March 2003 — Applications
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Leon County Implements System to Streamline Its Forms Management Process
Have you ever traveled to another school within your district and not filled out the paperwork to be reimbursed for mileage because it was too much hassle? Ever waited for a purchase order and had no idea where it was in your system? Or better yet, have you ever tried to manage a process where the majority of your district's forms were hard copies, not standardized and processed manually?
If you answered yes to any of the above questions, you're not alone. Administrators, teachers and IT departments face these frustrations on a daily basis at schools nationwide, including at Leon County Schools, a district that serves the metropolitan area of Tallahassee, Fla.
The technology and information services department at Leon County is charged with the overwhelming task of managing all forms for the entire public school district. The district consists of 40 school-center locations, employs nearly 4,000 teachers and administrators, and serves a population of 40,000 K-12 students. As expected, the district was having difficulty keeping track of all its documents and receipts, because the forms were not standardized and updating was a manual process.
It became clear that Leon County needed to implement a system that would streamline its entire forms process — from expense reports to purchase-order request forms — to save time and money, as well as reduce hassle on its IT department. However, with its number of different school locations, combined with a wide range of users, the process of rolling out any new technology in the district is extremely complicated and labor-intensive.
Web-Based Solution
While researching and evaluating solution options, the IT department aimed to choose a technology solution that used a standards-based system and would integrate with current school technologies. This eliminated the learning curve and installment issues. The research resulted in the implementation of a joint technology solution combining Xerox Document Centres, which are digital multifunction systems, with Cardiff Software Inc.'s LiquidOffice eForm technology to manage forms for the entire district.
The Xerox and Cardiff Web-based solution allows users to simply scan a receipt, or any other paper document, through the Document Centre multifunction system — which combines printing, copying, scanning and faxing functionality in one device — directly into their personal online LiquidOffice folder. Then, these digital (XML, HTML, PDF) documents can be attached to an eForm and electronically routed, processed, tracked, approved and archived using a common Web-based HTML interface. This Web-based solution also allows users to conveniently take advantage of its eForm capabilities from any Internet browser, enabling anytime, anywhere access to LiquidOffice's entire feature set, including purchasing, finance and information services (IS) forms.
LiquidOffice is able to seamlessly integrate with a series of Document Centre systems already being used by a number of the district's school-center locations. And learning curve issues are minimal since the system utilizes an intuitive interface based on technology standards familiar to most users. Leon County also is beginning to store forms in a centralized repository where they can be easily maintained by administrative staff, drastically reducing the IT department's problem of managing and keeping track of numerous official forms. In addition, online archiving of supporting documentation may also significantly reduce paper consumption and storage costs.
