Streamlining access to police, court and other government documents

The town of Centerville, TN, has moved from a cumbersome paper-based system for handling government paperwork to a streamlined electronic content management solution.

The town needed an efficient way to store and access important public records including those relating to public safety. A technology advisor encouraged Susan Griggs, town clerk, to consider SmartSearch, a content management solution designed by Square 9 and built on .NET. SmartSearch provides enterprise Web forms management and workflow automation capabilities in a secure environment.

Centerville officials decided to implement SmartSearch, which uses the dtSearch Engine to simplify document retrieval, delivering proprietary document filters and instant search capabilities across terabytes of data, and supporting database, Web data and popular productivity file searches, according to dtSearch.

With the new solution, Griggs can process and store arrest records, handwritten police officer reports, correspondence, time sheets, purchase orders, invoices and other vital documents, including court records. Instead of manually filing documents in cabinets, she uses a scanning device to capture and store reports in customized SmartSearch Inboxes.

SmartSearch also has made searching for relevant documents easier. Griggs estimates that she saves about 15 hours a week by using SmartSearch instead of the old filing system. Now she can spend that time serving the citizens of Centerville.

Other Town of Centerville departments are looking into implementing a customized version of the SmartSearch Content Management Suite in their divisions.

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