[Michael Sherman]

Has anyone implemented this module? Rants? Raves? Reviews?

[Anne Marie]

No, I haven't but there's a Web Seminar coming up soon on it. Maybe you already know this..........

[Michael Sherman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anne Marie

No, I haven't but there's a Web Seminar coming up soon on it. Maybe you already know this..........

There was one today at 1:00 that I saw. Is there one tomorrow, too?

[Anne Marie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Michael Sherman

There was one today at 1:00 that I saw. Is there one tomorrow, too?

No, I goofed. I was looking at the Web Seminars list earlier today and screwed up on the date. Sorry.

There is one next week, I believe - better not take my word for it though!!

[MMathyer]

We started using PaperSave about a year ago - before it was an 'official' Raiser's Edge module. Overall, our users have adopted it willingly, and they like it a lot better than the Media Tab. It can Link to documents, like the media tab, but its main feature is the ability to store scanned documents in a database linked to records in RE.

Scanned images of documents are stored as TIFF files, and can be view based on RE security levels. So, if you have rights to view Gifts, you have rights to view documents linked to gifts. If you have rights to view memberships, you can view documents linked to memberships.

The big advantage for us, with 40 people in External Affairs, is easy file access. No more trekking down to the file room hoping that the constituent file you need hasn't been checked out by someone else.

We put scanners on a lot of desktops so that documents can be scanned and attached at first point of contact. That works very well in some departments, and more slowly in others.

For our 500,000 pages of existing documents we have contracted with a local document production house to scan them all on thier high-speed scanners. We use Volunteers for document preparation, and when the images come back to us on DVDs, we import them into Papersave. Links to Raiser's Edge are created by Constituent IDs, Gift Import IDs, and similar codes that were printed on cover sheets that got scanned with the documents.

Now that we are making significant progress towards getting our archives scanned, we have to deal with the question of what to do with all the paper! We know that some of it should go to remote storage, some should go to very remote storage, some should be shredded, and some should be kept accessible.

How do the rest of you make these decisions? Are you willing to share your document retention guidelines? Have you written Policies and Procedures? Will you share? Feel free to contact me off list if you prefer.

Thanks for you help,

Mark

[Matthew]

i viewed the Blackbaud Papersave webinar and came away thinking the time it would cost to do all the scanning wasn't worth the final result...the integration with Raiser's edge and the document 'tagging' options aren't developed enough for me to considering implementing such a big shift in the organization at this time.

[mitchgibbs]

We've been using PaperSave just under a year. We're currently only using it for Gift Processing. It's actually really slick. We've got it integrated into our Lockbox where the bank scans a donor's check, the response device, envelope, etc. and then transmits the information to us every evening. We have a custom add on Solutions@MBA developed for us that sucks the gifts into a ScanFirst queue and then all of our gift entry is done electronically. I don't have any stats, but it has definitely made us much more efficient.

We've been waiting (semi-)patiently for the new version which is supposed to come out any day now. I got to use an Alpha version of it at the Conference in October and it cleans up a lot of the rough edges which have held me back from deploying to the rest of my 60+ users.

I think it requires a strong commitment from an organization to use it fully, but the ROI can be substantial. Especially for a geographically dispersed organization like ours (one metropolitan area - but 9 locations). It also provides substantial benefits for disaster recovery and a way to find all pertinent information in one place.

Mitch

[Doug Creek]

Are any of you using papersave in a citrix environment? We've been tossing the papersave idea back and forth, but we have a minor issue in that we use citrix (so we don't have workstations), and I'm the only one with any kind of (not in a strict sense of the word) direct access to the server. People can't copy files over, they can't really access anything on the server. My concern is that I don't want to get a paperless system going, then have no one use it because its too cumbersome to use thru the citrix server.

Thanks!
Doug

[mitchgibbs]

Doug-

We don't use Citrix. However, I talked to Wadih, the Product Manager for PaperSave, about it at the conference. The basic functionality works just fine in Citrix.

However, for any staff who are heavily involved in using ScanFirst (batch entry) mode, it's very helpful to have two monitors. The only way, that I know of, to make that work is to: configure the workstation to stretch the desktop across two screens and trick citrix into using an abnormally large screen size (e.g. 2048 x 768). Wadih showed it to me. It's not something I would relish giving to my end users, but it gets the job done.

For staff who don't have a strong need for dual screens, citrix should work just fine with PaperSave.

Mitch

[planelane]

Mitch,

We are signing the contract for PaperSave today and I would appreciate if you could help me get a jump start on preparing for the implementation (i.e. what does the consultant ask you for in order to set up the profiles?) Any other info would be greatly appreciated.

Jan

[mitchgibbs]

Jan-

The main thing to do is to make sure you've got your current processes well documented. This will make integrating PaperSave into the process much easier. The other thing is to really think through the types of documents you want to be able to capture in PaperSave. While it is easy to add additional Document Types with profiling fields in the future, you aren't going to want to try to make changes to existing Document Types.

The only other thing is to get your hardware in place ahead of time (scanners, dual screen monitors for gift entry, etc). This will help you hit the ground running and help you more quickly visualize and tweak your emerging paperless processes and culture.

For us, it was really much easier than we had any reasonable expectation. Of course, 2.5 years later, we're still figuring out new ways to leverage it and shaking our heads at mistakes we made in our 'youth'.

Mitch

[crobbinsparrish]

We are also looking into this product and have been given a quote and scanner recommendations. How difficult is it to implement. Do you need a consultant to set this all up or is it something that IT can do in-house? We also have a VBA/programmer on contract so he would be available to help. What are your experiences with implementation?

[nisaac]

We may go to Papersave in the future, however, we do have scanning in our process. We have two big Cannon scanner/printers - one color - one b/w. When the mail comes in the morning, our front desk person runs a tape on the gifts and scan in all the gifts and associated docs. The scanned pdf goes to a secure directory. Our db coordinator takes a copy and blacks out private info and posts docs on a secure part of our extranet for our pres to review. Most of us have software called eCopy that allows us to write on the pdf. Our db entry have two monitors and enter from the pdf. They annotate on each gift- appeal/fund, ack sent, etc. Our db entry folks are investigators - they do all they can to create our relationship with the constituent in RE (linking to relationships, notes if they see something key, etc.)

The final db entry copy is stored in a secure archive that is backed up nightly. Works for us now - if Papersave can show us a lot more functionality - we'll go with it in the future.

[conversationaut]

Currently we use AppXtender Document Manager for scanned items, but with our move over the coming year from Benefactor to RE we're considering PaperSave as an option. Is there anyone who's used both AppXtender and Papersave who could comment on the comparison of the two?