CUSTOMER CASE STUDY
Key Benefits • Customer service reps save hundreds of hours annually on archival retrievals • Customer service calls are reduced by providing service reps immediate access to billing documents • Paperwork is less likely to be lost or misfiled improving security and ensuring compliance • EIP-SAN solution versus optical storage saves $100 per month on disk costs • End users are able to manage and provision their own storage reducing reliance on the Information Systems staff • AIT employees never have to request and wait for disk platters to be changed • The Information Systems (IS) staff doesn’t have to spend time locating disks and loading it into the system every 90 days
AIT Worldwide Logistics Waves Goodbye to Paper Documents by Implementing an IP-SAN Solution from Intransa Business Challenge AIT Worldwide Logistics Inc., a global transportation and shipping company, was running out of office space in its corporate headquarters. Bulky file cabinets filled with shipping receipts, customer invoices and airway bills crammed cubicles that could have been used for workstations. In addition, the paper trail required customer service representatives to manually search for archived paperwork wasting value time and resources. It was obvious that it was time for AIT to reduce its reliance on paper records. It used to take us days to supply customers with a proof of delivery document on an old shipment! Solution AIT Worldwide Logistics implemented an image scanning and archive system that digitized all shipping paperwork and archived it on an easy-to-use IP-SAN solution from Intransa. Customer service representatives are now able to retrieve archived receipts, invoices and airway bills in seconds saving them several hours per week and allowing them to concentrate on more critical business operations.
The Problem Clutter was a major problem at AIT, a global logistics and transportation provider that manages and tracks cargo shipments for corporate customers. File cabinets jam packed with delivery receipts, customer invoices and airway bills (legal paperwork that tracks cargo through its delivery) lined hallways, took up workstation space and filled a warehouse adjoining the company’s corporate headquarters. Paper was everywhere, and the process to find a specific piece was a colossal undertaking. Service representatives had to put customers on hold while they rummaged through file cabinets for recent paperwork or had to call them back while they requested the document to be retrieved from the warehouse for older records. The system also slowed billing cycle by delaying invoices and payment received from customers. In addition, as a growing company, AIT Worldwide Logistics was simply running out of space for both the mountain of paperwork it was generating and the additional employees it was hiring to handle the increased business. It couldn’t grow without moving its corporate headquarters or finding a way to reduce paperwork. The company chose to reduce its reliance on paper and go digital. It implemented an enterprise content management (ECM) solution from Hyland to scan paperwork, centralize the images in a document archival database and make it easier to retrieve the images on demand. Greg Contreras, a customer automation representative, was given the task with making the solution work and finding a storage system that could handle the volume of data that would be generated. “It was apparent that we needed to completely digitize our company in order to streamline business process and make the most of our office space,” Contreras said. “The paperwork was just killing us.
CUSTOMER CASE STUDY The Solution
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Contreras set up an optical storage solution based on an HP Surestore Jukebox system. The solution provided cheap storage capacity that could support the large images created by Hyland’s OnBase ECM software. However, Contreras was forced to switch out disks every two weeks as they reached capacity and store the used disks in an offsite facility. The additional disks cost the IS department $100 per month, but it was the process that depreciated the value of the system. Contreras wasted five hours a week replacing the disks and reprovisioning resources, and the system still hadn’t solved the problem of providing customer service representatives quick access to archived documents. In place of the optical storage jukebox, AIT Worldwide Logistics switched to a low-cost IP-SAN solution from Intransa. It installed a dual controller system and four disk enclosures giving the company eight terabytes of flexible storage capacity that could be carved up by the On-Base imaging software as it was needed. Contreras simply set up the storage network to act as an additional hard drive that employees could access from their workstations. This made all documents, even paperwork years old, accessible without having to load disk or rummage through the warehouse. Now customer service representatives are able to scan paperwork into the Hyland OnBase ECM solution, store the images on reliable disk and retrieve any document in the system at the press of a button. Intransa IP storage systems can scale to 1,500TB of RAID protected, fault tolerant yet affordable storage. The Intransa IP-SAN solution also allows Contreras to do backup over the faster IP protocol saving hours of management time. He set up a microwave dish on the roof of the corporate headquarters and on an off-site facility across the freeway. Data is automatically replicated across the IP network seamlessly backing up all documents in case of a natural disaster or other cause of data loss.
Business and IT Benefits Now, customer service representatives are able to access any receipt, invoice or airway bill created since the company’s inception at the press of a button. When a customer calls with a question, paperwork is retrieved within seconds virtually eliminating long holds and improving customer service. Representatives can also email customers the documents in question saving time and money on postage and fax rates. The new imaging solution also allows AIT to print the images of airway bills on the back of invoices that are sent to customers providing proof of receipt up front. The improvements have reduced the billing cycle and ensure the company is paid accurately and on time.
“After we installed the Intransa storage solution I haven’t had to manage it at all. End users are able to provision resources and manage the storage on their own without having to involve me. It’s really made things easier around here.” – Greg Contreras, Customer Automation, AIT Worldwide Logistics In addition, the company was also able to eliminate the bulky file cabinets clogging up the office essentially doubling its office space without having to change locations. AIT is now able to grow to meet business demand without having to worry about physical storage or real estate. The Intransa IP-SAN solution enables the IS staff to provide storage resources to the business staff on demand. By setting up storage capacity as an additional drive on the network, employees are able to provision resources as they need it without having to get the IS staff involved. “This not only saves time for us, the IS staff, but streamlines the business and keeps things moving forward as the business dictates rather than as IS dictates,” Contreras said. The Intransa solution provides an easy-to-use and reliable storage pool that can be scaled to meet business demand. Every document created by the company since its inception can be archived on the system eliminating the need for offsite storage of older or less missioncritical data. And if the OnBase software requires more capacity, all Contreras has to do is add more storage enclosures. Scaling up requires little configuration. Contreras simply adds disks to the controllers and makes it available to users. Management of the system is easy as well. “After we installed the Intransa storage solution I haven’t had to manage it at all. End users are able to provision resources and manage the storage on their own without having to involve me. It’s really made things easier around here,” Contreras said. The company also plans to deploy desktop scanning solutions in its U.S. facilities allowing employees in branch offices to scan their own documents rather than sending them to a central scanning department. Contreras’s confidence in the scanning software and the ease-of-use of the Intransa storage solution was a key factor in pushing for the rollout. Soon, AIT will be able to reduce their reliance on paper even more and be able to provide better, quicker and more reliable customer service.
Intransa StorAlliance Technology Partners integrating with Intransa external IP storage solutions include more than 40 physical security vendor’s products plus those of more than 35 IT vendors. Intransa StorPartner Security Integrators offer complete video surveillance and other solutions to meet the most challenging customer needs.
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