When an outsourced core system provider for Wauwatosa Savings Bank (Wauwatosa, WI) discontinued support for its legacy reporting archive solution in 1997, the bank suddenly faced the prospect of managing reports on its own. Like many banks overwhelmed with paper-based reports, Wauwatosa Savings purchased a COLD/ERM solution. Since then, this simple point solution has grown into an enterprise standard that complements the bank's systems by managing associated documents and processes and improving communication between the bank’s eight Milwaukee-area branches.

“Initially, our primary focus was on the issue of where to store reports and customer information. We were tired of dealing with fiche,” comments Holly Flemming, Director of Information Systems at Wauwatosa Savings, a $1.6 billion banking organization in Southeastern Wisconsin. “The value of OnBase snowballed from there.”

Developed by Hyland Software, OnBase is an integrated suite of enterprise content management (ECM) solutions with core competencies in document imaging and management, COLD/ERM, workflow and records management. Concurrency, an authorized OnBase solution provider, worked with Wauwatosa Savings to optimize the initial software investment and drive ongoing process improvements

“At one time, we were probably only using 10% of the functionality of OnBase,” Ms. Flemming recalls. “We benefited greatly by working closely with Concurrency. They made sure we knew the full extent of OnBase’s capabilities and have shown us how to better utilize the system. An investment like this is not made lightly, and we committed ourselves to it. Often, when we encountered operational problems or challenges, we could find a practical answer in OnBase.”

Integration Empowers Document Imaging and Workflow

In addition to using OnBase for managing reports and statements, the bank scans thousands of documents each day and imports them into the secure OnBase repository. These include documents associated with mortgage products as well as checking, savings, certificates of deposit, money market and IRA accounts. The following is a sampling of documents scanned either at branches using desktop scanners or the central scanning facility using high-speed hardware:

• Customer checks, signature cards, deposit statements and notices
• Loan files in Mortgage and Consumer Lending (including 7,000 mortgage files that pre-date the OnBase solution)
• Policy, standard and procedure documentation in IT
• Employee records and benefits documents in Human Resources
• Retirement plan documentation in IRA
• Case files and foreclosures in Legal
• Brochures in Marketing
• Invoices in Accounting
• Management and Board of Director meeting minutes

Capturing check images sets the stage for Wauwatosa Savings to take advantage of the potential efficiencies associated with Check 21. “We image all checks now, and the next step will be to submit in-clearing items electronically,” notes Ms. Flemming.

Wauwatosa Savings’ OnBase system includes far more than document images and COLD reports. It can also accommodate electronic files of virtually any kind and cross-reference them with the images and reports. For instance, Virtual Print Driver is used to automatically import a Web-based credit report or correspondence generated in Microsoft Word directly into a loan file. E-mailed items, such as mortgage appraisals, can be dragged and dropped into OnBase via the system’s Integration for Microsoft Outlook® feature.

Reports generated by the bank’s core processing system are processed using both the core system’s proprietary report writing functionality and that of Crystal Reports® from Business Objects SA. They are automatically gathered and imported into OnBase with no human intervention.

OnBase is designed to complement not displace existing systems, to drive productivity and to make work easier and more rewarding for end users. The metadata needed to index documents, for example, is automatically retrieved from the core system, thus reducing labor and risk of human error. With Application Enabler, Hyland’s configurable OnBase integration utility, users can immediately retrieve documents, such as signature cards, directly from a screen within the core system.

Using extensible markup language (XML), Wauwatosa saves information into OnBase from its portfolio and project management solution created with Microsoft SharePoint® and InfoPath®. For instance, InfoPath is used to submit a change management request for IT projects. The OnBase XML Tag Import Processor allows XML data and metadata to be imported into OnBase, where it can be readily indexed and also viewed using a customized style sheet.

A number of workflows operate behind the scenes to automate processes, reducing the number of manual tasks users must perform and providing improved oversight of these processes. For example, a customized workflow was recently created in the OnBase system to assist with managing documents associated with IRAs. After the appropriate paperwork is scanned into OnBase at one of the bank’s branches, the system’s workflow kicks off an approval process. As documents move through the predefined stages according to the bank’s business rules, the system automatically checks for missing documents and includes automated timers and notifications to ensure regulatory compliance.

Controlling Documents Supports Compliance and Accountability

Regulatory compliance became an even bigger issue for Wauwatosa Savings in October 2005, when the bank transitioned from a mutual savings organization to a publicly traded corporation. “Regulations were rigorous enough before the transition,” comments Ms. Flemming. “Once we made the move, we were required to track and maintain even more detail. Today, when examiners or auditors are onsite, we set them up with a login ID and password with enough OnBase access privileges to review the files they need.”

With OnBase’s automation, the bank has saved money by eliminating much of the time required for staff to retrieve paper files for regulatory review. Additionally, since auditors do not have to wait for files, the entire process is shorter and less disruptive. The auditors’ access is rescinded after an audit is complete to protect and secure documents at the end of the process.

Similarly, the integrity of the OnBase repository is protected on a day-to-day basis. Wauwatosa has aligned its Active Directory login policies to OnBase access, eliminating the need for users to sign in to multiple systems while imposing consistent security policies across the enterprise. Security privileges can be established in OnBase to limit user access to only documents needed to perform their jobs. Wauwatosa Savings Bank uses OnBase EDM Services to track the history of documents, impose version control and enable document check in/check out to prevent concurrent modifications.

Wauwatosa is now embarking on a major initiative that uses OnBase for retention compliance. “We are asking all of our departments to identify all documents of record,” Ms. Flemming reports. “They can decide what that means for their departments. Most of the documents are in OnBase already, and we will use the system’s tools to manage retention policies around these documents.”

Heavy on Customer Service, Light on Employee Overhead

“OnBase has been critical in helping with our customer service improvement initiatives,” asserts Ms. Flemming. “When we relied on physically pulling documents, we had to hope the documents would be where they were supposed to be, or we’d have to hunt them down. Now, when a customer needs a copy of a title, the call center representative can pull up the document and send it immediately instead of sending a request to someone in the back office to retrieve the file.”

According to Ms. Flemming, OnBase has helped Wauwatosa improve customer service without additional staffing. “Much of the work has been offloaded to the call center, alleviating some of the workload in the back office. Even though we are a $1.6 billion bank, we have fewer than 300 employees.”

Ms. Flemming calls OnBase “a powerful tool to help execute organizational strategy, including the ongoing need to meet ever-evolving compliance requirements.” Key to Wauwatosa Savings’ success with OnBase, she adds, has been a commitment to leveraging solid project and service management methodologies.

Wauwatosa Savings has now adopted OnBase as the enterprise standard for storage and retrieval of all documents. “Three years ago we put a team together and went through a review to look at ways we could optimize our use of OnBase; it included the addition of new modules and better utilization of existing ones,” says Ms. Flemming.

To support the effective expansion of OnBase, Wauwatosa Savings leveraged its updated project methodology and began offering “mini demos” or envisioning sessions to various departments to get them thinking about how ECM technology can help them. Ms. Flemming concludes, “OnBase provides us tools that allow us to be in a constant state of improvement and to cost-effectively fill in the gaps between line-of-business applications.”

BENEFITS

• Supports compliance initiatives by limiting and tracking access to documents, reducing time and complexity of audits and imposing retention policies
• Improves customer service by delivering immediate access to documents across the call center and all eight branches
• Increases productivity, holding the line on staffing requirements
• Optimizes existing technology investment by using modular architecture to scale original point solution for managing reports to enterprise-wide solution for managing documents and document-related processes

COMPLEMENTARY PRODUCT INTEGRATIONS

• Bank’s core processing, loan processing and Internet banking systems
• Canon U.S.A. check scanners
• Böwe Bell and Howell document scanners
• Fujitsu Computer Products of America document scanners
• Rimage Corp. automated CD authoring solution