Municipal Government finding a new path using Sharp MFPs

Sharp MFP and docSTAR™'s MapConnect portal helps map town records by location.

A small town in Eastern Pennsylvania is experiencing tremendous growth in the housing sector. Their current population is about 8,000 with more than 3,000 new housing units being built. Due to the influx of new homes and residents, the municipal office was bogged down with paperwork related subdivision plans and other documents. They were running out of storage space and needed to find a solution to control records and make them more accessible to the public. Off-site storage was not a viable option because of security issues. At the same time, they began implementing a Geographic Information System (GIS) and mapping software and printing and copying costs were out of control hence there were several different devices being used to print and copy records so they began looking at purchasing scanners.

Sharp and docSTAR approached the town officials with a Sharp OSA^® solution. They were impressed at how easy it is to scan and index right at the Sharp OSA-enabled LCD panel. The potential for linking docSTAR to their GIS system was attractive as well. The town acquired docSTAR's MapConnect portal, which lets users leverage computer-mapping technology to perform location-based inquiries to the docSTAR database. The Sharp OSA-enabled MFPs provide an efficient input and output device for their documents that correlate to land parcels on these maps. They no longer manage printers and copiers separately or purchase scanners for their scanning initiatives. With Sharp OSA technology, the town is able to place a Sharp OSA-enabled MFP in a public location for printing public records located on their server. This saves time and money from pre-printing forms that are changed often and allows the public to print customized forms by completing a short form right at the MFP.

The key benefits to the Municipality include:

• Seamless integration with docSTAR
• Management of index values right from the Sharp OSA-enabled MFP LCD docSTAR integration with GIS mapping software was pivotal for customer
• docSTAR allowed the town to delay building a new building

The electronic records management system was a way for the town's municipal office to free up document storage space. That was the impetus for it, but it has blossomed into a whole bunch of different uses and applications.