MyDocuments, Inc. Donates $100,000 In Software, Services To Facilitate Red Cross Relief Efforts
MyDocuments, Inc., a Long Island based document management software and services firm, Donates $100,000 In Software and Services To Facilitate Red Cross Relief Efforts
(PRWEB) November 18, 2001
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:NATALIE PEGO 631-567-9409 ext. 143
‘NEW TECHNOLOGY WILL ‘CHANGE THE WAY WE DO BUSINESS’
MyDocuments Donates $100,000 In Software,
Services To Facilitate Red Cross Relief Efforts
In response to the most devastating terrorist attack on American soil in history, MyDocuments, Inc. of Bohemia, New York, has at the request of the Red Cross of Greater New York donated $100,000 worth of its Millennium document management software and services to assist the agency in its relief efforts.
According to Red Cross Chief Information Officer Leslie Hunt, the new software will dramatically improve the agency’s ability to process, store, organize and transfer the large volume of documents it uses to manage its manpower and resources – including volunteer applications and profiles, health and safety reports, surveys and studies, and course roster sheets.
“Even before the crisis, we knew we had a tremendous need to improve our document management,” she said. “The software we received from MyDocuments will enable us to get information entered into our system much more quickly, and to process and mine that information so that we can deliver our services in a more timely and accurate manner.”
Red Cross MIS Director Joe Leo explained that the events of September 11 created not just a human emergency, but also an unprecedented information emergency at the agency. “We suddenly found ourselves with approximately 7,000 new volunteer applications to process,” he said. “We had looked at other software packages, but it was clear that the Millennium product was the one system that gave us the ability to handle all of our forms in one package. The software is going to be a tremendous help to us in going forward. It will change the way we do business.”
When the disaster struck, MyDocuments was faced with the critical task of getting a large, multi-faceted software system up and running immediately, according to company CEO Michael Gencarelli. “We had been working with the Red Cross on their need for a relatively small version of our system,” he explained. “The morning after the attack, they suddenly found themselves needing a 50-user system, and needing it now. We offered to donate everything that was required and quickly mobilized our people to get it done.”
Remarkably, the MyDocuments team, led by Michael Colonna, had volunteers at the Red Cross headquarters on Amsterdam Avenue in Manhattan trained and using the software in just one day. “It’s a tribute to the simplicity of our product’s user interface, as well as to the talent and energy of our people,” Mr. Gencarelli noted. “This wasn’t a case of training employees who were already familiar with an organization’s technology. These were volunteers who were essentially starting from scratch, and we had them using our software in one day.” He said MyDocuments would continue to provide the Red Cross with all necessary support and software upgrades in the future.
The Red Cross of Greater New York is the nationÂ’s largest Red Cross chapter, with nine area locations serving the five boroughs of New York City, plus Orange, Putnam, Rockland and Sullivan Counties. While the agencyÂ’s efforts receive public attention after headline-making disasters, Mr. Leo noted that on average there are eight disasters a day in the Greater New York area.
Previously, the chapter had been processing all of its forms manually as paper documents, which required dozens of file cabinets to store and significant time-consuming labor to manage. “If, for example, headquarters needed to refer a volunteer to our Orange County location, all of their paperwork, including any special credentials or licenses, had to be first located, then either faxed, or mailed, or delivered by hand,” Mr. Leo said.
Now, the powerful forms recognition, optical character recognition (OCR), indexing and search capabilities of Millennium software allow the Red Cross to capture all of its paper documents using a scanner and turn them into electronic images that can be filed, organized and manipulated like any computer file. Using OCR, specific text within the forms can be rapidly indexed, allowing the Red Cross to locate individual documents in seconds through a single, easy-to-use interface.
For example, if a caseworker with a special skill is needed at a particular location, the system can quickly locate all individuals who meet the criteria, along with any paperwork related to their credentials, such as records of courses they have taken. All of this critical information can then be easily forwarded to the appropriate site.
Ms. Hunt emphasized that the new document management system will free up Red Cross staff and volunteers to carry out their primary mission. “This technology will relieve our staff of a great deal of time-consuming data entry, and allow them to focus their efforts on our real job: serving people in need of help,” she said.
For more information, contact MyDocuments, Inc. at (631) 567-9409, via e-mail at info@mydocuments. com, or on the Internet at www. mydocuments. com.
