Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council – a Fax solution Case Study

RightFax with Xerox and SAP delivers more powerful, productive and ‘greener’ workflow solutions at Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council –

Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council is situated in an area of South Yorkshire steeped in mining history. It forms part of the Government Region of Yorkshire and Humber, is the town’s biggest employer and supports a population of nearly 5 million.

The council’s Corporate Plan includes 3 priorities for improved outcomes: growing the economy, changing the relationship between the council and the community and improving people’s potential and achievement.

Planning and investing in the future

Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council is keen to reduce their carbon footprint.

A move to consolidate many disparate offices into a purpose built council office within the town provided the catalyst and challenge to invest in eco-friendly technology and promote environmental responsibility.

Streamlining their business processes would reduce waste. The 50 fax machines located at various locations throughout the Borough would not be moving in! But faxing was key to many departments and processes, so a ‘green’ alternative to the energy inefficient and paper wasting hardware needed to be sourced.

RightFax with Xerox and SAP

Working in partnership with Xerox, ProcessFlows installed an OpenText RightFax solution which integrates with Xerox Multi Function Devices (MFD’s), MS Exchange and SAP.

By implementing RightFax with Xerox MFD’s all fax documents are now captured electronically on the RightFax Database for easy retrieval if required. Users either send a fax directly from their Outlook or SAP client or from the Xerox MFD if a user needs to fax a paper document.

The requirement for standalone fax machines is therefore eliminated saving costs and improving staff efficiency. There are now just 2 Xerox MFD’s on each of the 6 floors supporting the reduction of paper documents within the office.

The RightFax integration with the Council’s SAP system means that departments, such as Business Support, are able to process documents like invoices and PO’s within SAP and then distribute them electronically using RightFax to third parties.

In line with ‘green policy’, an electronic post box has also been set up. All mail is centrally scanned and then automatically distributed using the new Electronic Content Management System to departmental areas.

A greener way of processing

Leading by example, the council has responded to Government environmental initiatives by demonstrating a ‘greener’ way of processing documents, saving energy and ultimately our trees. Electronic fax has also reduced costs and improved operational efficiency as there are no longer any paper faxes clogging up staff desks and in-trays.