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Oce Partners with Agular Systems on Document Management Platform for Education Market
Oce, provider of digital document management and delivery solutions, announced that it has partnered with Agular Systems to develop and launch the Oce Special Education Platform (OSEP). OSEP is a flexible, automated environment that eliminates tedious manual processes associated with administration of Individual Education Plans (IEPs) and other Special Education documents. The new OSEP solution joins a suite of Oce offerings developed in collaboration with Agular that are helping companies reduce paper, eliminate manual labor, meet compliance requirements, and quickly find and distribute critical information.
OSEP addresses an ongoing problem for administrators, case managers, parents and teachers in the management of the comprehensive records, notices and reports required of federally funded Special Education programs. Special Education departments within the typical school district face the challenges of complex, time-consuming creation, archiving and distribution of paper forms and electronic files to a variety of constituents, including teachers, district staff, and state and federal agencies. OSEP offers a proven alternative to these labor-intensive, paper-based methods. Its digital workflow creates more efficient processes and tighter controls, while reducing the administration burden on teachers and case managers, as it lowers costs.
"We are proud to see our collaboration with Agular have such a positive impact. By reducing the burden of paperwork and administration, OSEP frees Special Education professionals to focus on helping children achieve their developmental goals," said Joyce Virnich, Vice President of Marketing for Oce Digital Document Systems. "With the Oce Special Education Platform, we now offer a comprehensive solution that can radically change the way electronic documents are administered and managed in a variety of environments. There is a large, emerging market for affordable electronic document management solutions aimed at small to medium-sized businesses, departments of large corporations, government entities, and of course, educational institutions."
"The result of this partnership is a complete integrated solution combining Oce hardware and software with the Agular document management engine that results in more comprehensive workflow," added Chris Heivly, President and CEO of Agular Systems. "Other records and document management tools typically only address a part of what is needed, but more schools are looking for systems like this one that automate processes, from signature routing and meeting notification to archive and retrieval. This assures that all components will seamlessly integrate and simplify training and maintenance."
Oce and Agular initially partnered to develop the technology architecture for a print management solution for Boeing. Today, Special Education programs across the country are already reaping the benefits of the flexible platform. Mansfield Independent School District in Texas was able to integrate 140 Special Education students displaced by Hurricane Katrina within one week, ensuring minimal interruption to their programs. The school has also been able to perform an electronic back file conversion on some 650,000 paper documents. Mansfield Special Education Director, Jane Melms noted, "This flexible platform is something we can build on for a long time. Even when there are changes to federal programs, we will be able to quickly adapt and stay on top of requirements." Brentwood School District on Long Island, New York has customized the platform to accommodate almost all its scanned paper with a workflow engine driving laborsaving automation. Community High School District #117 in Illinois has built on their existing Oce electronic document management system to include the Special Education platform. OSEP is helping them better organize and track all the Special Education data and forms needed for state reporting.
Deployed primarily at the departmental level, the single server platform provides quick access, assembly and dissemination of real time information. It leverages existing documents and files from a district's information systems and eliminates redundant re-keying. The solution uses Oce VarioPrint(R) digital multi-functional systems for fast, high-quality document scanning, printing, routing and automation. A "file listener" analyzes scanned documents and places them appropriately in individual web-based electronic folders. An automated notification feature ensures parents, teachers, case managers and others get timely, verifiable alerts for the IEP meetings mandated for all Special Education students. When new forms and reports are created, they are automatically populated by OSEP, a tremendous time saver with far greater accuracy than manual data entry.
In the event of a compliance issue, OSEP helps school districts reduce their risk of liability by demonstrating that proper processes were followed. Schools are able to report that staff and teachers were notified and that critical documents such as IEPs were signed as required. OSEP also helps Special Education programs increase the level of privacy and secured access for student records. Only people assigned to a student's case can see those electronic records, unlike the uncertain privacy of paper files. 20.12.2005, Oce
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