In the News
Digital Solutions can make Paper and Expenses Disappear |
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Local companies that have implemented technology in the workplace have saved money, gained time and made jobs easier. At the Earl Bacon Agency, the challenge was the insurance firm's records storage. "In the insurance business you are handling a massive amount of paperwork," said Bobby Bacon, president. To store it all, the firm sets aside 3,000 of its 9,000 square feet of office space just for filing cabinets. There's also off site storage at a mini-warehouse. Bacon said the answer was an imaging system for the electronic storage of policy paperwork. "That digital imaging system has made us very efficient and it was very easy to put numbers to it," he explained. In the three-year period from 2005 to 2007, the agency saw an 11-percent gain in efficiency per employee. Over time, paper files will be substantially eliininated. Cindi Owen Briley, owner of Owen Title Co., successfully dealt with two situations. The first was a sudden, massive influx of spam that slowed the firm's network to a crawl. The company worked with Aegis Computer Services to install a PineApp network device that blocked spam and restored normal function and speed. Owen Title is also preparing and electronicaliy signing closing documents nowadays for real estate transactions. "I believe it's all in line with what's coming," closer Debbie Parker said of the technology. No longer does a runner spend time in traffic or hunting for parking in order to cart closing documents around town for signatures. The firm even "e-records" property transaction documents with the Leon County Clerk's Office. At apartment builder Regions Contractors Inc., controller Karen Gammon said the Crawfordville-based company is using video conferencing to conduct biweekly project meetings, thereby reducing travel expenses. "We really saved time and money. It's really great to know we can come in from the field and meet with subcontractors face to face." The home office staff and project managers use a flat-screen monitor to get a view of the meeting room in the construction trailer at distant job sites, where subcontractors can report their progress and problems can be ironed out. "Overall, it was $20,000 in equipment. I would say we have already broken even on travel expenses in six months," Gammon . said. The firm figured each trip out of town was $2,000 to cover the manager's airfare, lodging, car rental and meals. The field equipment necessary is about $4,200 per site, but it can be reused when the construction is over. Business Matters Regions Contractors partner Steve Gammon (left) and Jeremy Roberts, a construction project manager with the company, in Crawfordville hold a teleconference with Kit Mills, general superintendent. Mills is on-site in Pensacola. Regions uses teleconferencing to replace travel to project meetings and has installed equipment at all five of Its construction project locations, Gammons said. Technology firm Dyntek has gained efficiencies from an application of Microsoft Office SharePoint Server to facilitate collaboration among staff members, said Linda Ford, vice president of marketing. The program enables a business to establish an intranet, with the capability to store personnel, finance, marketing and other documents and resources. "It's about managing the content, the workflow and the business processes of your organization," Ford said. Gone are the days of storing individual files at each workstation. There's no need to e-mail huge attachments for projects because all such materials are available to the whole firm. Searching for a particular file or item is easier, too. "It's been a huge time saver for us and enables us certainly to be more efficient," she added. Business Matters |
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