BURLINGTON, Mass., October 27, 2009 – Nuance today announced that the Arizona State University has selected Nuance’s eCopy document imaging software to streamline its paper-driven purchasing processes.

Arizona State University’s purchasing department had become overrun by paper-bound processes. For example, each construction purchase request required staff to copy and route a large information packet – driving up printing, paper, and postage costs. With its file storage room filling and storage space nearly gone, the department turned to the University’s Business Applications and Fiscal Control team to reinvent its construction purchase order process.

In a redesigned business process, construction purchasing scans the documentation into PDF files to automate workflows. All documents go into a Microsoft SharePoint repository where each construction purchase request is reviewed, processed and tracked. To add the scanned documentation and related information to SharePoint libraries, Arizona State uses Nuance’s eCopy desktop document imaging software.

This business process improvement has saved the University $10,000 per year in office supplies, paper and postage costs. It also contributes to advancing Arizona State University’s sustainability initiatives by reducing paper usage and the overall carbon footprint of the process.

“An essential ingredient to achieving business process improvements is pulling paper-based information out of workflows and converting it into electronic files that are easy to manage and distribute,” said John Chapman, senior systems analyst in Business Applications and Fiscal Control at Arizona State University. “Working together, SharePoint and eCopy have helped us to enhance our business workflows that mix paper and electronic documents to reduce costs and accelerate processes.”

The University utilizes SharePoint for managing and collaborating on projects as well as automating select business workflows – with a primary goal of reducing paper throughout business processes. Nuance’s eCopy solution includes built-in integration with SharePoint so University personnel can easily add scanned documents into SharePoint and check them out of SharePoint as part of everyday workflows.

As University personnel work on a construction purchase order, they can use Nuance’s eCopy solution merge capabilities to “drag and drop” associated Microsoft Office documents into the PDF file. Nuance’s eCopy solution enables staffers to transform scanned images into editable text documents so they can make changes to the document.

Moving to an electronic purchasing workflow has also taken days out of internal audit processes. Previously staff needed to manually search for and gather paper documents from file cabinets. Now auditing staff can search the SharePoint libraries themselves to access the required documents.

Based on the success of the purchase order initiative, Arizona State University is looking to expand its utilization of SharePoint and Nuance’s eCopy solution in existing applications for property control, surplus property and business services.

More information on Nuance’s eCopy document imaging software can be found at www.nuance.com/ecopy.

Nuance Communications, Inc.
Nuance Communications, Inc. is a leading provider of speech and imaging solutions for businesses and consumers around the world. Its technologies, applications and services make the user experience more compelling by transforming the way people interact with information and how they create, share and use documents. Every day, millions of users and thousands of businesses experience Nuance’s proven applications. For more information, please visit www.nuance.com.

Trademark reference: Nuance, eCopy and the Nuance logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of Nuance Communications, Inc. or its affiliates in the United States and/or other countries. All other company names or product names referenced herein may be the property of their respective owners.