Transpromo offers way forward in Local Government efficiency drive
LOCAL governments could be saving thousands of pounds on their document management costs by realising the benefits of TransPromo, according to a leading software expert.
Giles Hill, Managing Director of document software specialists Sefas Innovation, says that in the current cost cutting climate, local authorities can no longer afford to ignore TransPromo as a way of revolutionising their print output.
“If you change a spark plug in a car, you don’t have to put it through the whole production line back at the factory to refit it,” Giles explains. “You either change it yourself, or have the local garage do it for you – far quicker and easier than the former option.
“Yet many local government organisations, making minor changes to Council Tax bills and other communications, end up sending documents back to the ‘composition factory’,” he said.
“Even a minor change to the position of a paragraph or an image can take weeks, whilst the ‘factory’ frees up resources and schedules the changes into their unending list of priorities. A major change affecting multiple document types can take many months to complete,” he adds.
Giles argues that although it may seem cheaper to keep outdated composition tools, they will cost far more over the longer term, as well as compromising the quality of local government communications.
“The cost to upgrade to a new, single composition platform can be prohibitive, particularly in today’s tough economic climate when Return on Investments need to be measured in months, not years,” Giles said.
“However, there are significant cost-efficiency benefits of using post-composition technology to enable TransPromotional messages. These include taking out the IT ‘middle men’, so that document changes can be made on demand and by multiple users, from Customer service, Compliance and Marketing,” he explains.
“Not only can post-composition tools be used to add TransPromo messages, they can reduce the environmental impact of each communication through more efficient production processes.
“The requirement to invest in new composition capabilities to drive a TransPromo strategy, dramatically reduces the burden on IT resources and allows organisations to choose the most cost-effective means of distribution,” he adds.
Giles points out that private sector companies are saving significant sums of money and improving customer satisfaction by taking advantage of electronic media.
“There is huge potential for local governments to make significant savings by taking advantage of electronic media,” he comments. “The growth of email and mobile devices means the customer’s doorstep is no longer only via the letterbox. It is now in their pocket, handbag, place of work and or even on their holiday!
“Whilst many toolsets have been standalone, having to build libraries of document components from scratch, the latest generation of post-composition technology allows content to be shared between the composition and the post-composition world,” Giles said.
“Suddenly, the ability to take on board new document templates and make changes from existing document content, is possible. Add to this the ability to decide the final format, whether electronic or print stream, once the document is ready for distribution, and you can ensure consistency of look and feel across all media,” he adds.
It is not only through cost savings that local authorities could benefit according to Giles. He says that post-composition software will allow local government to optimise their data to ensure they are talking to their stakeholders in the right way.
“Sefas has worked with well known organisations, such as BT, to realise the full potential of personalised marketing on transactional documents,” he said.
“These clients have benefited massively from having the capability to make better use of white space; introduce colour, insert new graphics and images, restructure content and use embedded data more effectively.
“Most importantly, all these changes can be made risk-free,” Giles explains. “Post-composition can greatly reduce the risk to an organisation’s systems, because changes are made independent of the data –therefore testing and control can take place in a more secure environment.
“Layers of permission also ensure that changes are made by the right people and sign-off is assigned only to those with authority,” he adds.
For more information on TransPromo and post-composition software, contact Sefas on 0117 906 9920, or e-mail contactuk@sefas.com.
About Sefas
Sefas Innovation has been at the forefront of document composition and production management technologies for more than 20 years. The latest module in their Open Print product suite, Open Print BackOffice, gives organisations the chance to revolutionise their document composition capabilities by allowing true interaction and sharing between the composition and post-composition worlds. Sefas will be demonstrating its unique capabilities at the Local Government Association Group Annual Conference at Bournemouth International Centre on 6-8 July.