Paperless Productivity

If you tuned in for part three of our ODR podcast series “ODR Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow: Asking (And Answering) the Hard Questions with the NCSC,” you know that we could talk for days with NCSC CIO Paul Embley and Consultant Diana Graski. So we kept the conversation going and spun off this special edition episode that speaks directly into the heart of justice: is technology really supporting the court, or just speeding up its processes? We hope you’ll hear Paul and Diana illustrate how “automated insights” have helped Judges spend more quality time with litigants to make better informed, more compassionate decisions. Journeying us through recent use cases and their own in-person experiences, Paul and Diana put a pulse on how ODR is effectively serving the public and the court by making justice available at the litigant’s convenience, hurdling language barriers, and painting a fuller picture for each case. NCSC resources available to help courts and other legal counsel in their ODR research, such as ncsc.o

As much as we’d love to say online dispute resolution (ODR) is a clear-cut topic, it’s not. From questions about funding and whether such a platform actually increases access to justice, to how the states and their various court types have responded to ODR’s availability – there’s a lot of gray area. Venture into some of these hot-button topics as we ask our friends from the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) about these hard questions surrounding ODR and the changing legal landscape. Through their first-hand experiences and use-case stories, NCSC’s CIO Paul Embley and Consultant Diana Graski provide refreshing, outside-the-box perspective and helpful resources to guide those interested in ODR toward a well-informed decision. Don’t miss these key conversation takeaways, including: The mixed bag of state-wide and individual court responses to the pandemic, including those who have embraced and adopted court tech and why many still have not   The far-and-wide tools and outcomes that the courts, law firm

Did you know that 57 percent of the world’s population (that’s 4 billion people!) live outside the shelter of law? It seems like a steep statistic, until you factor in the costs of missing work for court dates, transportation, childcare and the emotional toll of entering a potentially confusing and hostile environment. This conversation with Attorney and Founding President of the Collaborative Lawyers of Saskatchewan Brad Hunter is taken directly from our recent, widely popular webinar, “Online Dispute Resolution: Making Justice Effortless and Accessible.” With a specific focus on how ODR has shaped his 30+ legal career, especially in family law, Brad walks us through the key benefits afforded to both participants of the justice system and every type of legal practice. Speaking from decades ago through to today, even pre-pandemic, Brad shares his best practices for adopting online dispute resolution into your service. If you haven’t already listened to part one of our ODR series, “The Recovering Lawyer’s Pers

Self-proclaimed “recovering lawyer” Joe Al-Khayat is the Co-Founder of online dispute resolution platform and ImageSoft partner Resolve Disputes Online, and the first guest on our three-part podcast series journeying online dispute resolution from its private sector roots to a highly regarded platform increasing access to justice in Courts across the globe.   Join Joe as he describes what it’s like to face the barriers of accessible justice from the perspectives of both the litigant and a stakeholder of the Court, and how these well-rounded views of his team shaped their ODR platform into a tool that problem solves for both sides. From there, conversation snowballs into how the pandemic shifted ODR from an option to a necessity, and the Resolve Dispute Online team’s specific expansion into various justice systems abroad, including the U.S., the United Kingdom, Singapore and Thailand.   

Washtenaw, Michigan, a Top 10 Digital County, is no stranger to The Paperless Productivity Podcast, so it’s our pleasure to welcome back Jeff Arbogast, Application Specialist for the esteemed Washtenaw County, to chat about their OnBase-powered, electronic arraignment process.  In this to-the-point episode, Jeff talks us through the multi-faceted “eArraignment” process as it relates to both walk-in and pre-scheduled proceedings, case preparation from the Clerk’s perspective, and workload balance for the Judge. As you’ll hear, Jeff notes how eArraignment, complete with digital signatures and workflow, has supported Washtenaw County through the pandemic thanks to instantaneous, digitally streamlined deliveries of arraignment packets and other documentation to defendants, probation officers, jails, prosecutors’ offices, etc. And with the county’s printers connected through “auto print,” the Clerk can, in addition to emailing or digitally sending the documentation, print carbon copies at any county office prin

Regulatory technology, commonly referred to as “Reg Tech,” is technology that assists regulatory agencies in managing how information is stored, used, shared and discarded in accordance to compliance efforts. As Jeff Heigert, Hyland’s Senior Customer Advisor for Insurance, explains, there are more than 750 regulatory bodies across the globe producing over 2,500 rule books relating to compliance. Organizations dedicate millions, if not billions, of their annual budget to comply because, as costly as compliance is, the consequences of non-compliance outweigh it all. Join Jeff and his colleague Chad Kerns, Hyland’s Product Manager for Financial Services and Insurance, for a chat about what Reg Tech is, and its support for banking institutions, insurance agencies, mortgage companies and others throughout the entire regulatory life cycle. From regulating data management to reducing the time and financial cost of maintaining compliance by automating regulatory process, Jeff and Chad tag-team an interesting conversa

A ring of fire, the moat, a drawbridge, archers and more are protecting the precious gem that is your core enterprise system – do you fear the enemy? Of course not! When your business model is safeguarded in the Hyland Cloud, its castle approach to security is always on high alert, designed to immediately retaliate against data breaches and other security threats. Defenders of data protection since 2004, experts on the Hyland Cloud team happily absorb all your usual system security responsibilities so you can relax and focus on higher-priority projects. Amanda Pfriem, Hyland’s Cloud Business Consultant, takes us on a more in-depth journey through what it means to operate in the Hyland Cloud instead of an on-premise system, including a breakdown of the Cloud’s various security layers, your new title as a SaaS customer and the much more affordable, single subscription cost model – no more prioritizing projects to fit boxed-in budgets! For those just seeking to better understand the Hyland Cloud, Amanda closes u

Jeff Arbogast, Application Specialist for one the nation’s Top 10 Digital Counties, story tells Washtenaw County, Michigan’s journey from their RFP beginnings of email, frustrating document size restrictions, manual uploads, and various versions floating between departments to their now centralized, transparent and well-orchestrated OnBase-hosted RFP management process. Walk through this conversation with a notepad in-hand as Jeff starts at the top, walking us through the intake process with electronic forms and how proposals are then circulated across departments via an automated workflow. Listeners will hear how simple capabilities, such as attaching related documents, performing redactions, accounting for protest opportunities and housing large files in a digital system rather than printing and filing, turn into significant time and money savers. OnBase then carries Washtenaw’s RFP process to completion by generating records for the people that were awarded and not awarded, and automatically sending out em

Does your electronic signing platform turn your smartphone into a signature pad? TrueSign does, in addition to meeting several other compliant, mobile criteria you’ll want to consider when adopting an electronic signing platform in today’s increasingly remote world. Grab a notepad and join us for a conversation with two ImageSoft Originals, Tim Zarzycki and Terry Chaudhuri, about how TrueSign is helping people confidently proceed and succeed in swiftly collecting auditable and compliant electronic signatures from contract vendors, court case participants, internal staff, the public and other external parties. As Terry will illustrate, TrueSign is hosted in the highly secure Microsoft Azure Cloud, which fulfills CJIS, PCI, FIPS and HIPPA compliance standards. Serving as a Cloud solution also means it’s ideal for enterprise-wide use because there is minimal setup, and because it provides a straight-forward design that is user-friendly for all technical aptitudes. Terry and Tim also go over proxy signing capabil

What can tirelessly do the work of thousands of employees without complaining and never take time off? No, this isn’t the start of a bad joke – it’s a reality for enterprises across the globe who deploy robotic process automation. RPA, as its casually referred to, mimics mouse clicks and keystrokes to automate repetitive, office-like work. Able to automate tasks in any environment, regardless of the existing software platform, RPA is available to any industry and thrives in all environments, especially those who already operate on OnBase and want to take their automation a step further. We couldn’t have picked a timelier guest to walk us through an overview of RPA and the types of applications that qualify as good candidates. Tim Tallaksen, Director of Intelligent Process Automation at Hyland Software, joins us for a well-rounded conversation about what robotic process automation is, how its currently supporting businesses amidst the pandemic, and how Hyland’s recent acquisition of a world-class RPA developer

With over 100 users in its Circuit and Family Courts, Prosecutor’s Office and throughout its contract signing process, Michigan’s Washtenaw County experienced the charms of TrueSign’s seamless, digital signing process and workflow before the pandemic – but, as staff continues to work remotely from sporadic locations, it’s been a relied-upon necessity. Joining us for a conversation about their “signature” success is Jeff Arbogast, Application Specialist at Washtenaw, which has been recognized several times as a Top 10 Digital County. Walking us through three key areas where TrueSign exercises some heavy lifting, Jeff illustrates the various use case opportunities now at play thanks to this one, Cloud-hosted application. From the scope of their current implementation, Jeff’s favorite capability (hint: it’s the ease of external signing) and the low-stress of a straight-forward pricing model to zero end-user footprint, seamless integrations with existing systems and what Washtenaw’s HR department currently has it

A few years back, ImageSoft trekked through the same IT journey we now walk most of our clients through: moving our infrastructure and systems to the Cloud. To quote Tom Hansel, ImageSoft’s Director of Customer Care and episode host, we’ve “eaten our own dog food,” so we fully understand the significance of the migration. On the same token, we also continuously see this investment pay off – most notably when launching ImageSoft’s entirely remote operations at the onset of the 2020 pandemic and easing staff through the shift. Join our own Senior Business Systems Administrator Bill Lussenheide and Cloud Services OnBase Admin Mark Hamilton, the pioneers of ImageSoft’s Cloud Hosting journey, as they discuss our company’s transitional experience and all the intricacies in between, including how to plan for the move, what to expect from an administrator’s perspective, security and compliance concerns, end-user benefits, best practices and more.

In Michigan, a Friend of the Court (FOC) is the regional name for a Child Support Enforcement office. Also in Michigan is the Ottawa County FOC – one of the state’s highest performing child support enforcement entities, and a leader in configuring automation and workflow technology to meet constituent needs, achieve state and federal statutes and safeguard trusted practices.   In conversation with Ottawa County FOC’s Assistant Director Kathy Winston and Technology Specialist Amy Debault, we see how one, comprehensive platform can iron out even the most intricate of processes. After designing a workflow that mimicked the office’s historically manual processes, catering to the individual needs of case investigators, judicial clerks, support staff, and custody and bench workers, the Ottawa County FOC eliminated time wasted on manually retrieving a case and melted down turnaround time to one day. Succeeding with such a high case volume naturally qualifies their office for more federal incentive criteria.   Join K

As we continue navigating through the fog of curing novel Coronavirus, the practice of contact tracing has been a sturdy lighthouse for nation-wide public health departments.   Many of us have heard about the concept of contact tracing in the news but, because of its rapidly evolving nature, aren’t entirely certain what it means or how it can help us. As we continue doing our part in flattening the curve and protecting our communities, and especially as schools and universities strategize the safest reopening protocols, it’s vital that we understand not only just the opportunities available to us, but what is actually working.   To date, hundreds of millions of dollars have been poured into state-wide contact tracing initiatives only for the systems to crash and burn. Here at ImageSoft, we’ve dedicated a team to understanding what exactly is going wrong and how we can overcome it. Joining us for this bonus episode are two members of that team, Vince Hanson and Terry Chaudhuri, who have been on the frontl

“We’re tearing down your storage facility. Please find another place to keep your files.”    This was, essentially, the message that Washington’s Yakima County District Court received when it had over one-hundred thousand files warehoused at a soon-to-be-diminished storage facility. Receiving an excess of 2 million filings a year, Yakima County’s District Court Administrator Therese Murphy and Office Supervisor Tamara Williams knew they needed a long-term, safeguarded process for filings and storage, and they needed it yesterday.     Join Therese and Tamara as they journey us through their process of implementing, learning and, ultimately, succeeding with the electronic filing system TrueFiling. Not only did it transform their court operations, but it kept everyone up-and-running from home during the unforeseen Coronavirus pandemic.    A measure of their 2018 analytics revealed a return of:  A 70 percent time saving in processing new civil suits (65,850 minutes down to 19,755 minutes)  Overall cost savings o

Picking up from Part I of our component model conversation with Kevin Bowling, current Chair of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Global Advisory Committee, we’re talking through the court’s biggest challenge post-pandemic: an urgent need for trusted court technology, and scarce funding.   Join us as we journey with Kevin through the court manager’s gold-mine resource, – the Integrated Justice Information Systems Institute, or IJIS, – how the component model fits into your goals and your budget, and other creative workarounds for funding.   Resources from the podcast are included below:  IJIS (Integrated Justice Information Systems) Institute - The IJIS Institute is a nonprofit alliance working to promote and enable technology in the public sector and expand the use of information to maximize safety, efficiency, and productivity.  The IJISCourts Advisory Committee developed a Provider Directory that includes vendors for the court components - https://icacprovdir.ijis.org   CA Court Stack - a practical applica

“We’re trying to open, adaptive and innovative, because that’s all we can do to do our part.” – Judge Amy Meachum, 201st District Court of Travis County, TX  Around March 2020, courts across America abruptly switched from in-person hearings to Zoom-hosted verdicts. For most, this was a scramble of uncertainty and a steep learning curve. Finding their way with Zoom, aiSMARTBENCH and other digital tools, virtual court proceedings have become familiar, comfortable and, especially, productive. Now, with the opportunity to start reopening, Judges, Clerks, Court Admins and other justice personnel are questioning the benefits, if any, of returning to a completely in-person court.  We handed the mic to three Judiciaries, all with diverse jurisdictions across the nation, for a panel discussion road mapping a more productive, secure and – dare we say – virtual future for the court. Tune in for their conversation on: the features of post versus pre-pandemic courts, which virtual courtroom tools are and are not work

“Somebody wiser than me once said that you should ‘never waste a good crisis,’ and it seems like this pandemic has been a crisis for many of us in the court world.” For 42 years and counting, Kevin Bowling has been serving the needs of justice administration and public service. Currently chairing the U.S. Department of Justice’s Global Advisory Committee, Kevin is now calling on his experience with the evolution of the court system to support next steps for the post-pandemic court. Speaking right into the heart of court administration, Kevin unearths all the relevant fruits of the component model, especially its role in sustaining a more inter-connected court and providing the opportunity to “plug-and-play” with various technologies that support the court’s adaption to a new normal, including litigant portals, jury management systems, and how to walk the fine line between access to justice and CJIS compliance.   Resources relating to the podcast can be found here: Joint Technology Committee - JTC was establi

Operating from our customer-centric value system means we approach every client interaction with great care. But to ensure world-class customer care means we also need a world-class approach and, up until about three years ago, that wasn’t always the case.    Journey with us as we map our Customer Care department’s transition from Microsoft CRM to the comprehensive case manager, OnBase WorkView. Sharing the mic today are a handful of ImageSoft originals: Patrick Dreyer, Senior Technical Support Engineer, Steve Michelin, Customer Care Lead, and our fearless OnBase Administrator Nathan Armaly. Each having unique OnBase user experiences, their conversation is fruitful in a range of WorkView capabilities, including its rapid development environment, consistent data presentation and relationships, rich resource database, incident management, ticket generation, its malleability in building out role-based dashboards for end users versus OnBase Admins, and so much more.  

Fun fact: Did you know that ImageSoft tends to speak from experience, sharing our own internal stories of success from being powered by OnBase? That’s right – we “toast our own champagne,” so to speak, and it all started in our Accounting Department.    Join Director of Finance and HR Mary Beth Eddy, OnBase Administrator Nathan Armaly, and Business Systems Analyst Teresa Kobish as they discuss overcoming our accounting department’s most obstructive challenges with the highly-configurable capabilities of OnBase. Journey with us as we detail our accounting department’s process renovation, from perspectives of both the OnBase Admins and users, that expanded process visibility, enabled easier, more secure information sharing and transcended into an organization-wide transformation, including:  Automating the purchase requisition process  Managing unexpected costs for accounts payable   Struggling through inter-departmental content sharing via email   Developing a strict, auditable internal process for