Region D Stewart Technologies has been able to increase turnaround time and decrease costs for its local Stewart customers, while moving closer to single-seat technology and a paperless environment.

Using halFILE™, a document imaging system that electronically converts paper documents into digital form, Region D Stewart Technologies has created a process that allows users to quickly view images on their desktops that previously had to be retrieved in paper form from off-site storage.

“This initiative promotes the single-seat concept, as well as a paperless environment,” said Tracy Canestrano, regional director of technology for Region D Stewart Technologies in Tampa, Florida. “A paperless office results in substantial time savings, as well as decreased costs. With single-seat technology, all of the necessary information is accessible from a single seat, which means files travel to fewer desks. There is less likelihood of a page from a file getting lost or of an entire file being misplaced. The less it travels, the safer the file, and the faster it is completed.”

When Stewart Title of Tampa implemented the halFILE imaging system, they worked with Region D Stewart Technologies to determine which files needed to be extracted from VAX AIM. A program was created to extract the appropriate files using Focus^®, a report writer. The extracted files were imported to an SQL database and then into halFILE for indexing of the image.

“We extracted all of the prior file information from VAX AIM and are in the process of scanning prior files that were in storage,” said Kevin Pennington, technical services manager, Region D Stewart Technologies. “Eventually, all paper will go away.”

In addition to manually scanning files for future use, Region D Stewart Technologies is encouraging users to receive electronic faxes so the data arrives in digital format. If the data arrives as an image instead of paper, the extra time to physically scan the document for digital storage is no longer required.

“We act as imaging service bureau for the offices using this imaging process,” Canestrano said. “We do the data warehousing, we buy the equipment and we bill the offices for their use.”

An estimate for one office showed that retrieving prior files from off-site storage cost approximately $900 in lost production every week. That equates to a lost production cost of $46,800 per year*, not including other administrative factors, such as courier services.

Another estimate determined that two Florida offices spent a combined $62,000 per year in warehouse storage fees. The cost of hard drive space to store the same data digitally is approximately $16,600. Taking the paper out of the equation resulted in more than 70 percent in savings.*

In addition to the cost savings of cutting out off-site storage facilities, this process has also resulted in significant time savings. The turnaround time to retrieve a file from storage was one to two days. With imaging, the retrieval is immediate.

“This is also great security, especially in the case of disaster recovery,” Pennington said. “With imaging and digital storage, we have back-up files stored in different places around the county so that data can be easily retrieved in the event of a disaster. If a disaster wipes out your paper storage facility, you don’t have any back-up.”

The process is working so well in Tampa, that it was recently implemented in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Jacksonville, Florida office is also planning to take advantage of this new technology.

“This process is great to promote the sharing of information between offices,” Canestrano said. “Today, the majority of offices handle storage and retrieval of their own files. The ultimate goal is to have all offices in a county sharing files with immediate turnaround of the data they need.”

With the constant development of new technologies, Region D Stewart Technologies continues to look for ways to enhance the process even more. They recently tested new digital imaging equipment by Savin^® that copies, scans, faxes and prints. It tested well with VAX AIM in Florida and they are recommending it to some offices as the most cost effective imaging solution.

“This equipment gives a lot of flexibility to the users because they can purchase a multi-functional piece of equipment instead of a proprietary piece of equipment,” Pennington said. “The images go straight from the imaging equipment to halFILE, skipping the middle step of going through a database. The overall solution costs less than buying a scanner PC and server and reduces the amount of time it takes to convert files to digital images.”

For information about whether halFILE imaging will work for your office, contact your account manager or region automation coordinator.

*The estimated savings apply to specific offices in Florida. Savings will vary depending on various factors in each office.