City of Lethbridge

Challenge

An existing document imaging system was high-maintenance and did not meet the City of Lethbridge’s document management needs in human resources. Lethbridge searched for a replacement application that would make HR procedures more efficient, protect confidential employee data and elevate productivity. After comparing several products, the city selected Perceptive Content from Lexmark.

“Ease of use and proven integration with PeopleSoft applications were big selling points for Perceptive Content,” says Cliff Shigemi, corporate systems administrator.

Solution

When evaluating document management software, Lethbridge found the scalability of Perceptive Content appealing. Unlike software vendors that require customers to purchase a minimum number of user licenses, Lexmark technology is equally effective enterprise-wide at a global corporation or in a single department.

Meeting budget needs, exceeding expectations

Like many city governments, Lethbridge has a limited technology budget, and Perceptive Content was the only application that met the city’s functionality and financial requirements.

“We needed a solution that could be implemented on a small scale, and Perceptive Content is very cost-effective,” says Shigemi. “It fit right into our infrastructure without us needing to buy more hardware.”

Patented technology facilitated rapid, seamless integration with Lethbridge’s PeopleSoft Human Capital Management suite, as part of a straightforward implementation process that gave Lethbridge a rapid return on its technology investment.

“Perceptive Content implementation took three days, so we were way ahead of schedule,” says Shigemi. “It saved us money because service costs were minimal.”

Through hands-on implementation and training, Lexmark empowered city administrators to manage the solution in house. Perceptive users can easily modify the solution to fit changing business processes as needed.

“We’re able to manage Perceptive Content independently,” says Shigemi. “Its intuitive interface made it easy to train our user base.”

Many software vendors impose a restrictive service agreement upon customers, but Lethbridge is free to choose the timing and extent of support. If the HR department has questions about Perceptive Content, it contacts Lexmark by phone or via the 24-7 Customer Support Portal. As the solution is low-maintenance, Lethbridge avoids additional costs.

“Perceptive Content is extremely stable and reliable,” says Terry Kovacs, business systems analyst II.

Results

User-friendly solution boosts productivity

Perceptive Content gives HR employees instant, single-click access to all personnel files, new hire documentation and applicant information. The tight link between Perceptive Content and PeopleSoft enables users to immediately retrieve document images within a familiar software environment.

Prior to implementation, electronic files such as Microsoft Word documents and email were printed and scanned into the document imaging system. Perceptive Content allows the city to import these documents directly into the solution without creating hard copies, reducing expenditure on paper and saving time. Employees no longer perform timeconsuming manual data entry, allowing them to focus on important job tasks.

“Before Perceptive Content, files weren’t always up to date and paperwork could be sitting for a long time before it was processed,” says Shigemi. “Perceptive Content is a huge time-saver, because it allows us to quickly import and retrieve documents.”

When investigating document management options, Lethbridge looked for a solution that anyone could learn to use effectively within minutes, regardless of their level of IT proficiency. Workers have responded positively to Perceptive Content.

“Some of our users aren’t very technical, but they find Perceptive Content easy to use,” says Terry Hartley, human resources manager. “Perceptive Content is much more user-friendly than our previous document imaging system.”

Protecting confidential data

Lethbridge is benefiting from Perceptive Content’s compatibility with more than 200 document and file types. The city moved document images from its previous software into Perceptive Content, ensuring that all archived records are safely preserved in the central repository.

“Perceptive Content has stabilized our data and we’re confident that information stored in the system is accurate,” says Shigemi.

Perceptive Content security features, such as assignable user- and drawer-level privileges, allow Lethbridge to limit access to confidential employee information. It is simple for administrators to change user access rights at any time. HR employees currently distribute staff change forms via email. The department soon will scan these documents into Perceptive Content, allowing all authorized users to instantly review electronic versions.

Planning for future expansion

Perceptive Content will deliver further time savings when Lethbridge extends the application to its payroll and time and labor departments. City administrators are confident that this transition will be smooth.

“We’re extremely satisfied with Perceptive Content and expect it to meet all our future document management needs,” says Shigemi.

Rapid implementation, scalability and a low total cost of ownership make Perceptive Content the ideal fit for Lethbridge’s budget and technology requirements. The city is realizing time savings and increased efficiency from Perceptive Content features, such as instant document access, advanced workflow and assignable user privileges.