and will show you how valuable and cost effective having your own Wide Format Printer could be. You can design anything from company posters to full size corporate banners. Check it all out here.

Biel's Digital Operations - Employee Training

2008-09-26T12:02:00.006-04:00

Biel's continues to invest in the training and education of our employees. In order to provide the highest quality products and service to our customers we believe it is essential to keep all of our employees up to date on the latest technologies. To this extent- In July, digital operator Keira Smith completed Access 2003-Level 1 training and just this month, digital operator, Tim Welch, completed Access 2003 Level 2 training. This is a small example of our commitment to our mission statement: being the imaging leader and first choice for diverse information management solutions.

Wide Format Printer Lunch & Learn

2008-09-19T10:19:00.007-04:00

Think BIG. Print BIG!
If you can imagine it, you can create it with an imagePROGRAF large-format printer. What could YOU create with a Biel's imageprograf large-format printer?

• ENGINEERING - Renderings, New Product Designs, CAD Drawings, Blueprints
• FACILITIES MANAGEMENT - Floor Plans, Informational Signage, Bulletins
• HUMAN RESOURCES - Organizational Charts, Policy announcements, Event Graphics
• MARKETING - Signs, Proofing, Collateral, Advertising layouts, Product promotions
• SALES - Presentation Graphics, Point of Purchase, Sales contests, Trade Show Signage

So are you ready to think big? Want to know what you can do with an imagePROGRAF large-format printer? Learn More Here .

Go Green: Canon Toner Recycling

2008-08-26T10:21:00.004-04:00

One of our customers inquired about recycling their toner cartridges from Biel's Scanners / Reader-Printers. Since so many companies are "going green" we thought this might appeal to others of you out there. You should log onto the Canon USA website, search recycle and register. You will then be able to recycle any Canon cartridges by printing out return labels to get your program started. If you need assistance on recycling, call Biel's today: 800.722.2435. Canon's Recycle Link

Taste of Biel's Technology Fair-August 21-Rochester

2008-08-20T15:28:00.002-04:00

Taste of Biel's Technology Fair-Rochester
Thursday, August 21st
Serving up the latest in technology since 1939. Come experience the best document management has to offer at our Technology Fair. We will have different areas featuring demos such as Email Management and Dynamic Electronic Forms.
Program

* 11:30AM - 4:00PM
Visit several different workstations with demos on display throughout the day. Stop in anytime. Refreshments will be served throughout the day.

SIGN UP TODAY

Summer Time Scanners

2008-08-05T15:27:00.003-04:00

Hello again everyone. I hope you are all having a wonderful summer. It has been a good one around here for Biel's. We are certainly staying busy and I hope the same goes for all of you.

Sometimes, all your scanner or microfilm reader may need is a good preventative maintenance cleaning and a little TLC to get back in the game. Keep us in mind for all your scanning and microfilming needs. We carry a huge inventory of parts and you can always call and ask if you're not sure.

TIP: Now that we are getting down to the end of summer you will want to make sure you store all your paper in a controlled environment to keep it from getting too hot or cold. This can cause curling and jamming when you scan and can also lead to moisture getting inside your scanner which can cause more damage if your not careful. It never hurts to clean your scanner on a weekly basis and wipe down the optics and rollers if at all possible. Well I hope to talk to you soon.

The Struggle with Unstructured Information-PodCast

2008-07-16T10:43:00.006-04:00

Carl Frappaolo, AIIM Vice President, Market Intelligence, reveals results of its’ exclusive survey (sponsored by EMC) on content management.

The survey, which polled more than 200 IT business professionals, reveals that today's businesses and government organizations continue to struggle with management of "unstructured" information, which represents the majority of data collected and accessible to enterprises -- including scanned images, Word files, spreadsheets, presentations and e-mail. While 99 percent of respondents admitted that unstructured information played a significant role in driving their business processes, most identified major challenges if unstructured information was not readily available as part of those processes. Click Here to listen to the PodCast

Canon's imagePROGRAF line of wide format printers honored.

2008-07-01T10:04:00.017-04:00

Canon's imagePROGRAF line of wide format printers have been honored with BERTL's BEST Awards for Spring 2008. In addition, the imagePROGRAF iPF6100 and iPF8000S received four star-ratings from BERTL, for their multiple assets, including high color fidelity and speed.

~For over 15 years BERTL® Inc. has been the primary source for objective, independent product evaluation reports and comparative analysis on digital imaging devices and workflow solutions.~

These wide format printers are ideal for any company or organization looking to print high quality graphics. Anything from engineering maps or drawings to company banners and posters. This line of imagePROGRAF printers from Canon is surprisingly very affordable and offers great value over outsourced printing. The cost savings and ROI are substantial in a short period of time.

Click here for the full Press Release from Canon
Click here for more info on the imagePROGRAF printers

A "Tasty" Biel's Open House

2008-06-27T11:53:00.008-04:00

Hello everyone. I hope you are all having a wonderful summer so far. Recently we had our annual open house event and it was another huge success. The food was fantastic- that's because I do most of the cooking ;). We had some of Buffalo's finest roast beef on weck and grilled chicken wings that were out of this world. We also had world famous Sahlen's hot dogs.

There were great demos on some new equipment like the impressive Canon imagePROGRAF line of wide format printers. Also, there were excellent new software demos that I heard people talking about like the Formatta suite of electronic forms products.

Every year it just seems to get bigger and better. Next year will be Biel's 70th year in the business and we can only hope to continue the tradition. I hope everyone has a wonderful 4th of July holiday weekend and stay safe. Blog you later-

Biel's Open House Prize Winners

2008-06-27T11:24:00.003-04:00

Here are the winner's from last weeks Open House:

Herbert Cadle - Buffalo Public Schools: Pair of Bills Tickets
Susan Steck - UB: Canon Digital Camera
John Tranquilli - Apple Rubber: Charcoal Grill/Smoker
Lisa-Marie Bolognese - Town of Cheektowaga: iPod
Erica Carrier - M&T Securities: iPod
Mary Kren - Buff. State Research Foundation: Kodak Digital Camera
Marilyn Fazio - City of Buffalo: Kodak Travel Mug
Gina Walck - Ken Ton Schools: Kodak Bag
Cathy Rybciynski - Town of Hamburg: Kodak Travel Mug
Carolyn Dellamore - WNY FCU: Biel’s Coffee Mug

Congratulations to all! Your salesman will be contacting you to make arrangements. Good luck to everyone else for next year.