Paper personnel files and payroll records are practically a thing of the past at PayReel , a busy Colorado-based payroll services company that is a sister organization to Crew Connection, a global video and television crew booking service.
With file cabinets blocking sunlight, busy payroll services company seeks document scanning solution.
When Alva Brown, PayReel’s general manager, started at the company two years ago, one of the first things he noticed was the volume of paper PayReel was storing in its offices. “We had so many file cabinets, they were literally blocking out the sunlight,” Brown says.
PayReel outsources payroll and related services for corporate media production departments, broadcast television, and independent film makers. While government and union regulations require PayReel to keep invoices, timesheets and other payroll records on file for several years, Brown discovered that PayReel staff rarely had to access the majority of files.
“But when we need to look up a record for an audit or customer inquiry, we need instant access,” Brown says.
Given these specific needs, moving the hardcopy files to an offsite storage facility was not a viable option for PayReel. Instead, the company began looking at options for scanning their HR and payroll records.
“I looked at the dollars and cents of three options,” Brown said, “Doing the work ourselves, outsourcing it all to a third party or creating some sort of hybrid solution. I came to the conclusion that by the time we hired temporary employees and invested in hardware and software, it would be more cost effective to outsource our document scanning project to D2Xchange.”7-
The question then became, “What should PayReel do with their imaged documents?” D2Xchange suggested that PayReel store and manage their electronic files in an online document management system. This would give the company faster access to files than searching portable media such as DVDs and CD-Roms.
Outsourced Scanning & Online Document Access Generates Multiple Results
The integrated solution of outsourcing document scanning to D2Xchange and storing electronic files in an online document repository appealed to PayReel because it addressed a variety of company needs:
- Securing sensitive documents and data
- Managing ongoing document volume once historic files were scanned
- Locating information quickly
- Enhancing PayReel’s work environment
Protecting Customer Privacy
Protecting their customers’ privacy was of particular concern to PayReel given the confidential, personal information the company routinely processes. D2Xchange was able to document its experience and consistent processes for handling confidential financial and H.R. records. This included passing SAS-70 Type II audits in 2008 and 2009. These independent audits examined both the written policies and procedures and the day-to-day control activities D2Xchange has in place related to:
- Organizational controls
- Operational controls
- Physical security controls
- Environmental protection controls
- Logical security controls
- Disaster recovery and business continuity controls
- Telecommunications and network controls
The opinion letters issued by auditors in 2008 and 2009 were unqualified. In other words, D2Xchange was deemed to have suitable written controls in place to meet control objectives for each of the areas listed above. The auditors also concluded that controls were operating with sufficient effectiveness to provide reasonable assurance that the control objectives were achieved.
D2Xchange could also assure PayReel that ImageSilo, the online document management system it was recommending to store and manage PayReel’s electronic files, was both secure and reliable.
ImageSilo offers three-tier application security. Security settings can be easily managed for how individual users or groups of users access the system. Security can also be managed for the groups or individual documents an authorized user can access, as well as the actions each user can take with the documents (i.e., read-only, edit, e-mail, delete). The system automatically generates audit logs to monitor access and the activity of users. The system also monitors unsuccessful attempts to log into your repository.
In addition, ImageSilo safeguards the transmission of data between an authorized system user and ImageSilo through the use of 128-bit SSL (Secure Socket Layers). All communications, including logins, queries and results, are passed through a secure, encrypted connection.
Additional Benefits Achieved
A second concern PayReel expressed was managing ongoing document volume once D2Xchange had finished scanning the company’s historic files. New documents are constantly processed through the PayReel offices.
“Every new project generates hundreds – if not thousands of pages of documents we have to file and manage,” says Vickie Miller, PayReel’s assistant payroll administrator. One recent project, for example, called for hiring 1,500 extras.
“Each person had to be processed like a new employee – filling out I-9s, W-4s and other records,”
Miller says. “To keep up, we needed a responsive vendor who could accommodate our fluctuating scanning needs.”
Brown and Miller agree the ImageSilo system is easy to use. “I can research and locate files so much faster now,” says Miller. “It’s much more efficient to access electronic records online instead of looking through file cabinets. Because it’s easier to locate information, I can offer our customers even better service.”
One final benefit is that a row of file cabinets no longer blocks the sunlight at PayReel’s offices.
“Our office is more open now,” Brown says. “We have really improved our physical working environment which is a benefit for all our employees.”