Seren Group has completed the implementation of a centralised document repository from Invu to give staff immediate access to all tenant and housing documentation. After a two-month implementation, the Invu electronic document management system went live in August 2010, followed by six-months of back-scanning Seren’s documents. Invu reported that the total cost of the project, including back-scanning, was around £120,000.
The catalyst for the project was the need to get rid of massive amounts of shelved documentation to make way for a team of Seren staff working on a new project. The implementation has now freed up over 200 metres of shelving, the contents of which have now been back-scanned into the Invu system, with the space now accommodating 50 employees’ workstations.
Mike Phillips, head of ICT, Seren Group, said, “We considered the workflow and electronic document management module from our main housing system provider, but this didn’t give us the capability we needed. Invu provided a clear cut solution – we got clarity and a ‘can do’ attitude and that gave us confidence to make the choice.”
Seren’s staff are no longer reliant on paper-based files and can now find tenant files and documents instantly, compared with the same process previously taking up to two days. The Invu system has been integrated with Seren’s other business applications, such as direct access to relevant documents from within the tenant or property screens in Seren’s Civica housing management system (Universal Housing) or through its HR department’s HR Pro system.
