Newnan, Ga., is a fast-growing city located 30 miles southwest of Atlanta. The seat of Coweta County, Newnan has some 34,000 residents, many of whom are employed in the health care and higher education sectors. Like all municipal governments, the City of Newnan is faced with a tremendous amount of paperwork. More than a dozen departments – from human resources and accounting to the building department and public safety offices – generate hundreds of documents on a daily basis. All contain actionable information and conform to strict accessibility and retention guidelines.
The City of Newnan needed a better way to handle its documents. And it found it in the winter of 2012: Cabinet SAFE document management software. For years, the City attempted to deal with its influx of documents by deploying traditional methods: paper storage and legacy document management software. Eventually, this resulted in the entire basement of City Hall – otherwise usable, climate-controlled space – being filled with boxes of paper files. The City’s electronic document management system wasn’t much more useful, serving only as a relatively crude document archive, allowing only for the storage of scanned images.
The City of Newnan needed a better way to handle its documents. And it found it in the winter of 2012: Cabinet SAFE document management software.
Cabinet SAFE: More than just document management software
The City of Newnan chose SAFE over several competing document management systems for a number of reasons. These included:
- SAFE’s advanced functionality and configurability, which allowed the document management software to integrate with the City’s existing practices and workflows
- Scalability within and between City departments
- User-friendly interfaces and features
- Simple integration with existing multi-function devices and scanners
- Streamlined document capture (The city’s old document management software forced it to create a custom cover sheet every time it needed to scan a document.)
- Multiple ways to capture and store documents – drag and drop from email, computer or other devices, as well as batch scanning
- Auto-filing of documents
- Retention schedule built into system
- Easy creation of fillable PDF forms
“In the end, it just made so much sense for us to go with Cabinet SAFE,” said Katrina Cline, the City of Newnan’s Finance Director. “It had much more functionality than the other systems we explored. That was a big plus, since we wanted to roll out a citywide document management and workflow solution, rather than just store documents in an electronic archive. We needed a solution that would allow us to go paperless and eliminate duplicate files. And we found that in SAFE.”
The City first deployed SAFE in its human resources and finance departments. And the results – particularly gains in efficiency and more access to documents – were almost immediate. Instead of pulling hard copies of documents, City employees can simply give auditors access to their SAFE document repository, saving countless hours of time.
“SAFE has made us much more efficient,” Cline said. “Having an easily searchable, centralized document repository means we don’t have to get up and search for a hard copy file every time we need to find a document. We can just pull it up from where we’re sitting. That means we save time – and we’re able to better serve our citizens. Whether we have an open records request, an application for a new business or an application for employment, SAFE allows us to automate just about any process. That keeps our administration costs down and allows us to do a lot more in a lot less time.”
SAFE has made audits easier for the City, too. Instead of pulling hard copies of documents, City employees can simply give auditors access to their SAFE document repository, saving countless hours of time. “When auditors are on-site, we just let them right into the system,” Cline said. “They can test our invoices, licensing, revenue receipts – anything they need, right out of SAFE.”
Let MCC help your organization’s document management transition be as smooth as the City of Newnan with Cabinet Safe Software. Contact our Integrated Solutions Division today to learn more.