Which Hub Is Right for You?

Enterprise-content-management systems feature many options to consider

Will Thibodeau Co-CEO, chief technology officer, Treeno Software

As published in Scotsman Guide's Residential Edition, August 2010.

Mortgage brokers face a growing need to capture and organize data in a more efficient manner. Enterprise-content-management systems can help.

These systems centralize document management, workflow management, document imaging and e-mail management. Content-management software can significantly improve a mortgage business's productivity and efficiency.

One of the most-common questions companies ask when they investigate purchasing this kind of system is, "Can we afford the time and money it would take to implement?"

Before answering, consider the benefits. A good enterprise-content-management system can:

• Reduce the cost of paper-purchasing, -storage and -disposal;
• Lessen the risk of lost documentation;
• Lower the need for filing and shredding;
• Simplify file searches;
• Increase productivity and efficiency;
• Enhance collaboration;
• Speed up service times;
• Store data securely; and
• Provide instant remote access.

Mortgage companies and other financial institutions are among these systems' most-common users. In many cases, the file-management and -storage solutions content-management systems offer allow financial companies to comply with regulations that require rigid recordkeeping. The high volume of data and documentation involved in the mortgage business mandates efficient and secure data management.

The workflow collaboration that enterprise-content-management systems allow also can help regulate and track financial documents as they move through various stages of the loan process. This can save time and money.

Meanwhile, by storing documents electronically, enterprise-content-management systems provide secure, on-demand access while reducing the need to store paper documents.

In selecting a system-provider, you should evaluate your company's needs and challenges. Be sure to read all information regarding the provider's customer service and support. Do your research and know your goal. If you go shopping without knowing what specific problems you hope to solve, you are less likely to find a solution.

Any system you choose should:

• Be easy to use;
• Be backed by great customer support;
• Effectively eliminate validity issues related to document tampering;
• Allow permission-based access to files; and
• Store information securely.

Customer service and technical support are particularly important when users first incorporate the new technology in their existing processes. This can include modifying system terminology to match language already used within the company.

In many cases, implementing an enterprise-content-management system will be easier if the provider offers thorough consultation during the startup period.

When tailored to meet the specific needs of a given business -- and when properly maintained -- enterprise-content-management systems can save a significant amount of time, money and manpower. The positive results your mortgage business can achieve with this system can help you keep up with industry developments and advances. By leveraging this system to offer fast and excellent service, you give your clients one more reason to choose you over the competition.

Will Thibodeau is co-CEO, chief technology officer, of Treeno Software. Founded by Thibodeau in 2002, Treeno is a leader in the enterprise-content-management (ECM) software industry. With its Web-based ECM system, Treeno was one of the industry's first companies to embrace cloud computing. Treeno's ECM-solution-implementation methodology -- aka, T-SIM -- encompasses the company's core competencies and assures measurable return on investment for clients. For more information, visit www.treenosoftware.com, call (800) 528-5005 or e-mail sales@treenosoftware.com.

Clutter Management In Just 15 Minutes!

It’s 9am and you have arrived at your desk only to have trouble finding your desk under all the clutter. So you do like we all do you just move it around so you can work. You think to yourself if only I had some free time. Well maybe you do! Have you ever heard the saying, “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time” The same principle works for clutter management. Here is a list of what you need:

1. 15 Minutes
2. Pigheaded Discipline and Determination
3. Storage

Fifteen minutes is all it takes to de-clutter you life. 15 minutes a day that is. Set aside a 15 minute block. Put it in your calendar. Make it a time when you really will have no interruptions. My favorite time is first thing in the morning. That little bit of time turns into roughly 60 hours a year. You could have a clutter free environment in 60 hours, right. Plus when your clutter is organized you save time by getting to what you need when you need it faster. Less time used more time gained.

“Pigheaded Discipline and Determination” is one of my mantras. I learned this in Chet Homes book “The Ultimate Sales Machine” The premise is to not let anything get in your way and stick to your plan. Make a little note and put it somewhere you will see it every day. Move it around so that it doesn’t become background.

Storage is an essential part of this process. As you organize you need a place to put everything. In old times we filed thing using folders and cabinets. Many an administrative assistant had their own way of filing which sometimes lead to panic when they were out of the office. Storing documents, images, emails on computers has revolutionized business. When stored properly using tags or OCR the documents become easily searchable. Storing them in the cloud (internet) means you don’t need to be in your office to retrieve vital information.

Are you ready to rid yourself of the clutter that has taken over your desk? call us at 1-800-528-5005 (U.S. & Canada), 1-603-570-4317 (outside of U.S. and Canada) or visit us on the Web at www.treenosoftware.com

Happy Independence Day

On July 4, 1776 the United States Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Continental Congress. 234 years later the United States stands as one of the strongest independent nations. Independence or freedom is one thing every American holds dear. I would venture to guess every individual feels the same way. We long to be free from all that bring us down. Imagine if you would, for a moment, being free from the bonds that tie you down. It is a nice feeling isn’t it. What are those things that are preventing you from this freedom? When I was in high school in the 70’s we had to write essays. To get information for the essay I had to spend a lot of time at the library. I felt trapped by the hours, location and availability of the information I could utilize. Today my children can get information at their fingertips anytime and virtually anywhere. The information they get is way beyond what I could find at a library. They have learned to organize their own work and save it digitally so they can access it anywhere they have internet access. This comes in handy when there are group projects. Each individual can pass the project back and forth to get approval and update the projects as is needed. All from the comfort of where ever they are. These technologies are not limited to High School students. Treeno’s ECM Suite allows you to store documents in a secure centralized repository where multiple folders are used for internal and/or external information sharing. An embedded search engine makes documents easily searchable and manageable and there are no complicated new filing systems to learn. Components of the ECM Suite are Email Management, Document Management, Document Imaging and Workflow/Business Process Management.

Treeno's Email Management solution allows users to store email in a centralized location that can be accessed by all authorized users. Email's stored in Treeno can be indexed with a customer's information, financial transaction data, a project, a legal case, etc, depending on your type of business. This powerful indexing capability enables all authorized users to view emails that are related to a specific topic rather than keeping those isolated in individual users' inboxes. Any user working with email stored in Treeno can do so as if it was right in their email client. It can be forwarded or replied to and all of the attachments are there as well. Treeno will automatically index the email using the To, From, Subject and Date of the email, but users can add their own metadata and the emails can be attached to other records in the system.
Treeno's Document Management solution allows your organization to store all of your important documents in one location, while providing access to everyone who needs to see them. Treeno gives you control over all documents and file types including scanned files, Microsoft Office documents, emails, faxes, as well as rich media files such as video and audio files. Treeno's browser-based interface allows users to access information without the need to install anything on their desktop.

Treeno's Document Imaging solution is designed to store large volumes of scanned document eliminating the need for paper filing cabinets. Some of Treeno's clients' store 10's of millions of documents, however we have solutions available to meet the scale of any project. Treeno's Document Imaging solution works with any scanning device from a desktop or high speed scanner to a network copy machine.

Treeno's Business Process Management (BPM) solution gives your organization the ability to interact with documents as they move through a workflow. Automating document flows has greatly improved efficiency and reporting capabilities for such companies as ADP Employees where each day thousands of items enter a workflow from one of many sources including email, fax, or scanned paper. Treeno's BPM solution reduced costs associated with this previously labor intensive process by 50%.

The American revolutionary war proved that no task is insurmountable. It just took the right stuff to get it done. Treeno can help your organization, call us at 1-800-528-5005 (U.S. & Canada), 1-603-570-4317 (outside of U.S. and Canada) or visit us on the Web at
www.treenosoftware.com

Global Content Management Made Easy for Insurance Brokers and Agencies

Insurance brokers and agencies need an easy-to-use yet powerful system that enables them to access, manage, and share critical documents across a broad range of functions, departments and locations. It’s more than a competitive advantage—it’s a mandate for survival.

A typical agency processes over 30,000 physical documents each year including policy applications, coverage confirmation letters, renewal notices, policy terms, dec pages and claims documentation. Plus, virtually every state government mandates that all insurance transaction records be maintained for up to seven years, while archives need to be kept for offers of additional coverage for long periods to guard against E&O liability. The majority of this information is handled and stored through inefficient, manual processes due to the notion that an automated system is costly, disruptive to existing workflow processes, and difficult to use.

Introducing TreenoGCM™

TreenoGCM is an easy-to-use and extremely powerful, integrated document, content and workflow management system that enables insurance brokers and agencies to easily capture, organize, and share any type of digital or paper-based document within a secure, central repository. System deployment is effortless, document retrieval is instant, integration with existing line of business applications is seamless, and the Treeno system can scale to support as few or as many users as your agency requires. Treeno empowers your agency to reduce costs, simplify compliance and enhance overall client satisfaction through streamlined operations and improved efficiency.

Transform your organization without disruption

Deploying and operating a content management system should be as simple and effortless as using familiar applications while existing workflow processes remain intact. TreenoGCM’s powerful and robust feature set, in conjunction with integrated collaboration and process management capabilities will enable your agency to improve operational efficiency and productivity without changing the way your employees do business.

Simplify regulatory compliance

Reduce the audit preparation process from weeks of tedious work down to hours
using Treeno’s powerful system.

Insurance brokers/agencies are constantly under the gun when it comes to staying current with regulatory compliance processes. Though requirements and procedures vary by country and audit type, the first steps towards ensuring compliance with the myriad of regulations governing the insurance industry including HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), are control and visibility. The demand is for a system that will integrate with existing business processes for tracking and managing digital and paper-based content across all enterprise wide systems—in real-time.

TreenoGCM simplifies the regulatory compliance process for Insurance brokers/agencies by capturing, organizing, and sharing necessary and appropriate documents in a centralized, secure repository, while automated business process management capabilities streamline information access and reporting.

Ensure document integrity and security

The ability to track and control customer sensitive information is absolutely paramount for insurance brokers and agencies. TreenoGCM stores all of your information in a highly secure repository and includes comprehensive audit trail capabilities such as task date/time stamp, task originator/description, and related document activities such as who worked on/reviewed the document. Treeno customers can virtually eliminate any possibility that documents stored in their system will be altered without detection, ensuring undisputed authenticity of records. And, integrated notification capabilities inform users when relevant content within the repository is updated. Disaster recovery is also greatly improved, as items previously managed via fax, mail, and other paper means are now stored in the Treeno repository. With TreenoGCM, documents of all types can be backed up in a secure fashion and are protected from theft, accidental loss, or destruction.

Insurance organizations rely on TreenoGCM to:

• Simplify enterprise wide access to critical documents
• Improve operational efficiency with minimal disruption
• Improve information security
• Track document task date/time stamp, task originator/description
• Reduce demand for physical space
• Ease the burden of regulatory compliance
• Increase sales and improve customer service quality
• Insurance brokers and agencies around the world are enhancing customer service quality and improving productivity with TreenoGCM. To learn more about how

Treeno can help your organization, call us at 1-800-528-5005 (U.S. & Canada),
1-603-570-4317 (outside of U.S. and Canada) or visit us on the Web at
www.treenosoftware.com

The Filing Cabinets Were At Maximum Capacity

Law firms of all sizes and practice specialties are all too familiar with the seemingly endless piles of paperwork generated by a single act of litigation or contract generation, and Mesmer and Deleault was no exception. “The filing cabinets were at maximum capacity,” recalls Phil Decker, a partner at Mesmer & Deleault specializing in patent law. “What’s more, we had an outdated method in place that made keeping track of information very slow and tedious. That slowed us down every time a client, attorney or patent agent would call.” Decker says he was faced with two options: find an appropriate document management solution to remediate the space constraints and improve workflow, or invest in renting an off-site storage space. Though he was strongly in favor of a document management solution, Decker says he had difficulty finding a solution that would dovetail with the firm’s existing software and processes. “I talked to all of the major document management companies, “he says. “ Most of the vendor solutions I saw were too labor intensive for what we needed. They also required too much change on our part. And their up-front investment made it a budget issue. We also wanted a solution that would unite multiple offices—even our homes if we wanted—and could address the multiple platform environment we had going with PC’s and Macs.”

Decker chose Treeno Software after viewing a demonstration of the product at an MIT Enterprise Forum. “The TreenoGCM (Global Content Manager) met all of our needs in a document management, content and business process management solution, and we didn’t have to give anything up to deploy it,” he says. The straightforward, user-friendly interface of TreenoGCM made it easy for Decker to convince his fellow partners to adopt it as their practice-wide system of choice. “It required minimal training and the benefits were immediately apparent, from the elimination of lost documents to a highly secure, searchable repository of organized files that we could share seamlessly across multiple offices and with multiple partners.” Decker says that the most time consuming part of the deployment process was entering the existing, paper-based data into the TreenoGCM repository. “The actual installation of the software and system was almost instantaneous,” he says. “scanning historical documents into the system once it was installed was less labor intensive than moving file cabinets to a storage facility.” He added that new clients to the firm are instantly entered into the TreenoGCM system, making them traceable within minutes. Decker says he is most pleased about TreenoGCM’s ease of use and interoperability with virtually any line-of-business application, including programs his firm relies on to generate and track court docket numbers, findings and pleas. “The legal field is so focused on tracking, monitoring and accountability, especially when it comes to filing documents on behalf of our clients,” he says. “With Treeno, we could still use our existing applications without delay.”

Since instituting TreenoGCM as its document management solution, Mesmer & Deleault has saved countless person-hours that were once devoted to filing, copying, faxing and scanning paper documents. The firm also has noted a marked increase in customer satisfaction. “Complete client files are always at our fingertips,” he says. “And we don’t waste our clients’ time by putting them on hold to find a file, or taking down information and calling them back with it later. We’ve become a much more responsive, service oriented firm.”

The firm has also streamlined its relationships with international partners. Because they file patent applications frequently—often with companies located in countries where the postal service is less than reliable—Decker says that the remote access offered by TreenoGCM has been an essential tool. “I rely on Treeno to help me better serve my international clients,” he says. “One patent attorney we deal with on a regular basis is located in Lebanon. I can literally pull up a file while talking to him on the phone and deliver it electronically. Prior to Treeno I would have to fax it, which was not as reliable, or send it via courier and hope for the best.”

The Legal Community relies on TreenoGCM to:

• Increase billable hours and improve client service quality


• Streamline the process of retrieving and distributing essential information


• Provide simultaneous access to client information


• Improve operational efficiency with minimal disruption


• Improve information security and document integrity


• Enable productivity tracking and accountability, ensuring turnaround requirements are always met


• Streamline compliance driven documentation requirements


• Simplify enterprise wide access to critical documents


• Reduce paper, paper storage, photocopying, and faxing costs

Law firms around the world are improving client service quality and increasing billable hours with TreenoGCM. To learn more about how Treeno can help your firm, call us at 1-800-528-5005 or visit us on the Web at www.treenosoftware.com

True Healthcare Reform

Anyone who works in healthcare is all too aware of the sheer volume of paper generated by a single patient visit, and Great Bay Mental Health was no exception. The support staff at the treatment center found themselves literally buried in paperwork, from patient notes to multiple copies of insurance forms and referrals, to storing and processing the forms needed to stay in compliance with HIPAA. And because Great Bay’s facility is comprised of eight different practitioners, many of whom see the same patient at different intervals during his or her care regimen, the likelihood of lost or misplaced patient charts increased exponentially. “Just keeping track of which practitioner had a particular chart at a given point in time on the patient’s care routine was an issue,” notes Cheryl Sullivan, office manager at Great Bay Mental Health Associates.

Sullivan adds that sharing information between practitioners and a patient’s primary care physician was also a challenge. “If we got an inquiry from another provider who was partnering with us in a patient’s care, or from an insurance provider looking for updated information, the old way was to take down their request, go and look for the file and hopefully find it on the first try, then get back to that person,” she explains. “On days where we saw a lot of patients, this process got very time-consuming and kept us from efficiently checking-in patients who were waiting to be seen.”

Sullivan says TreenoGCM (Global Content Manager) was the remedy for what ailed Great Bay. “We chose this solution because it was extremely feature rich, easy to implement and use and required very little training,” she says. “Our practitioners are very busy and didn’t want a solution that required them to put in extensive hours just trying to figure out how to use it.”
TreenoGCM was deployed across Great Bay’s facility in just a couple of days. Sullivan says the most labor intensive part of the process was entering the existing patient data into the system. “We brought in some temp employees to help with the workload, and it went very smoothly,” she says. “It was much less of a front end investment than what many of the larger document management firms required from us.” The practitioners appreciated the fact that TreenoGCM runs transparently in concert with existing software applications they need to do their job. “We were able to keep our existing operational model in use, which was key, because the practitioners didn’t have the time to go out and learn a new operating system or software program,” Sullivan says. “They see over 10 patients per day each, and take turns handling evening calls.”

Sullivan says Treeno’s quick deployment and Web-based platform were also attractive. “Most of the treatment happens at the facility, but occasionally when our practitioners are on call they need access to files while at the hospital emergency room,” she says.
Today, Great Bay Mental Health Associates enjoys a streamlined, collaborative approach to maintaining patient information, regardless of location or time constraints. “Because of Treeno's architecture, our practitioners can access medication and patient notes remotely without fear of compromising security,” she said. The benefits of TreenoGCM were also quickly apparent to the support staff. “We spend a lot less time prepping each patient office visit, and more time actually assisting the patients while they’re here.”

Most of all, Sullivan says that when HIPAA enforcement time rolls around, she and her staff are confident that they are following regulations regarding the storage, disposal and security of patient data. “The most important aspect of staying in compliance is having complete visibility into where your patient data resides,” Sullivan says. “With TreenoGCM, we can access everything with a few mouse clicks. Additionally, we can monitor the information and see who last had access to it. Our patient’s privacy is very important to us, even without the HIPAA aspect of things. With Treeno, we can maintain our commitment to taking better care of our patients.”

To learn more about how Treeno can help your organization, call us at 1-800-528-5005 (U.S. & Canada), 1-603-570-4317 (outside of U.S. and Canada) or visit us on the Web at http://www.treenosoftware.com/
951 Islington Street Portsmouth, NH 03801 800.528.5005
solutions@treenosoftware.com

Can't We Just All Get Along?

Sometimes I feel I am a part of the United Nations trying to bring a peaceful resolution to many years of of conflicting ideologies. The typical enterprise has various departments with their own proprietary systems in place. Each one, lets say sales, accounting, support, and associates all touch the clients on a regular basis. Unless you have a document management system that integrates all the systems, a company can spend 30% of its time and energy just searching and filing. Another potential for war vs peace is the workflow process. The steps in this process can include shuffling paper from desk to desk and sometimes building to building. Email has helped tremendously with this process but at the end of the day email is one more systems that does not integrate with all the other systems.

Treeno Software, the United Nations of Documents, has a half dozen engineers dedicated to bringing your systems together. Quickbooks, Sagitta, AMS, Outlook, Word, and Salesforce, to name a few, all communicate with Treeno as a storage and retrieval system. Access to this information is securely available from any Internet connection. Our engineers can write custom software to integrate most windows based software with Treeno. Our engineers have also connected devices like the Kodak Scan Station to scan directly to the Treeno Systems cabinet of your choice using web services. Soon applications for the iPhone, iPad and Android will be available for mobile user to retrieve information vital to those in the field.


OK, so Treeno is not quite the United Nations but we will bring more peace your company.

To learn more about how Treeno can help your organization, call us at 1-800-528-5005 (U.S. & Canada), 1-603-570-4317 (outside of U.S. and Canada) or visit us on the Web at http://www.treenosoftware.com/
951 Islington Street Portsmouth, NH 03801 800.528.5005
solutions@treenosoftware.com