Cardiff Selected by Texas Education Agency
In addition, TEA will take advantage of the LiquidOffice Connect Agent for FileNET PanagonT Content Services to export completed forms, attachments and index values into its existing FileNET application for instant electronic retention and retrieval. The Texas Education Agency, the state's department of education, provides educational leadership and serves more than four million students through a network of more than 1,250 public school districts and open enrollment charter schools.
Initially, TEA will use LiquidOffice to convert its existing application forms into an electronic format. LiquidOffice's powerful Form Designer was a major selling point, as TEA annually maintains approximately 80 single and multiple program grant applications that consist of an average of 25 forms each. LiquidOffice Form Designer provides TEA with a drag-and-drop application that combines an intuitive, easy-to-use interface with powerful design tools, such as "snap-to" guides and comprehensive field setups. By standardizing all its grant application forms using LiquidOffice, TEA will be able to ensure that all forms emanating from the agency have a consistent look-and-feel.
After converting its forms into eForms, TEA will then enable applicants to submit grant applications online via a standard Web browser. By automating the submission and processing of these forms, TEA expects to reduce the processing time of grant applications by more than half. By reducing the time required to process and approve grant applications, school districts will be able to take advantage of the funds sooner to implement vital student-oriented programs.
"By automating the submission and approval process, not only can the agency reduce processing, mailing and paper costs, it will also allow us to process the applications and fund important programs in a fraction of the time, which will ultimately benefit the students that we serve," said Dr. Earin M. Martin, senior director of grants administration at the Texas Education Agency.
In addition to automating the submission and approval process, TEA will be able to transfer form data directly into its existing content management system using the LiquidOffice Connect Agent for FileNET Panagon. Taking advantage of Cardiff's open systems approach to connect with its existing system will enable TEA to significantly reduce the costs associated with data entry and the production, storage and retrieval of paper forms.
The TEA is also working with Cardiff to leverage the connection with FileNET to enable grant applicants to retrieve and amend applications to reflect changes that might affect the status of the grant. Using LiquidOffice's database auto-fill profile field technology, applicants will be able access amendment forms that have been pre-populated with information based on the original form data stored in FileNET. This valuable functionality will reduce the number of data entry errors and the overall time required to complete the form.
About the Texas Education Agency
The TEA administers both state and federal funds that support a variety of programs to benefit public education. Depending on the funding source and purpose, grant funds are available either on a formula entitlement basis to public school districts and open enrollment charter schools or on a competitive discretionary basis to public school districts, education service centers, colleges and universities, and private and public organizations. For more information about TEA and its programs, please visit www.tea.state.tx.us.
About Cardiff Software Inc.
Put Information to Work - Cardiff Software (www.cardiff.com) is a leading provider of document and form-driven business process automation solutions for Global 2000 organizations. The Cardiff family of integrated software products empowers organizations to automate existing business processes using technology to capture, process and respond to strategic business information, thereby improving employee productivity, customer service and profitability. In business since 1991, Cardiff has a global distribution network reaching every continent and more than 20,000 customers worldwide spanning every industry.