Open Learning Group processes student documentation effi ciently

The challenges

The Open Learning Group (OLG) is an educational organisation based in eight locations around South Africa and Namibia. It delivers its own academic programmes for students, as well as providing operations, logistics and marketing support to other institutions in the education, training and development sector.

Every year, OLG processes applications from thousands of students, which created a headache for those involved in the company’s paper-based system. Documents had to be posted or driven over 200km per day between locations, there was a risk of paperwork being lost, and there was a delay accessing documents to handle any queries. As well as application forms, copies had to be made of supporting documentation such as ID books and bank details.

Storage was another issue. Many documents have to be kept for five years or more, and OLG was struggling to store all the files it created. The stored paper was a potential fire hazard, and vulnerable to water damage.

Education is a competitive market and OLG also needed to keep ahead of its competitors, to ensure it was able to be responsive to its clients and students. The paper-based documentation was making it difficult to provide the right level of customer service.

The solution

It became increasingly clear to OLG that the answer to its problems was an electronic documentation management system. After reviewing the available offerings from different companies, OLG chose a solution from Nashua to solve its paperwork headaches.

“We looked at various solutions, and there are many, but we couldn’t find anything that was quite as effective as the solution that Nashua could offer,” says Linda Ingram, Operations Director at the Open Learning Group. “Many of the systems that we looked at could not integrate with our current management information system, so Nashua’s ability to do that was a big plus for us.”

“The technical support was another factor that made us choose Nashua,” says Ingram. “I was impressed how their consultants understood our business and took time to look at ways to help maximize what we were going to get from the solution – we spent hours and hours with the Nashua team in our offices.”

Nashua designed and implemented a solution based on Laserfiche Enterprise Content Management (ECM). Now, documents are scanned locally where students apply and are then uploaded to OLG’s system at its Roodeport head office.

OLG’s local staff use Nashua multifunction devices to scan the documents. Nashua has set up the necessary software on the machines themselves and staff are prompted to input information directly on the scanning machine’s screen.

The Open Learning Group has moved to an electronic document processing system for student paperwork, saving money and improving response times.

“I definitely would not hesitate to choose Nashua again.”

Barcodes on the documents tell the Laserfiche system what kind of document has been scanned and what the student’s ID number is, which avoids manual input of data, thus saving time and reducing mistakes. At head office, the Laserfiche ECM system is integrated with OLG’s existing eVision student administration system. This means that an OLG administrator only needs one system on their screen – eVision – and can directly access the students’ documents from within Laserfiche, without having to ever leave eVision.

Fast responsesWith more than 20,000 calls per month handled in its call centre, OLG needs to have an efficient system to retrieve information for students. It manages over 120,000 assignments and over 100,000 examinations in more than 100 centres – creating a lot of paperwork. If a student phoned in with a query, this would previously have required the call centre operative to take down details, find a paper document and then phone the student back later.

Now, with the Nashua solution, student queries can be handled immediately, improving customer service. It also means multiple people can access a file simultaneously and all staff have access to up to date information, which improves the service if a student phones back with another query.

“In the call centre, the average time to respond to the students was 24 hours and it’s now instantaneous,” says Ingram. “Complaint levels dropped drastically almost instantly once we installed the solution.”

As well as the call centre, OLG has become more efficient in processing applications – halving the turnaround time to send out learning materials to new students, from at least ten days to typically four or five days.

Student files must be audited before a student can graduate, which requires all relevant documentation to be available. With the new system and an auditing process implemented by Nashua, this is faster and more efficient. The system also automates sending out correspondence such as exam result letters.

Challenges Enable call centre staff to fi nd information quickly to

handle student queries Reduce the need for storage of paper documents Speed up application process for new students Improve customer service to maintain competitive

position in the education market

Solution Document management system based on Laserfi che Application documents are scanned remotely and

uploaded instantly to head offi ce

Customer SummaryCustomer name: Open Learning GroupCustomer URL: www.olg.co.zaIndustry: Education

Benefi ts Enabled call centre to respond instantly to student

enquiries, compared to 24 hours previously Halved time to send out learning materials to new

students from 10 days to 5 days Reduced costs overall by R 20,000 per month

problem resolution

For further information on any aspects of becoming a customer reference for Nashua, please contact Nashua’s Communications and Training Manager, Jessica Midlane – jessicam@nashua.co.za

“We feel like one solid team – I know I cancall Nashua at any time if I need advice or if I want a particular solution to a problem.”

For more information please visit www.nashua.co.za /NashuaLTD @nashuasolutions /NashuaLTD @nashuasolutions /NashuaLTD @nashuasolutions

Cost reductionsThe Nashua solution has saved money for OLG in several diff erent ways. Firstly, it has reduced the need for fl oor space for fi les and removed the need to pay for external storage. Floor space reductions have saved at least R 5,000 each month in offi ce rental.

“At one stage, we had to hire external storage space to accommodate excess documents, which was not ideal from a security point of view,” says Ingram. “With the Laserfi che solution, that’s something we don’t need to worry about – the risk of losing documentation is a thing of the past.”

Secondly, there are fewer documents that need to travel by car or courier, which has reduced costs of staff time for the driver, petrol costs and vehicle maintenance. Previously, OLG would courier between 800 and 1,000 documents to and from its offi ces each month, costing around R 12,000 and taking a staff member two hours to drop off documents at least three times each week.

“Just to look at these two areas, I would estimate that overall we are saving around R 20,000 per month,” says Ingram.

Solid teamOLG has also benefi ted from the high level of service that Nashua provides. “We have had excellent service from Nashua and our account manager has been exceptionally knowledgeable in understanding our business,” says Ingram. “We feel like one solid team – I know I can call Nashua at any time if I need advice or if I want a particular solution to a problem.”

“Nashua’s team has been fantastic,” says Ingram. “I’ve had many of them sitting here working late nights. For me, it’s just been exceptional.”

Overall, OLG has reduced costs and it has made its business operate more eff ectively. Ingram concludes: “I can’t put a monetary value on my improved productivity and customer service. relations – but I know it is huge!”